Behind the Scenes: Linda Nelson

Anyone who has ever had any interaction at all with Opera House Arts knows Linda Nelson, our Founding Executive Director and current Producing Artistic Director. But do you know enough about her outside of the Opera House? Of course not. We’re here to fix that. 

Our fearless leader at age 3 (jaunty eye patch not pictured)

Where did you grow up?

Stonington, Connecticut. I grew up as a…we called them wharf-rats. I grew up on and off the water. I had my first volunteering position at the Mystic Seaport.

How would your elementary school classmates remember you?

As a one eye – I had to wear a patch over my left eye – not because I was a pirate – but because I have amblyopia and that’s the treatment. You wear a patch over your good eye to strengthen your bad eye.

Name four fictional character with whom you’d be okay being stuck in an elevator. Why?

Harriet (from Harriet the Spy) – I was just like her. She’ll document our time in the elevator.

Beebo Brinker (from Beebo Brinker) – In the 1950’s, before it was cool to be gay, she moved from the hinterlands to New York City when it was all jazzy and beat. She was a real groundbreaker.

Tom Sawyer (from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer) – I love Tom because he’s a bee charmer. He can sweet talk anybody into following him anywhere, into any of his adventures, doing anything. I think it’s often a much maligned and neglected skill.

Katniss Everdeen (from The Hunger Games) – Well…that’s self evident. Whether we’re middle-aged women or young women, she’s the swashbuckling heroine of our times. She’s smart too, which I like about the character. And she’s very much a young woman, not trying to be anyone but who she is. She comes from rough circumstance and makes the most of what she has.

If you were a cartoon character, what cartoon character would you be?

Speedy Gonzalez. I already use his catchphrase when I drive.

When did you first fall in love with theater?

When I walked into the main door of the Opera House and stood in the stinky, falling down, dark, raccoon inhabited theater.

Come and hang out with Linda tonight in the Ivory Tower for the preliminary round robin read- through of the next “Our Own” production, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Appropriate. Email Linda at lnelson@operahousearts.org to let us know you’re coming, or call 207-367-2788.

Throwback Thursday

Heather Matthews and Bob Burke in Tennessee Williams’ 27 Wagons Full of Cotton in a 2008 “Our Own” production.

Interested in being involved in our newest “Our Own” play reading? Join us tomorrow night, Friday the 13th, in the Ivory Tower for the preliminary round robin read through of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Appropriate. Email Linda at lnelson@operahousearts.org to let us know you’re coming, or call 207-367-2788.

Behind the Scenes: Henry Teverow

If you’ve been in Stonington at any point since September, you’ve probably run into OHA’s Facilities and Stage Technician, Henry Teverow – whether it was here at the Opera House or through his other position as the town’s Economic Development Director. But how much do you know about the young gentleman from away? After today, a little bit more…

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York—practically the same town as “Brooklin with an ‘I’”, across the bridge.  I’ve spent practically every summer of my life on the island, though, which makes me a local…right, guys?

How would your elementary school classmates remember you?

My elementary school classmates would hopefully remember me as being a sweet and nice kid—probably more than can be said for my classmates after elementary school.  I always thought I peaked developmentally in fifth grade.

Name four fictional character with whom you’d be okay being stuck in an elevator. Why?

In no particular order: the talking tree grandma from Pocahontas—I think she could impart some serious knowledge unto me while we wait to be unstuck.  Luke from Cool Hand Luke, because he’d be able to find a way to escape—and then we’d do some world shaking.  Agnes from David Copperfield, so that I might hopefully catch some of her decency through osmosis.  Lastly, whoever Tommy Chong plays in Up in Smoke.

If you were a cartoon character, what cartoon character would you be?

                                                               

I don’t know what character I’d be, but I’d like to be a hybrid of Gandalf, Han Solo, and Speed Racer—I’m getting light-headed just thinking of all the greatness.

When did you first fall in love with theater?

April 26th, 1564.

Want the opportunity to pepper Henry with your own questions? Come down to the Opera House for our weekend movies! Unbroken is this weekend’s selection, with Selma and The Imitation Game coming up next. If you don’t find Henry helping out in the projection booth, you’ll probably see him tirelessly digging us out of the snow. In this case, you can likely convince him to help you build a pre-movie snowman. 

Throwback Thursday

OHA Co-founder Carol Estey’s niece, Sarah Estey, an accomplished ballet teacher, holds a dance class for littles on the Opera House stage in 2001-02.

Members of the OHA team and Deer Isle-Stonington schools are currently down in DC celebrating our partnership with the Kennedy Center Partners in Education. Visit our eduction page to learn more about how arts can be used to enrich student learning experiences!

Behind the Scenes: Amy Kyzer

OHA’s Artistic and Development Associate Amy Kyzer is celebrating her second winter on Deer Isle and is thrilled that the island decided to throw these snow parties in her honor. Here’s your chance to get to know her better while you’re huddled around the wood stove:

Amy as Maria (The Sound of Music) in Vienna.

Where did you grow up?

Hawley, Pennsylvania. In the heart of the Poconos. It was a small area, much like Deer Isle, centered around the largest man-made lake in the northeast. I had an early understanding of welcoming people from away each summer.

How would your elementary school classmates remember you?

Funny and crazy. I loved pulling pranks. I told my best friend (who is still my  best friend) that “puberty” is when you buy a new dog and then convinced him to ask our history teacher in front of the whole class. He also had a great sense of humor, which is probably why we’re still friends.

Name four fictional character with whom you’d be okay being stuck in an elevator. Why?

Rhett Butler (from Gone with the Wind) – I saw the movie for the first time when I was eight and fell in love for the first time. I’m still not over it. When the movie was done, I ran around the house, crying and saying that I hated the Yankees. It was a while before my mother had the heart to tell me I was one of them.

Rose Campbell (from Eight Cousins and Rose In Bloom) – Louisa May Alcott books were my favorite when I was a kid. Rose was a wonderful and warm and generous character.

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather (from Sleeping Beauty) – I’m counting them as one. They were a group of crusty old broads who knew how to raise a kid right. They could do magical spells and make dresses and cake.

MacGyver (from MacGyver) – Richard Dean Anderson was not only easy on the eyes, he was a lot like my dad – able to fix anything with absolutely nothing.

If you were a cartoon character, what cartoon character would you be?

Betty Boop. She was sweet and smart and sexy. And she had her own song.

When did you first fall in love with theater?

That’s a hard one. My amazing mother wanted us all to be well rounded and had us take a year of piano, try a sport or group activity and so on. At the tender age of eight, she strongly suggested that I take part in the community theater’s production of Carousel. Though terrifying, as I was, believe it or not, a very shy child, I made many new friends who I still know and work with. And I found a great new outlet for all my creativity and insanity.

Want the chance to work with Amy? Sign up for OHA’s new musical theater workshop, “Sing Me A Story!,” starting  Thursday, February 12. 

Throwback Thursday

In 2002, Opera House Arts produced its first commissioned original work, The Singing Bridge: A Downeast Chamber Opera. Original music by Anna Dembska, book by Beatrix Gates and funded in part by the New Music USA Fund.

Interested in musical theater? Come join Amy and Beth Kyzer as they explore both classic and contemporary techniques for all ages and experience levels in OHA’s new workshop, “Sing Me a Story.” Classes start in two weeks on Thursday, February 12!

Behind the Scenes: Kelly Johnson

Opera House Arts is happy to welcome island newcomer Kelly Johnson to the team! Kelly will be working as OHA’s Development and Communications Director. We’ve asked her a few questions so you can get to know her better.

Where did you grow up?

Long Island, New York. I spent the first eighteen years of my life in the same house, living there with my parents, siblings and a rotating menagerie of pets. We were about a ten minute drive from the water. After my family, the water was what I missed most during the years I spent in Washington, DC and something I’m very excited about being close to again here in Stonington.

How would your elementary school classmates remember you?

There was a “Can You Imagine…” section in my 8th grade yearbook. Mine ended with “Kelly without a book in her hand?” and for good reason. More than one teacher had to ask me to stop hiding a book under my desk top while they were teaching. Also, my school had an annual roller skating party. One year, I wanted to stay home and read rather than go, but my parents insisted. I compromised. I hid a book in my coat, found an empty table at the roller rink and had a great night with K.A. Applegate’s Animorphs. A lot of people remembered that. I regret nothing.

Name four fictional character with whom you’d be okay being stuck in an elevator. Why?

Remus Lupin (from Harry Potter) – A gentleman with a habit of keeping his cool in stressful situations and always has chocolate on him? No brainer. And his magic will probably get us moving again pretty quickly.

Elizabeth Bennet (from Pride & Prejudice) – She strikes me as someone with whom I could exchange sarcastic comments, which is a must in such situations. Plus, I think she’d handle the presence of magic better than most nineteenth (or twenty-first) century folks.

Kaylee Frye (from Firefly) – If the situation at any point starts to look dire, I’m going to need a good infusion of positivity. No one does upbeat like Kaylee Frye. Plus (probably more importantly in this situation) she’s a mechanical whiz. So if the breakdown happens during a full moon and Lupin starts to wolf out, the rest of us will knock him out, and she’ll have that elevator up and running in no time even without magic.

Ned (from Pushing Daisies) – A mystery solver with an acceptance of the unexplainable things in life. Far more importantly, however, he is a pie maker and likely was in the elevator in the first place because he was delivering his wares. Which means there’s pie in the elevator. Everything’s better with pie.

If you were a cartoon character, what cartoon character would you be?

Daria Morgendorffer. Hands down.

When did you first fall in love with theater?

I, of course, used to make my parents sit through truly horrible original works starring me, my sister and our friends. But, when I was in fifth grade, I saw some of my friends in a more structured (read: real) YMCA production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. By the time the curtain fell, I knew that it was something I wanted to explore. My parents immediately signed me up for the next acting program offered. The whole process stole my heart and I’m thrilled to have the chance to work with a theater as fantastic as the Stonington Opera House.

Want to know more? Come on down to the Stonington Opera House and say hi!