Press

We’re getting a lot of good notice about the Festival and the 2011 season.  Here are some links to sites where you can read all about GRSF:

Winona Post: Callithump coming to GRSF: what the heck is it?  July 20, 2011.  ”No talent rock has been left unturned for this year’s event, which has blossomed into extravaganza proportions for Monday, July 25.”  Read it here.

Winona Daily News: GRSF: From day one to season eight.  July 16, 2011.  ”Barnes said that over the past eight years, the festival has seen a notable increase in audiences, volunteers and company members. The company has grown from about 60 individuals to nearly 100, and the festival has more than 300 volunteers this season. The festival has also gained popularity in the region, with 50 percent of audience members coming from outside Winona this year.”  Read it here.

Star Tribune: Winona – Minnesota’s River Town.  July 13, 2011.  ”The funds for this work came from the Outdoor Heritage Fund of the Legacy Amendment.  The same Legacy Amendment that’s also helped support Winona’s Great River Shakespeare Festival, the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, and the Frozen River Film Festival-all big features of this year’s Winona Legacy Destination Weekend.”  Read it here.

Winona Daily News: GUEST VIEW: True tale of Owain Glyndwr right here in Winona.  July 12, 2011. “Thank you Paul Barnes, actors, staff and volunteers for bringing this amazing piece of work to our doorstep and including the Welsh text that Shakespeare intended. Bravo”  Read it here.

La Crosse Tribune: Manager of Shakespeare Festival steps down.  July 12, 2011.  ”Stevenson’s decision to resign relates to the timeframe for the festival’s “setting the stage campaign,” which aims to raise $1.6 million during the next three years.”  Read it here.

MPR News: Commonweal co-founder to lead Great River Shakespeare Festival.  July 11, 2011.  ”The Winona-based Great River Shakespeare Festival announced today that Commonweal Theater co-founder Eric Bunge will become its new Managing Director July 18th.”  Read it here.

Rochester Women: Summer in the River Cities: Plan a day trip to the Mississippi towns.  July/August issue.  ”Visitors come by the thousands to Winona each summer to experience the Great River Shakespeare Festival. The 2011 season offers two Shakespeare productions (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “King Henry IV, Part I”), an intern/apprentice actor Shakespeare production (“King Lear”), a musical (“The Fantasticks”), and a Shakespeare for Young Actors program which will perform an abbreviated version of “The Winter’s Tale.””  Read it here.

Citypages: Great River Shakespeare Festival provides courtly intrigue: King Henry IV, Part One shows how far fest has come in eight years.  July 6, 2011.  ”Winona’s Great River Shakespeare Festival tackles one of these lesser pieces in King Henry IV, Part One with an invigorating production that works around some of the show’s limitations (as the name indicates, we don’t get the whole story here) and accents its strengths, such as the relationship between young Prince Hal and his friend Falstaff.”  Read it here.

MPR News: The state of the arts in a state shutdown.  July 1, 2011.  ”For a while the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona was concerned it would have to move elsewhere, because its annual festival takes place on the campus of Winona State University. Fortunately MNSCU is still up and running, and GRSF’s Doug Scholz-Carlson says the run should be unaffected.”  Read it here.

Winona Post: Kids like Shakespeare, too.  June 29, 2011.  ”Nine-year-old Carter Briggs gets pretty busy in the summer. Between baseball games, Lego camp, Grandparents University and an invite-only karate sword class, he’s got a favorite summer appointment: to take in all the Great River Shakespeare Festival (GRSF) he can.”  Read it here.

MPR News: 4th of July: Time to celebrate Shakespeare!  June 30, 2011.  ”The Great River Shakespeare Festival is underway in Winona. This year’s festival includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream and King Henry IV, Part 1.”  Read it here.

Winona Post: Henry IV part 1 staged by GRSF.  June 29, 2011.  ”The role of Falstaff is, of course, a plum from whose performance any apprentice easily draw laughs, but Daly teases every last ounce of juice from the part, as usual. Even those who know it well will be amazed at the richness, nuance, and surprise his portrayal achieves, but then, those who know Daly’s work will not be surprised.”  Read it here.

MPR News: Stagefighting: the blood is fake but the sweat is real.  June 29, 2011.  ”Think a stage fight is easy? Thing again. This clip from the Great River Shakespeare Festival documents just how much work goes into making swordplay look like child’s play.”  Read it here.

Winona Post: Choates come back for a visit.  June 29, 2011.  ”While visiting Winona this week, members of the Choate family attended the Great River Shakespeare Festival and marveled at the appearance of such a wonderful theater company in Winona. With enthusiasm the sisters talked about how something like GRSF might be just the thing to reinvigorate this town’s sense of self, and the possibilities that could come. ‘If a few people just got together and had a dream…’”  Read it here.

Citypages: Great River Shakespeare Festival brings clarity to King Henry IV Part One.  June  28, 2011.  ”​The Great River Shakespeare Festival has done wonders in bringing a professional, summer theater experience for residents and visitors of Winona over the past eight years.  I’ve only managed to make it down twice in that time, but I’m happy to report that the quality of performances has increased as well.”  Read it here.

Rochester Post-Bulletin: Shakespeare festival has ‘Dream’ opening.  June 28, 2011.

Winona Daily News: Legislators should take notes from Henry IV, Part 1.  June 27, 2011.  ”Courage in the face of imminent danger, as well as a willingness to persevere in the pursuit of laudable goals when meeting difficult obstacles, is universally admired. But prudence sometimes dictates a different course of action.”  Read it here.

Winona Post: Quilt commemorates GRSF.  June 22, 2011.  ”To an untrained eye, the quilt taking shape at Margaret Kiihne’s house is just a lovely patchwork of colors and textures, beautiful in its own right.  But to Jeanne Oost, it is a loop of Portia’s dress, Tatiana’s earring, a courtesan gown, a smock, each piece of fabric a part of the history of the Great River Shakespeare Festival.”  Read it here.

Minnesota Monthly: Trip Shakespeare: How now, Horatio!  A summer festival of the Bard’s plays makes Winona a dramatic destination.  July, 2011.  ”A river town tucked into the limestone bluffs of Minnesota’s southeast corner, Winona is a magnet for all sorts of outdoorsy types. But when nearly 5,000 tourists poured in last June and July, it wasn’t for the hiking trails or the five-pound crappie. It was for Shakespeare.”  Read it here.

KAAL TV: A sigh of relief for MNSCU.  June 16, 2011.  ”MNSCU has reached a tentative agreement that will allow the state’s public universities and colleges to stay open even if the state government shuts down. An agreement will affect much more than just students and teachers.”  Read it here.

Winona Daily News: Our view: Chamber’s work pays off for downtown Winona.  June 16, 2011.  ”Company’s coming — it’s a phrase that we’ve been able to throw around for awhile in Winona as we’ve geared up for Steamboat Days, Trinona, the Great River Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Du Mississippi, the Minnesota Beethoven Festival … and the list seems to grow by the week.”   Read it here.

Winona Post: GRSF to Open its 8th season.  June 12, 2011.  ”‘We really want to be THE place to see Shakespeare in the country,” Barnes said. “We’re very serious about that.’  When thinking about the festival’s future, Barnes isn’t content to think about next year or the year after. He’s dreaming a decade ahead to how GRSF could grow to become part of this community’s life blood, with multiple stages and a season perhaps months long, perhaps year-round.”  Read it here.

Winona Post: GRSF has new ticket program for junior high students.  June 5, 2011.  ”The Great River Shakespeare Festival (GRSF) introduces “6,7,8,9 2-for-1,” a new ticket program sponsored by Miller Scrap Iron and Metal Company that will make it possible for students in grades 6, 7, 8, and 9 to receive one free ticket with the purchase of an adult priced ticket to GRSF’s 2011 season productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Henry IV, Part I, and The Fantasticks.”  Read it here.

MPR News: Shakespeare through the eyes of young girls.  June 9, 2011.  ”I call this marketing brilliance.  The folks at the Great River Shakespeare Festival had two precocious young girls – Eva and Anna – explain the plot of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (which, like most Shakespeare plays, is rather complex).”  Read it here.

Winona Post: Concerts on the Green return this summer.  June 5, 2011.  ”The sound of music filling the air at Winona State University has become a mainstay of the summer Great River Shakespeare Festival, and that sound will continue thanks to the hard work of a local group of supporters.”  Read it here.

Playbill.com: Cast Announced for Minnesota’s Great River Shakespeare’s Midsummer, Henry IV, The Fantasticks.  May 26, 2011. “Great River Shakespeare Festival, the organization that produces professional Equity stagings of Shakespeare plays and modern classics in Minnesota, will offer King Henry IV, Part 1 and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, plus the musical The Fantasticks this summer.”  Read it here.

Winona Daily News: Larry Jost: Exceptional theater at GRSF deserves your pledge.  May 20, 2011.  ”What we did not expect to find was world class professional theater a mere 25 miles away in Winona.”   Read it here.

Winona Post: Shakespeare not just for adults.  May 18, 2011.  ”Let me correct your thinking — Shakespeare is not just for adults! Children and teens of all ages can come to love Shakespeare and can be pushed with new knowledge to become even better students. Learning to understand “Shakespeare” English encourages students. The thought is: if I can understand this, then maybe I can figure out algebra!”  Read it here.

Winona Daily News: Margaret Shaw Johnson: Support Shakespeare, support the community.  May 16, 2011.  ”The Great River Shakespeare Festival deserves our support. It has helped to place Winona on the map as an arts destination. It enlivens our community. It helps our economy in measurable ways. It enriches the education of our children. And it is also a whole lot of fun.”  Read it here.

Winona Post: Shakespeare Festival cast, crew arrive in Winona.  May 11, 2011.  ”A boisterous crowd filled the Performing Arts Center auditorium at Winona State Tuesday, their enthusiasm palpable as Paul Barnes welcomed them to the campus.”   Read it here.

Winona Daily News: Laurie Lucas: Lucky to have talented artists in our midst.  April 22, 2011.  ”We are so lucky to have professional directors and actors who make ‘Will’s’ English understandable.”  Read it here.

Winona Daily News: GRSF lauded for boosting tourism.  April 17, 2011.  ”All the world’s a stage and Great River Shakespeare Festival will take the lead Tuesday when it is presented with Visit Winona’s annual tourism award.”  Read it here.

Winona 360: GRSF to receive Visit Winona’s Annual Tourism Award.  April 15, 2011.  ”‘Visit Winona is delighted to recognize and honor GRSF with its Tourism Award. Since its debut in 2004, GRSF has inspired an ‘arts explosion’ in Winona, bringing national media attention, attracted tens of thousands of visitors to our area, collaborated with local organizations and businesses on an array of education and outreach programs, and contributed significantly to Winona’s cultural, social, and economic life,’ said Visit Winona director, Pat Mutter.”   Read it here.

Winona Daily News: Guest view: GRSF deserves our support.  April 14, 2011.  ”But it wasn’t until the Great River Shakespeare Festival came to Winona that I saw my first Shakespeare play performed on stage. I was amazed at how the text came to life. In the theater, especially in the hands of talented actors and directors, Shakespeare’s words took on a rich and vivid meaning. Everything was so much clearer in ways that it cannot be when it is only on the page.”  Read it here.

Rochester Post-Bulletin: Shakespeare fest launches campaign.  April 12, 2011.  Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona has launched a $1.6 million “Setting the Stage” fundraising campaign…

Winona Post: Shakespeare preview draws crowd.  March 30, 2011.  ”Theater lovers were treated Sunday to a sneak peek of what this year’s Great River Shakespeare Festival (GRSF) will offer, set to the soft tunes of the Heart Strings Harp Circle and the buzz of excited fans at the Visions Event Center.”  Read it here.

Winona Daily News: GRSF kicks off fundraising.  March 29, 2011.  ”A recently launched fundraising effort could help bring more plays and a longer run time to the Great River Shakespeare Festival, organizers say.”   Read it here.

Winona Daily News: Just a sneak peak.  March 28, 2011.  ”Fairies. Battle scenes. Romance. Directors with the Great River Shakespeare Festival have picked three plays for the event’s eighth season, and offered a sneak peak Sunday to a crowd of nearly 250 people.”   Read it here.

Winona Daily news: Death of Cornwells a ‘huge loss’ for Winona.  March 5, 2011.  ”‘They were so loving of each other, so respectful of each other,’ daughter Krysten Cornwell said. ‘It was never about them. It was always about everyone else. The friends they made when they were first married were friends forever.’”  Read it here.

Ashland Daily Tidings: Delivering ‘The Daly News.’  February 3, 2011.  ”Years later, Martin’s grandson, actor Jonathan Gillard Daly, discovered the project and turned it into a theater piece. The new musical premiered at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts’ Theatrefest in Santa Maria, Calif., and was presented in its present form last summer at Great River Shakespeare Festival in Minnesota.”  Read it here.

Winona Post: GRSF actors in 2 week residency at Senior High.  January 2, 2011.  ”Shakespeare will soon be on the lips of students at Winona Senior High School thanks to a partnership with the Great River Shakespeare Festival and a grant that helped that partnership develop.”   Read it here.