PHOTO OF THE DAY: COMMUNITY IN COMMUNITY THEATER

The following story is featured on the front page of this week’s Courier.

First-year director Jill Hofer partners with cast & production team in bringing ‘Jane Eyre’ to the Schmeckfest stage, with an emphasis on collaboration, team ownership and the themes of a provocative musical drama. 

Growing up in the Canadian province of southern Manitoba, Jill Hofer remembers as a teenager first reading the novel “Jane Eyre,” a story about a girl’s battle against turmoil that ultimately results in self-discovery — and falling in love with it.

Years later, after the story penned by English writer Charlotte Brontë in 1847 was adapted for a musical, Hofer recalls first hearing the score — and falling in love with that, too.

Then, after working with her friend, Amy Hofer Vetch, and being charged with props for Freeman Academy’s performance of the show in 2017, Hofer remembers thinking that it was ripe for the picking — but nobody took it on.

So she decided to do it herself, with Hofer Vetch in tow as her musical director.

In what is her directorial debut, Hofer has been working for months in tandem with a cast and production crew to develop her beloved “Jane Eyre” for performance as part of the 64th Schmeckfest that is now just two weeks away. The musical will be presented both nights of Freeman’s popular “festival of tasting” Friday and Saturday, April 4 and 5, as well as Thursday night, April 3. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. all three nights.

Tickets are available for all three performances at schmeckfest.com.

Right time, right place

“I love Jane Eyre — I love the story,” says Hofer, who was introduced to the Freeman community through her marriage to Stan Hofer, whom she met through Mennonite Central Committee and moved here in 1993. “It’s a classic novel and Jane is the kind of woman I want to be. She’s strong, she’s determined, and she has come through a lot of yuck to get to where she’s at — where her faith matters and drives her decision making. She’s just a beautiful person and it’s a beautiful show.”

The opportunity to bring that story to life on the Schmeckfest stage matters a great deal to Hofer, but so does the chance to develop a strong and authentic relationship with those around her. In fact, she says, being able to bring her production team front and center and give them ownership in the creative process — and the execution of that process — is the reason she decided to direct a Schmeckfest musical in the first place.

“I wanted everyone involved, especially the production side, to have a really good experience, where they felt that they weren’t just always behind the scenes — that they’re an acknowledged part of the process,” Hofer said. “I’ve been on that side, where you go away and you’re like, ‘Did anybody really know what was happening behind the scenes?’ And I want that to be front and center. They are such an integral part of this process and I’ve worked with those people year in and year out, and they are a beautiful community amongst themselves. That was definitely a huge motivating factor for me.”

Hofer remembers sitting down with her production team last year — and then her cast in January — and telling them that creating a community was her No. 1 priority.

“I told them that the show is going to be great, we’re going to have a good time, it’s going to be a lot of work, and you’re going to walk away thinking that we just did something wonderful,” she said. “But my priority as the director is to create a community, and not just a cast community and a production community, but a whole community. We are doing this together. This is our purpose.”

And the time is right for Hofer to take her seat in the director’s chair for the first time.

She remembers working on her first Schmeckfest musical not long after moving here — 1994’s “Oklahama!” and was blown away but the caliber of community theater that is the Schmeckfest musical.

“I thought, ‘What freak of nature is this?’” she says. “I grew up in a small, tight-knit  community and grew up in school that did community theater, and I loved it.”

But musical theater in Freeman was different, and that’s what has led Hofer to continue her involvement in most shows since, in one way or another, from on stage, to working with props, makeup and costumes.

“I look back on all my Schmeckfest experiences and I know that I could not have directed a show until now,” she says. “I needed all of that experience, and that’s a gift that past directors have given to me. And I hope that, someday, that God willing this continues, I can pass that along to somebody else.”

All those years and all those experiences have also provided Hofer with a deep and personal perspective, noting that so many have extended “kindness and grace and shown me mercy when I wasn’t a very nice person,” she says. “I just couldn’t have done this before now.”

And therein lies a parallel with the namesake in “Jane Eyre.”

“If you think about the story of Jane and how she comes from such a bad life and makes a way for herself — that God is such an integral part of that, even to the point where she turns away from the man she loves because it’s not the right thing,” she says. “It’s so similar. Twenty years ago I would never have thought, ‘I need more humility in my life,’ but boy did I need more humility in my life. It’s not about Jill Hofer. It’s about bringing glory to God.

“God brought me here for this at this moment and I hope people walk away from this going, ‘Wow. That’s a Godly-centered space. It’s holy.’”

Major challenge leads to tears of joy

Hofer may be flying high now, two weeks before opening night — and she is.

But the production of “Jane Eyre” got off to a tumultuous start because of a major challenge in casting the lead male role — Edward Fairfax Rochester, with whom Jane develops a relationship after stepping out on her own as an adult.

By mid-December Hofer had cast “Jane Eyre” in its entirety with the exception of Rochester, a demanding role both vocally and emotionally that required a skilled actor. And in consultation with the Schmeckfest Program Committee, which serves as the producer of the musical and which had helped reach out to more than 20 possible actors for the part, it was apparent that the show was in jeopardy.

“It’s a huge role,” Hofer said of Rochester. “He’s on stage most of the show; he and Jane are on 90% of the time, and Jane is on beginning through the end. The level of acting needed for that role was high, and by December we were like, ‘If we don’t have a Rochester, we don’t have a show.’”

Meanwhile, Hofer was dealing with her own anxiety, doubt and feelings of self-worth.

“I wondered, as a first-time director, were people like, ‘No, she can never do this,’” she said. “Those doubts started creeping in, and man did they creep in hard. It was the worst Christmas ever.”

That’s when Hofer reached out to community native Elliott Graber, a 2003 graduate of Freeman Academy who went on to earn a musical composition degree at the University of Sioux Falls and then a musical theater performance degree from the University of South Dakota. Today he lives and works in Minneapolis as an independent contractor/freelancer who has made a career as a professional actor, musician and producer.

“He needed to see the script and listen to the recording,” Hofer recalls, “and I said, ‘I need to know in a week,’ because it was the end of the year and we were starting in January.”

Text exchanges between the director and would-be actor followed to discuss possible logistics before Graber finally called and agreed to the role.

“And there were more tears,” Hofer says. “It went from the worst to the best.”

Graber came in to rehearse one full week of January, another full week in February and has been back full time since March 10.

“Jill gave me a call and I called a longtime buddy of mine and asked him if he thought I should take this role, and he said, ‘Yeah, man, you should definitely do it,’” Graber recalls. “The big balance was leaving the city for an extended period of time; can I do it financially? I was in the middle of moving out of my apartment, so the timing wasn’t great.

“I literally had to look at my calendar and figure out, is there any way I can make this work.”

Graber, who was first on the Schmeckfest stage at 9 months old for 1985’s “Shenandoah” and last on the Schmeckfest stage as Cinderella’s Prince in 2009’s “Into the Woods,” says he wanted to make it work because he loves returning to his family and his home community, “and this was a way I could give back to the school, and I’m happy to be here. It’s been a trip.”

And, not only was Graber familiar with “Jane Eyre,” he actually worked with the writers — Paul Gordon and John Caird — during a stint with a theater company in California in 2013-14.

“I actually got to study under them for two winters,” he said. “They had a few productions in the works, and just to sit there and be part of that experience and watch the way they work was life-changing for sure.”

Graber is joined by a cast of 15 others, many of whom are Schmeckfest musical veterans and who all play both named characters and a non-descript ensemble tasked with presenting a difficult musical score.

“As Amy would say, lots of crunchy bits,” says Hofer. “Lots of tension in the music. And they went for it.”

In fact, the director says, hearing the ensemble sing together early on gave her a sense that she was in for a treat working with the actors, and the audience would reap the reward of a stellar ensemble.

“Amazing,” says Hofer. “Direct gift from God. Every one of them.

“Hearing them sing as a unit the first time, even way back in January, they just sounded so good,” the director continues. “We thought we would have to get some wing singers to beef this up. Nope. They are an amazing group of people. When I heard them the first time in January I said to Amy, ‘This is going to be so good.’ And I went home and thought, ‘here we go.”

She also remembers the first time the cast ran Act I in its entirety.

“I cried because I’m a crier — it just happens,” she says. “I stopped apologizing for that a long time ago. And I thought, ‘These people came to work,’ and they work hard every day. It’s obvious they’re working outside of practice time. They had their lines memorized by the third week of February, every one of them. That level of commitment — their desire to have a good show — is so evident. How can I not step up to that level with them?”

And, just last week, when she got her first look at the ensemble wearing the black cloaks that hide their character costumes, put together by a costume team headed by Kris Carlson, “it took my breath away.”

“Just so visually striking,” Hofer says. “Like, wow.”

Among those taking the stage is Kelsey (Ortman) Pidde, who plays the demanding title role of Jane and who first made her Schmeckfest stage appearance as part of the Freeman Area Children’s Choir in 2003’s “Oliver.”

Pidde is no stranger to a big part; among the leading roles she has played is Chava in 2013’s “Fiddler on the Roof” and Marian Paroo in 2016’s “The Music Man.” But tackling the complexity of Jane Eyre and the difficult music that goes with it has proven to be a unique challenge.

“It’s a lot of lines and a lot of stage time and a lot of music, and hopefully it all stays in my brain next week,” says Pidde. “Just the amount of music in the show for everybody is a lot. And it’s beautiful stuff, but you have to learn so many words and the language itself is complicated.”

But Pidde has a resource that she hasn’t had in other parts she has taken on — Charlotte Brontë’s novel on which the musical is based. She read the book in high school and again in college and, after accepting the part and reading through the script twice, she read “Jane Eyre” for a third time.

“And so much of the show comes directly out of the book, and as a literature lover, that was really cool,” she says. “So I’ve been able to use the book as a reference and for character development, and I’ve never been able to do that before.”

As for the caliber of talent on stage, Pidde echoes Hofer’s sentiments.

“The first time I got to rehearsal, the cast was singing something, and I got goosebumps,” she says. “There is so much talent there and they just sounded so good.”

For Graber, coming back to play this role was an adjustment he equates to relearning how to use a bicycle.

“I’m so grateful that I had training in theater,” he said. “Now I do my solo, pop, folk thing and haven’t used this sort of voice — this operatic voice — in so many years. So I’ve been relearning it. So as soon as I got the role I immediately started listening to the score, warming up every day, going through vocalises, because I knew it was going to take some time.

“I wanted to hire a vocal coach because at the time I was like, my voice isn’t ready for this,” he continues, “but I thought I had enough tools that I knew how to get there.”

‘Jane Eyre’ takeaway

In her director’s notes that are included with the program booklet that will be distributed to audience members, Hofer asks those attending to be thoughtful about some of the themes of the show.

“How we treat those with mental illness?” she says. “How we hold our secrets and the effect that has on the people around us? What role does faith play? Where do we find freedom for ourselves and for others? This is a big, heavy, thought-provoking show. People are like, ‘That’s such a dark show.’ It’s not dark. It’s heavy.”

“I really have appreciated the faith aspect and how Jane is so driven by her faith,” says Pidde, “and I think a lot of people will be able to relate to those meaningful, spiritual moments.”

“Guarantee it; people will be crying,” Hofer says. “This is not Shrek (presented last year) and bless Shrek’s heart. That’s its own show and has its own purpose. This is not that.”

Graber is thrilled to be part of it all and has no regrets about his decision to come back and take on the role.

“It’s homecoming, man,” he says. “It kind of reminds you of the person you were before you went out into the world. Every opportunity I get to come back to Freeman, I want that, more and more. Like I’m fighting to get back.”

In fact, he says, “to me, coming back to do this is probably the most important thing I will do creatively.”

Ever?

“Yeah,” he says, “because I went through a lot of hardships and there was a lot of healing that needed to happen, and here I am, back in my home town.”

Being a people together

ofer will watch all three productions from command set up in the rear of the Pioneer Hall auditorium-turned-theater, passing up on the opportunity to watch from the front row that is always given the director.

“It’s not my place,” she says. “That’s for other people. I’ve seen the show from there — for three months. I’m going to have my emotional upheaval from up top.”

And, from there, she will watch a community that she has helped create, and she thinks back on some of the challenges and the collaboration that has taken place the past three months.

“I knew that there would be a lot of decision making, and I’m a slow decision maker,” she says. “And I’ll often say, ‘I don’t know; this is my first go at this and I don’t always know the best way to go about things.’

“I feel like I just have to admit what I don’t know, and if I can do that honestly, it takes it from this power trip — which it could easily become — into more of an ownership for everybody,” Hofer continues. “It’s not just me saying, ‘Nope, this is how I want it.’ Sometimes that happens, but I’m trying to make this a community. That’s what this is. It’s all about community and how we tie people together.”

And she thinks back to this past Sunday, when the cast and orchestra came together for the first time to play through the show, and Hofer got a dose of reality.

“We’ve been working at this for three months now and it’s happening,” she says. “It’s not just some dream I’m living through. It’s really going to happen.

“I love and care about these people, and I see them caring for each other, which is a beautiful thing to witness,” Hofer concludes. “I feel so indebted to this group of people. It’s been amazing.”

Graber, who just turned 40, says this is the right time for this show, for both him and the broader audience.

“The message of this show is so powerful,” he says. “Right now, where we are in our social atmosphere, we need to hear messages of grace, forgiveness, love, and how we treat each other — what’s truly valuable. And to be here now and to spend this much time dedicated to an art form is a huge blessing.”