A couple of guys from Minnesota wrote a north woods musical a few years ago. Phil Olson’s head of nephrology in Shakopee. He wrote the music. Paul Olson’s a prolific playwright who has also done some screenwriting. If his bio is to be believed (and really, why not?) he got an MBA from the University of Chicago after trying out for the Chicago Bears. How exactly it is that a musical written by these two men set in the Midwestern north woods came to debut in Los Angeles in 2003 is quite possibly a very interesting story. Or maybe it was simply read by the right person at the Whitefire Theatre. In any case, the musical—a work bearing the title Don’t Hug Me—will be staged by the Racine Theatre Guild later on this month.
Don’t Hug Me is set in the coldest day of the year in a tiny bar in rural northern Minnesota. A waitress wants to pursue a singing career outside of the tiny town. Her fiancée would rather she stay where she is. It’s described as a musical battle of wills.
Kara Ernst directs the Racine Theatre Guild production with a cast including Michael P. Kroes, Laura-Nicole Musolf, Norgie Metzinger and Elissa Richardson as aspiring musical sensation and waitress Bernice Lundstrom.
Racine Theatre Guild’s production of Don’t Hug Me runs January 21st through February 6th. Reservations can be made by calling 262-633-4218.
