The Arts Come Alive In Platteville-365 INK

by Tim Brechlin
Originally Appeared in 365 Ink

Without a doubt, one of the most defining aspects of our Tri-State area is its endlessly vibrant artistic scene, from visual arts like painting to filmmaking to music to theatre, so on and so forth, it’s safe to say that no matter the time of year, there’s always something going on. (Heck, that’s the entire reason that this fine publication you’re reading exists in the first place!) But while there’s always something happening during throughout the year, it goes without saying that for us Tri-State residents, the summer is something of a special time of year. The weather’s great, we’re out on the river, we’re enjoying festivals, what have you. One such festival happens to take place up in the wild green yonder of Platteville, Wisconsin, and it’s quietly become one of the biggest annual celebrations of art, music and theatre in the Tri-States. I speak, of course, of the University of Wisconsin - Platteville’s annual Heartland Festival.

The Heartland Festival, now in its ninth season, traces its roots back to 2001, according to festival director and UW-P Center for the Arts director John Hassig, who was gracious enough to take some time out of a hectic rehearsal schedule to speak with 365 about the festival.

“I think the real impetus behind the creation of the Heartland Festival was the annual Shakespeare festival that had been run yearly here at the University,” Hassig explains. “There was a feeling that the festival had run its course, but without it, the summer here at the University was idle. There was kind of an outcry of need for something to be happening here on campus. Some summer concerts were held, and they got a good response, and after that, the music department was asked by the Chancellor (David Markee, who retired after the just-completed school year) to develop a new event building on that idea.”

The first Heartland Festival comprised a wide variety of the arts, including a play, an art exhibit and a few other concerts. It steadily grew from there, though Hassig didn’t join the festival until the second season, when he became the director of the Center for the Arts, and didn’t become the director of the Heartland Festival until the original director stepped down prior to the fourth season.

When he took over the festival in 2004, Hassig had a clear idea of what he wanted to do with it in order to move it forward.

“I’ve always envisioned the Heartland Festival to be a kind of mini-summer stock theatre event,” he says. (Summer stock theatre is pretty much what the name suggests -- a theatrical production, or series of productions, presented only during the summertime.) “I really felt we could do a pseudo-summer stock, utilizing the cream of the crop of local talent, pairing them with regional and national professionals, and doing it all while keeping it reasonably priced.”

Summer stock theatre has seen its heyday come and go, of course, with the advent of television, movies, and seemingly every other entertainment medium we see today. But Hassig isn’t daunted by that. “With summer theatre, if you’re going to bring someone inside on a beautiful summer day -- and here in the Tri-States, we definitely have beautiful summer days -- you’d better have a good reason to do it,” he says. “That’s why we focus not necessarily on high art or the most deep-thinking shows you’ll ever see, but we’re telling great stories, and offering a bit of an escape for the audience. Really, that’s a big part of what theatre is, the escapism.”

Over the years, UW-Platteville has seen the success of the Heartland Festival grow “exponentially,” in Hassig’s words.

“In 2003, we drew around 3,000 people to the festival through the summer,” he says. “In 2008, we drew 6,000. When you keep in mind that we can only fit just a few hundred people, at most, in our theaters... well, that’s a lot of people, and that continued success allows us to continue increasing the quality of our shows. For example, last year, we did a production of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, and that’s a show whose national touring company we brought in a few years ago for a performance. Without a doubt, I would have put our production of it up against that professional tour.”

This year, the Heartland Festival is continuing last year’s mix of shows, including a children’s show (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown), a murder mystery (And the Killer Is...), a musical (Forever Plaid) ... as well as the hit Broadway spectacle that took home more Tony awards than any other show in history: The Producers.

“I always try for a little bit of growth every year, but not too much,” says Hassig. “We don’t want to bite off more than we can chew. This year, with The Producers ... well, that’s a big Broadway show, it’s huge, it has to be big by definition. We’re sparing no expense on it, ensuring that we put on the spectacle that it deserves.”

The Producers, of course, is the musical based on Mel Brooks’ 1970s movie of the same name and premise, wherein a struggling Broadway producer and an ambitious accountant embark on a scheme to shock Broadway and laugh all the way to the bank. (To say anything more would ruin the surprise, now, wouldn’t it?)

“For this show, we’ve gone to some longterm, core crew members, lighting and set people who have been with us for a long time,” Hassig says. “They’re go-to people, really, just a great crew. And the show is just so funny.”

(Oh, and please don’t take the recent film adaptation of The Producers as your baseline on whether or not to see the play. That movie was an abomination. Trust me.)

Of And the Killer Is..., a play revolving garound an awards show for actors in bit roles who would kill, literally, for a moment in the spotlight, Hassig says audiences can expect to just enjoy themselves.

“It’s an audience-participation murder mystery, and it’s a very intimate setting,” he says. “It’s got just a ridiculous script, and it’s a great time.”

Regarding Forever Plaid, Hassig says it’s a “charming standard,” and also notes with a laugh that it’s the one play of the year where he has a chance to sneak himself into the cast. The Heartland Festival is also showing a by-kids, for-kids production of Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell Junior (the show that launched the Top 40 hit, “Day by Day”) ... and then, of course, there’s the old classic, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

“It’s the classic story of Charlie Brown, you can’t go wrong with that,” says Hassig. “This is the updated and revised version that premiered in 1999. It’s a great standard of theatre. And it’s geared towards keeping the attention of both adults and kids ... it’s very layered ... like the Shrek movies, in a way, where there are jokes aimed for adults that will fly over the heads of the kids, but help grown-ups have a good time. We have a great director on that who’s adding some nice little touches to ensure that everyone has fun.”

It’s undeniably a big season for Hassig, who is clearly enjoying his work with the festival and showing no signs of being any worse for wear.

“I started at UW-Platteville after leaving Chicago in the mid-summer of 2001, when I took over the CFA, and at that point, marketing the festival was part of my duties,” the Davenport, Iowa, native explains. “It was just a natural extension for me ... I originally went to school to be an actor, but I dropped that after deciding that I couldn’t really live that nomadic lifestyle. I love the Midwest, though, so I know I made the right decision.”

With a true Midwest native at the helm and a cycle of growth that can only continue to go forward, it’s clear that the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s Heartland Festival is in good hands. The shows will run all summer long, beginning on Friday, June 12, and ending on August 5 -- it’s definitely a summer full of fun! For a full schedule of events (it’s seriously WAY too long for us to print here!), visit www.uwplatt.edu/arts/cfa, or call 608-342-1298.