The Fountain of Life
Creative Team, Theater, and Artist Residencies Program

Author/ Producer Mary Hiles wrote the book and lyrics and originated some of the melodies for The Fountain of Life. Hiles has a Ph.D. in English literature/Renaissance drama with a specialization in Shakespeare. She taught Shakespeare through UW Oshkosh continuing education and also lectures and presents Shakespeare programs in the Oshkosh area. She wrote and performs a one-woman show, Shakespeare’s Women in Love, and a two-woman show, A Sampler of Shakespeare’s Women—the latter written and performed with UW-Oshkosh drama professor emeritus Gloria Link. The Fountain of Life is Hiles’s first musical.

Director of Orchestration UW Oshkosh music professor James Chaudoir, who is the winner of 17 ASCAP awards and was cited by the Wisconsin legislature for his musical compositions, oversaw the arrangements and orchestrations of The Fountain of Life and composed some of the music. The orchestrations and some arrangements were done by Erik Helm, one of Chaudoir’s former students. Some original music and arrangements were done by Jay Thomas, another of Chaudoir’s former students. Helm’s three CDs feature works of his own arrangements for the piano, which he also performs in concert. Thomas, a private Oshkosh music teacher who also teaches music in the Fond du Lac Schools, has worked for nearly 20 years in community and semi-professional theater as music director and composer.

Music Director Herb Berendsen and Drama Director Jennifer Henselin direct student actors from throughout the city. Berendsen, whose directorial credits include Pirates of Penzance, The Music Man and Children of Eden, has a master's degree in music and is choral director at Oshkosh West High School; Henselin, whose directing credits include Box Office Poison and Hillbilly Weddin', has a bachelor's degree in drama and teaches drama at Oshkosh North High School. Choreographer Madeline "Missy" Allen, who has a master's degree in dance and is an associate professor of dance at UW Oshkosh, has choreographed 50 high school, college and community-theater productions. Set design is by UW Oshkosh Drama Emeritus Professor Robert Heise, who designed sets and taught theater at UW Oshkosh for more than 30 years.

The Grand Opera House
Noted for its acoustical excellence and Victorian elegance, Oshkosh's Grand Opera House was designed by architect William Waters and built in 1882. Painted in high Victorian style, it features a central fresco of Shakespeare attended by figures representing Spring and Summer. Famous performers who have appeared there include Pavlova and Houdini. Helen Farnsworth Mears and her family were likely frequent patrons of the Grand, which seats 660 and was restored to its former splendor in 1986.

Project S.O.A.R.
Project SOAR (Special Opportunities for Artist Residencies) promotes and funds in all grades of the Oshkosh Area Public Schools artist-enrichment residencies. These residencies engage students in hands-on interaction with recognized artists and mentors from the area and state.

 

© 2003 Mary Hiles