News & Notes from Commonweal Theatre Company
July 8, 2015
Issue #9
The Remarkable Influence of One Man
I'll be a man. As best and worst and quick as I can. A man as hot as I can. And one day, you might even call me your word singer.
Woody Guthrie

As the Commonweal approaches the mid point of Season 27, the words influence and "staying-power" come quickly to mind. In setting out to fulfill a mission statement, a record of influence followed close behind. 

Woody Guthrie did not set out to become an American icon or a highly influential person. Those resulted in his simple desire and need to come up with some way of saying what he was thinking. 

In both cases, the legacy is at the center. In both cases, there is a hope that the world will be a better place because of our having had a presence in it. 

The Influence of Woody Guthrie...more than 100 years later.
"Woody Guthrie wrote songs about an America with a stunning landscape, of majestic forests, rolling rivers, and deep valleys, hugged by two oceans, where inequality and social injustice sowed roots. He wrote folk songs for the everyman, songs of tragedy and of triumph, ballads of spiritual death and rebirth.  


As Guthrie stated, "A folk song is what's wrong and how to fix it, or it could be who's hungry and where their mouth is, or who's out of work and where the job is, or who's broke and where the money is, or who's carrying a gun and where the peace is." In short, Guthrie and his fellow folksinging friends - including Leadbelly, Sonny Terry, and Cisco Houston - sang and wrote songs about struggle and redemption -- a message that has been carried on long after Guthrie's death by artists like Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Billy Bragg, Joan Baez, Tom Morello, and countless others." 
Click here to read this compete article. 

New Faces & Fond Farewells
With every season, we are thrilled to welcome new faces to the company. This season is no different...aside from the number of those new faces. Five young artists have joined the company for the next ten months by taking part in our apprenticeship program. Over the course of the coming weeks and months, we hope that you will become familiar with them on a personal basis. For today, however, here is a shorter introduction of the group via the small screen. 

This is also a season of another farewell as we recently said "see you later" to Ana Hagedorn. Ana began her Commonweal career as an apprentice in 2012 and quickly made a strong connection to the Commonweal family. Ana begins her graduate acting work at SMU this fall. Click here for Ana's thoughts as she enters that next chapter of her life. 

 

208 Parkway Ave N, Lanesboro MN 55949
(800) 657-7025


Now Featuring:

Woody Guthrie's
American Song

&

Charley's Aunt

Visit our 
for details.


Commonweal Theatre Company | Lanesboro, Minnesota | (800) 657-7025 | (507) 467-2525
tickets@commonwealtheatre.org