Trio of locals starred in CHICAGO, the Musical at Old Town Playhouse

By Norm Wheeler

Sun editor

The Old Town Playhouse (OTP) in Traverse City just finished a run of CHICAGO, the Musical. It created tremendous buzz as one of the best-ever productions at OTP. Directed by Brett Nichols, the show included three Leelanau County women who brought great energy, talent, and pizzazz to their roles. Karen Cross played Matron “Mama” Morton, Elena Sica Mosher played Katalin Hunyak and was a dance captain, and Miishen Willis was understudy for Roxie Hart, and played Liz in the ensemble.

The excellence of the singing and dancing by these three women was astonishing for an amateur theater production. The Glen Arbor Sun asked each of them to summarize how they got interested in theater, how their auditions went, how they inhabited their characters, how they navigated several COVID-related delays, what their day jobs are, and when we can expect to be wowed by them on stage again.

Karen Cross writes, “My passion for theatre began at Cass Technical High School in Detroit as a Performing Arts major. From there I earned a BFA degree in acting at Wayne State University. Since then, I’ve performed in and directed and choreographed for both community theatre and regional theatre productions. Theatre has been part of my life for 50 years. Auditions for this production were originally held February 2020, and CHICAGO was slated to open May 2020. As a “mature” woman I knew that there was only one role that was suitable. Though I was nervous, I was satisfied with my audition. I kept my fingers crossed and was overjoyed when cast in the role of Matron Mama Morton!

“Due to the pandemic our rehearsals were put on hold at the end of March 2020,” Karen explained. (Gary Bolton at OTP came up with the idea of ‘Tent Shows’ in the parking lot during the summer. Brett Nichols put together a musical variety show with most of the songs from CHICAGO. It was very successful and ‘Tent Shows’ continued for summer 2021, and maybe this summer, too.) “When restrictions lifted, OTP put CHICAGO back on the boards to open May 5. With a few different cast members, we were ready to rehearse on Feb. 27. We opened on May 5, but were shut down on May 6 for two weeks. COVID spread through the cast, orchestra and crew. We all got healthy, the show re-opened May 19 and OTP added four shows. We were beyond thrilled to get back on stage in the show we loved and gave the best of our best to perform.

“Matron Mama Morton is a sharp, hardened ward of the women’s prison. She uses every skill she has in order to keep her power over the prisoners and keep money in her pocket as evidenced in her song, ‘When you’re good to Mama’. I researched performers of the 1920s that might elicit inspiration for this character. Marlene Dietrich has always been a favorite and her image and career fit perfectly. The TV series Chicago PD has a character in it named ‘Sergeant Hank Voight’ played by Jason Beghe. The guy follows his own ‘code of justice’ as does Mama Morton and her colleague Billy Flynn. Voight was also an inspiration in developing my character.

“I’ve been a personal trainer for 24 years and have owned a studio for 16. As a corrective exercise specialist, I incorporate Pilates and traditional strength training. Working with people to help them regain their strength and flexibility or train for events is very rewarding.

“I’ve had the time of my life playing Matron Mama Morton directed by Brett Nichols and choregraphed by Kristina Nichols. Given my age I have no idea when another role in a musical theatre production might come along that would be suitable for me to consider auditioning.”

Elena Sica Mosher writes, “I have always loved theater, but my life took me in different directions after high school, so this was the first show I’ve done since high school! CHICAGO was definitely a bucket list show, so when I saw that OTP was doing it, I moved a vacation I had planned so that I could audition in February 2022. I just wanted to be in the show in any role. I was nervous before the audition, but the director and choreographer made it a chill experience. Rehearsals began in March, Sunday–Thursday from 6:30-9:30.

“My role is Katalin Hunyak, the Hungarian immigrant who is accused of murdering her husband, but is the only ‘merry murderess’ who is actually not guilty. I had to learn my lines in Hungarian and learn to do the aerial silks! I popped a rib out of place early on in learning the silks, so one of the biggest challenges for me was navigating an injury with all the dancing and acrobatics involved. I did research on conditions in Hungary in the 1920s and on Hungarian immigrants in the U.S. I also read a lot about Sabella Nitti, the Italian immigrant who is the real person the character is based on. Then I created a backstory for Hunyak, which involves an abusive husband whom I hate but did not kill. That’s the source of my anger in Cell Block Tango. I’m actually innocent, but my abusive husband is the reason I’m now on Death Row.

“After two months of rehearsals, just hours before opening night two of our cast tested positive for COVID. We went on that night with the understudy for Roxie (yay Miishen!), but the next day we started dropping like flies and many of the cast got sick. We had to cancel the rest of the weekend and the next, but everyone recovered quickly and was okay. Our director Brett Nichols called each of us individually to see how we were doing, and cast members organized virtual movie nights so we could stay connected and keep our spirits up.

“I am the Farm to School Coordinator at Northwest Education Services for my day job, so I work in elementary schools across the region doing garden education and promoting local food. Although it’s a lot to have a full-time job and do such a demanding show, I looked forward to every rehearsal because all involved are such great people. It’s really pretty easy to make the time commitment when it’s something you love.

“I was devastated when the show closed! It was a major shift to not see all the wonderful humans involved in this production on a daily basis. I can’t say for sure when I’ll next be onstage, but I definitely plan to continue making theater a part of my life!”

Miishen Willis writes, “I started dancing when I was around four years old. I always liked performing, I was just too scared to do anything involving talking or singing in front of an audience. When I was around 15 years old I suffered a knee injury that forced me to put dance on hold and then moved four hours away from my original dance studio. I joined choir at my new school and was convinced by my new friends to audition for the school musical. I ended up landing the lead role! I fell in love almost immediately.

“My first audition for CHICAGO the Musical at the Old Town Playhouse was in 2020 and my second was in February 2022. I was shooting for a Cell Block Tango girl or Roxie. I faltered in my 2020 CHICAGO audition and wasn’t cast. I always try to go into auditions with the intent to have fun and let whatever happens, happen. In 2020, I definitely put too much pressure on myself and ended up blowing it. Auditioning is the most terrifying part of theatre. I came back for the second round of auditions in 2022 on a whim. I thought, “The worst that could happen already happened, and hey! I lived. Why not try again?” And I’m really glad I did. I ended up landing in the Cell Block Tango line and being a Roxie understudy!

“The biggest challenge for the roles I was given was the enormity of what I had to learn. I had to memorize lines, songs, and dances for two completely different characters. It was a big challenge but it taught me a lot about myself. Researching Roxie was relatively easy, she’s based on a real woman, Beulah Annan. A couple of books and articles give a good glimpse of what Beulah was really like. As for Liz, my primary Cell Block Tango/ensemble role, I did my own digging. Liz wasn’t based on a real person so I essentially took the story she was originally given in the script and ran with it. I love writing backstories for characters.  I also dug around to find out what life was like in the 1920s. For playing any character, it’s important to ask yourself “How” and “Why” questions. How did my character end up in this situation?  Why does my character react the way they do? Once you’ve fleshed that out then you get to embody them physically. How do they move, how do they speak, what gestures do they use? What are the little details?

“Over the two-week span of being closed, the cast did line brush ups and Zoom and stayed in touch. What works best for me is honestly just reading and rereading lines!  I also listened to the music and practiced choreography several times a day. It can be tricky balancing daily life demands and rehearsal/performance demands. On top of learning two characters, I was also just starting out at a new job as an Associate Banker! I didn’t have a lot of down time, but luckily performing is something I love doing. As an understudy you must be ready to go on as the lead in a moment’s notice. [On] opening night I was supposed to play my ensemble role. Two hours before we opened, I got a call from the director telling me I was on for Roxie. I took a deep breath and remember thinking, “I can do this.” It was a whirlwind of a night. In the end I was really proud of myself for pulling it off!

“It’s always bittersweet when a show comes to an end. On one hand, you’re proud of what you and everyone else involved accomplished, but on the other hand it’s hard to say goodbye to it all. I’m not sure when or where, but I’ll be on stage again soon, that’s for sure!”