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Artist-in-residence Gary Gisselman earns praise for Guthrie Theater production

By Amy Gage
November 24, 2003

For the third time in as many years, Gary Gisselman is directing A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, a holiday classic that has run at the Guthrie for nearly 30 years. Every year, Gisselman tries to do something different, "so the message comes through," without getting in the way of the beloved story by Charles Dickens.

This year, his subtle but confident touch is paying off.

"Gisselman's staging is clean and crystalline, ringing with pathos and mirth," said a review by theater critic Rohan Preston in the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune. "He finds the heart of this piece without theatrical tricks."

A respected, well-known figure in Twin Cities theater, Gisselman came to St. Olaf College in 1999; he is artist-in-residence and artistic director of the St. Olaf College theater. Although he maintains a full teaching load during fall semester, he credits the college with making it possible for him to handle the considerable Christmas Carol tasks as well as his classroom work. "I love doing it," he says, "and I love the fact that the college makes it possible to do both."

Gisselman takes particular pride in the St. Olaf graduates who are part of this year's production, including assistant director Sarah Rasmussen. He's also employed 2003 graduates Lauren Asheim and Kirstin Franklin as "essentials," or extras, who play numerous parts in this multi-character play. "They're on stage all the time," Gisselman says. St. Olaf graduate Doug Scholz Carlson plays young Ebenezer in one key scene.

"I'm able to use a lot of St. Olaf graduates, but I never do that just because they were St. Olaf students," the director explains. "It's always because they're good enough to be there. It's great for them, and for me, to work with that company of actors."

The founding artistic director of the Chanhassen Theaters in suburban Minneapolis, Gisselman has directed nearly 200 productions of plays, musicals, industrials and operas at the Cricket, Illusion and Park Square theaters in Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Pioneer Theatre in Salt Lake City and A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle.

He is a longtime member of the artistic staff of the Children's Theatre Co. of Minneapolis, and he has taught at the University of Minnesota School of Music, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.