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A young Henry Ford, played by Kellan Smith yells at Ivan, played by Doug Menke.
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WIU Theatre Premieres Alum's Award-Winning Play

November 7, 2008

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MACOMB, IL -- Wacky comedy and an evening of light entertainment await audiences during Western Illinois University Theatre's premiere of "Dearborn Americana," written by theatre alumnus Christian Krauspe (B.A. '07).

Directed by Theatre Professor Marcus Olson, the play is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, Nov. 12-15 in Hainline Theatre.

"'Dearborn Americana' is basically a farce, with clashing ideals between the great American innovator Henry Ford and three misguided Soviet spies who have invaded Ford's home in Dearborn in order to kidnap him," Olson said. "Christian has a terrific knack for writing comedy, and 'DA' is a well-structured comedic vehicle. Christian has a fairly wacky sense of humor, and this sense is delightfully reflected in the dialogue and action."

The written play won Krauspe the Best New Play award at the American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) Region III competition in January 2007. This year's play production is an entry for the Region III ACTF festival, Olson said. Adjudicators will be at a performance, then all regional adjudicators meet in December to determine which productions from the five-states in Region III will perform in the January 2009 festival, he added.

"If we are selected, that would be a terrific honor for us," Olson said. "It is also possible for our production to be selected to perform at the national festival at the Kennedy Center in D.C. in the spring. That would be something!", he added.

The diverse 10-member cast includes students, faculty and a child from the Macomb community. Theatre Professor Bill Kincaid is Henry Ford, with Kellan Smith, son of Chris and Rachel Smith of Macomb, playing Henry as a child. Senior musical theatre major C.J. Langdon (O'Fallon, IL) is cast in the role of Alexei; senior theatre major Zach Meyer (Aurora, IL) is Edsel; junior musical theatre major Colleen Johnson (Effingham, IL) is Clara; and sophomore Catrina Herron, with a double major in English and theatre, plays Margaret. Doug Menke, an instructional technology systems manager for University Technology is cast as Ivan; with three MFA students completing the cast: Josh Murphy (Woodstock, IL) as Nikolai, Drew Hampton (Arlington, TX) as Palmer and Danny Pancratz (Dubuque, IA) as Scott.

"Since doing a reading of this play this past spring, Christian and I have been in regular communication regarding script and character development, and he continues to hone and refine the script," Olson said. "He visited rehearsals once this semester, and he will be returning for dress rehearsals and the run of the show."

Krauspe was also a 2007 third place regional award winner in the National Playwriting Program
10-minute Festival for his play "Friendly Fire," which was among six student-written plays presented at the festival. He penned "Inside Out," a comedy about a comedy about the worst play ever written, which was performed at Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse (Rock Island, IL) with WIU alumni as actors and producers.

Krauspe is currently a first-year MFA student in playwriting at Arizona State University.

Tickets -- public, $14; senior citizens and WIU students, $12 -- are available through the Hainline Box Office from noon to 5 p.m. weekdays, (309) 298-2900, and online at www.wiuartstickets.com. A service free will be added at the time of purchase.

Posted By: Darcie Shinberger (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing