Renowned
Written by Rae Brown
Directed by Marti Gobel
Stage Management by Heather Miller
Lorine Niedecker portrayed by Cathy Bond

Rae Brown is a life-long resident of Milwaukee and currently in the Master's program in Creative Writing at Mount Mary College, Milwaukee.  That's where the Lorine project came from, an assignment to do research for a class in writing biographies from research taught by Ann Angel.  She was originally introduced to Lorine through a workshop taught by Martha Bergland which was given at her 2003 celebration in Milwaukee and in Fort Atkinson. Rae retired from her teaching job in the Milwaukee Public School district after 25 and spends time with her children and grandchildren. She is currently working on a screenplay about the life of Lorine which has the same (working) title as the monologue: Renowned.

Marti Gobel has been involved in theatre in Wisconsin for many years and is thrilled to add this partnership with the Dwight Foster Library to her proffesional accomplishments.  Her local productions include Florence in The Odd Couple (Female version), Solange in Follies, Domina in A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum and Lisa in Collected Stories.  Marti has also directed several shows (through Centre of Attention productions, a company founded by Gobel in 2004) including Equus, The Underpants, The Dreams of Ernicus, Cat's Paw, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Blue Denim, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe, Where Does It Hurt?, Wake Me When I'm Dead and most recently Comedy Acts.  Graduating in May from UW-Whitewater with a BA in Theatre performance (with a philosophy minor) you may have seen Marti in The Miss Firecracker Contest in the role of Popeye, in The Affections Of May in the role of May or The Desk Set in the role of Peg.  Gobel's future productions include works with the Chamber Theatre in Well, Rennaissaince Theatreworks in The Persians, and Firststage Childrens theatre in the Neverendingstory.  She is also proud to begin a relationship with the Milwaukee Rep as an understudy in their fall production of Trouble in Mind.  Fort Atkinson has been home to Gobel for nine years and she is thrilled to be a part of a production that highlights one of it's community treasures.  She hopes you enjoy the show.

Cathy Daly Bond is most often found collaborating on a theatre project or two in companies and schools in southern Wisconsin. In addition to performing as a singer/actor, she enjoys working as a director, stage manager, designer, and technician. Daly Bond has studied in New York and Southern California and is a recent UW-Whitewater graduate in theatre education. A few local credits include: Charlotte in A Little Night Music, Molly Sweeney in Molly Sweeney, Buttercup in HMS Pinafore, Wife in the premiere production of The Center Line, and Woman #1 in Putting it Together. She is currently in rehearsal for a production of the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods, opening Friday at the Bartell Theatre in Madison. Daly Bond grew up a stone's throw from the banks of the Ohio River in her native Kentucky and now lives near Rock Lake with her husband and three lovely daughters.

Heather Miller will soon be graduating from UW-Whitewater with a BFA in Stage Management.  Most recently, she has worked with Centre of Attention Productions on Comedy Acts and Wake Me When I'm Dead.  Heather is thrilled to be working on this show and hopes to continue stage managing in and around the community in the future.

The Words & Music of Lorine Niedecker
Written and Performed by Jeff Wagner

Andante from the Sonata in A Major, K. 311, by Mozart (excerpt)
Nocturne in Eb Major, by Chopin
Opening piano Concerto #3, by Beethoven
Adagio Cantabile from the "Pathetique" Sonata, by Beethoven
Waltz in C# Minor, by Chopin
Lullaby, by Brahms - Cortot
Etude in Ab ("Aeolian Harp"), by Chopin
Rondo in C Major, by Beethoven

The second portion of this afternoon's program is an exploration of Lorine's strong attraction to the art of music, especially classical music. It was apparently her neighbor and friend, Aeneas MacAllister, who first revealed some of the masterpieces of the classical repertoire to her with long-playing albums, or perhaps at his piano. It has been said that poetry is music in writing, so we ought not be surprised that Lorine describes feelings of great passion for music. Her love for music was more than passing, and at times she seems to have been truly transported by a beautiful recording or performance.

She mentions Mozart's "Air" in her correspondence, and this is undoubtedly a publisher's liberty, as Mozart himself composed nothing entitled, "Air." My best guess is that the famous theme for Mozart's "A Major Piano Sonata" was published or recorded under the title, "Air", in the United States or United Kingdom. If I'm wrong, the worst that can be said is that we've listened to a sublime melody from the Austrian Master. If this is not Mozart's "Air", we're none the worse for it! Lorine dearly loved Mozart's music, and there is no doubt she either loved, or would have loved, this tune.

She mentioned the music of Chopin often, especially his Nocturnes, Waltzes and Etudes. Today's program contains popular representatives from each of these genres: the "Nocturne in Eb Major" which has been popularized in radio, movie and television; the poignant "Waltz in C# Minor", filled with Polish nostalgia; and the ethereal "Aeolian Harp" Etude. This remarkable etude, composed in 1836, was given its name not by Chopin but by his friend and admirer, the German composer Robert Schumann. Popular in the 19th Century, this Aeolian harp is played by the wind blowing over its strings, and not by human hand. Its light, gossamer sound has been beautifully represented on the piano by Chopin.

Lorine was also much taken with the music of Beethoven, who was, like Lorine, a lover of Nature. We will hear in today's program of her enthusiasm for his piano concertos (there are five), and his "Kreutzer" for violin and piano. Unfortunately we have neither an orchestra nor a violin for today's program, but there is no shortage of masterful composing in Beethoven's solo piano repertoire. The famous "Adagio Cantabile" from the "Pathetique" Sonata is one of those uniquely sublime "Beethoven Adagios" that seem to communicate what the human heart, were it ever completely free and fearless, might say in song. The "Rondo in C Major" shows a touch of the improvisatory and virtuosic side of Beethoven. The "walking tempo" of the opening makes one wonder if Beethoven received the inspiration for this work during a walk in his beloved Vienna woods.

Brahms well-known "Lullaby" is the one piece on today's program that was specifically mentioned by Lorine in correspondence. Originally for voice and piano, the French pianist Alfred Cortot, created this lovely arrangement for solo piano. There is something of both the waltz (a slow one, to be sure) and the lullaby in this work. It portrays lovingly the rocking motion of a child in mother's arms, and surely many generations of mother's have hummed this immortal tune to their beloved infants.
                    --- Jeffrey Wagner

Jeffrey Wagner holds degrees in music from Northwestern University and Indiana University and performs in the Chicago area. He is a also a consulting editor and frequent contributor of reviews, interviews, and features, to Clavier magazine. He has also published in the Review of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.

Niedecker Inspired: Art

Niedecker Cabin          Niedecker Cabin
Oil                                   Oil
Doug Hatch   2006      Derek Hambly  2006
For two summers in a row these artists spent weekends together painting side by side, in plein air. "Plein Air" painters work on location to quickly capture the fleeting light effects that occur in nature. Typically the initial painting is completed in two to three hours before the quality of the light changes. Painting in this manner gives art work a quality of being truthful to nature and conveys an atmosphere and feeling of a place.

Rock River
Oil
Doug Hatch   2006
This was painted at a spot along highway 106 looking east towards Fort Atkinson.

Poet's Cottage on Flooded Rock          Willows On Flooded Rock
Oil                                                                Oil
Derek Hambly   2007                               Derek Hambly

The Solitary Plover
Pencil
Greg Misfeldt   2006
This picture was inspired by a photograph found at the Hoard Historical Museum. While filing class photographs from Fort Atkinson Senior High School, staff noted Lorine Niedecker as a high school freshman. Greg's pencil drawing captures the sentiment.

Lorine Niedecker                Poet's Home
Watercolor                           Watercolor
Jan Gilkey   2003                Jean Tyler   1991

Black Hawk Visions
Mixed Media
Black Hawk Artists   1997
Sally Walker, Jan Holewinski, Priscilla Heussner, Brenda Peterson, Nikki Knudsen, Carolyn Nord, Jean Tyler, Karen Gomez, Kim Marrow, Emily Ann Melcher, Marilyn Fuerstenberg, and Jan Gilkey
The Black Hawk Artists chose to celebrate their 25th Anniversary with a tribute to another Fort Atkinson women of the arts, poet Lorine Niedecker. This collaborative book was comprised of each member's visual interpretation of the poem of her choice.

NYC Bus/Subway Poster
New York Municipal Transit Authority Project "Poetry In Motion"
May 2007
Lorine Niedecker's poem "Wilderness" rode the New York City buses and subways as part of the New York Municipal Transit Authority’s project "Poetry In Motion." They partnered with The Poetry Society of America. Poets who have participated in the "Poetry In Motion" project include Rita Dove, Fanny Howe, Stanley Kunitz and Sharon Olds.

Niedecker Centenary Poster
Joanna Poehlmann
2003
This poem was commissioned by Woodland Pattern for the Niedecker Centenary.

Artist Books
"My Life By Water," and "Hear Where Her Snow Grave Is,"
Mixed Media
Ann Engelman   2003, 2007

"My Life By Water" Parallel Narrative
Elements considered for this book are metaphors for her life. Lorine was a small person in size. Lorine used a typewriter. There are "ghost impressions" on poetry pages because they were placed in the typewriter together. The "ghosts," added a dimension to the many drafts Lorine would have done but also the layers of meaning in some of the poems. The book reflects the colors of the muddy Rock River and marshes on Blackhawk Island. The poetry "sticks out" from the book. Her poems "stick out" from her quiet and isolated life. Brown threads parallel the brown matter that often floats in the river. The artist's voice only floats along one side two of the book, distant from the poet's voice on the other side and separate from complete understanding of her poetry.

Paean To Place
Centenary Broadside
Tracy Honn, Silverbuckle Press   2003 
I wanted to design a simple, quiet piece where the overall presentation supported the poem and was, as a whole, illustrative without using illustration in its traditional sense. I had the idea of a plover in mind as I worked on this--its colors of camouflage, its use of art as it feigns injury to draw predators away from its nest. I read that Lorine was a bird watcher and sharing that love, I tried to keep a sense of the expectancy of that experience in mind. The wood type ornaments were manufactured by the Hamilton Wood Type company of Two Rivers Wisconsin. The wave-like repeat of the abstract boarder ornament seemed appropriate to the poem's images of rhythm. I chose a soft but strong handmade paper in a hard-to-describe, mottled color. My hope is to offer a keepsake that honors her work, and, in the case of this much reproduced passage from Paean to Place, to bring a quiet new breath, a pause of reconsideration to a splendid poem.