Starlighters II Theatre came into the world in the spring of 1974 in Monticello, Iowa as the brainchild of high school student Ron Ketelsen. Ron's desire to have more opportunities for individuals to participate in theatre in the community of Monticello led him to his decision to try to start a community theatre. Such a move would expand theatre in Monticello beyond the walls of the high school auditorium.
Ron's first move was to enlist the support of Bob Furino, a senior
at Upper Iowa University, who was student teaching at Shannon
Elementary in Monticello. At the time, Ron was also working at
Shannon school as a teacher's assistant, a program developed to
give a taste of teaching to high school students interested in
pursuing a career in education. Having written a musical theatre
production and radio theatre presentations that had been performed
at the university, Bob found himself immediately interested in
Ketelsen's plan, and the two shared ideas on how to make the theatre
idea become a reality.
During their work at Shannon school, Ron and Bob both had the
opportunity to work with one of Monticello's most outstanding
educators, Emil Prull. Not only was Emil an excellent teacher,
and a highly respected member of the community, but he had been
an active participant and leader in Starlighters, a community
theatre that had existed in Monticello from 1951 through 1957.
Prior to his community theatre involvement, Emil had obtained
extensive acting training in Hollywood, California. Ron and Bob
discussed the theatre plan with Prull who was excited about the
possibility of amateur theatre returning to Monticello. He soon
became the third member of the team of dreamers who were to be
the founders of Starlighters II.
The Prull home in Monticello was the location for the first official
meeting of what was to become Starlighters II Community Theatre.
It was on that night, February 6, 1975, that the first Board of
Directors was formed. Acknowledging his theatrical experience
and community standing, Prull was elected the first president
of the new-born theatre company. Ketelsen, the catalyst behind
the whole theatre idea, received the nod as vice-president. Betty
Wagner, editor of the Monticello Express, was elected secretary-treasurer
of the group. The balance of the new Board consisted of Bob Furino,
now a full-time teacher at Carpenter Elementary in Monticello,
Janeece Olinger Lasley, also a teacher at Carpenter school, Maxine
Taylor Marek, a teacher at Monticello High School, Bev Hoag, a
student at Monticello High, and Nancy Stevens, a reporter at the
Monticello Express. This group went by the title of "temporary
board" and was to control the organization until a permanent
board could be elected after membership increased.
At that same meeting, Furino became the first department head
when Ketelsen insisted that he be named director of lighting and
technology, pointing to Bob's four years of experience as a radio
disc jockey. The appointment stuck, even though Furino pointed
out that his only lighting experiece had been turning on the studio
lights at KUIU Radio. The Board instructed the new tech director
to construct a dozen or so stage lighting instruments to be used
in the first show. He was given a budget of $30 to work with.
Planning was also begun at that meeting toward the goal of a spring
dinner theatre to be held at the Community Building in Monticello.
Although Ron lobbied heavily for the first production to be the
musical "Oklahoma!," the Board decided instead to present
three separate non-royalty one-act plays rather than attempting
a full-length production. This action resulted from Prull's concern
that the community theatre needed to start small and build upon
experience, instead of possibly taking on more than it could handle
and destroying itself in the process.
To enhance the chances of an initial success, publicity was needed
to increase public awareness of the group's existence. A proposal
surfaced that a permanent name be adopted before any publicity
would be arranged. This led to a lengthy discussion with many
suggestions being made. Finally, Bob proposed that the group be
named Starlighters II since the goal was to carry on the tradition
of excellence established by the Starlighters group almost twenty
years before. The proposal received unanimous support, so the
new Starlighters II Community Theatre was christened in Monticello.
Before the first production, Starlighters II staged a series of
street scenes during a regular business night in downtown Monticello.
Local customers were startled by such things as purse-snatchers,
a lady receiving a pie in the face at a local supermarket, a high
school instructor being arrested for shoplifting, a search for
a phantom contact lens, and many more surprise events.
The first production was a dinner theatre consisting of three
one-act plays: "The Cornhusk Doll," a drama directed
by Esther Gilbertson of Monticello, "The Shock of His Life,"
a comedy directed by Jan Hoag of Monticello, and "Sparkin',"
a comedy directed by Florence Kenny Flannagan of Hopkinton. The
production was a success as large audiences packed the auditorium
of the Monticello Community Building on all three nights.
With the first production behind them, Starlighters II looked
ahead toward the remainder of the year. On May 30th, the Board
voted to present a full three-act comedy in the fall. On July
29th, the Board met to discuss plays. "Plaza Suite"
by Neil Simon was the choice of the majority, and it was scheduled
as the fall production.
The summer of 1975 also saw the addition of a new Board member,
Ramunda Cass, who was elected to replace Bev Hoag after Bev resigned
to attend college. At the same time, president Prull appointed
Furino as chairman of a committee to draw up a set of bylaws for
Starlighters II and present them for ratification in November.
On August 27th, the Board met to decide the dates for the production
of "Plaza Suite" and to choose a director for the play.
October 9th, 11th, and 12th were chosen as production dates, and
to direct the play, the Board selected Ramunda Cass.
"Plaza Suite" opened to large crowds each night, allaying
the fears of some people that the new theatre group would fold
as quickly as it had begun.
On November 24th, a draft of the proposed bylaws was presented
to the Board by the committee which had been appointed for that
purpose. They were approved immediately. Under the new bylaws,
an organizational meeting for election of a Board of Directors
was to be held on the second Sunday of January in every even-numbered
year. In accordance with this, a meeting was slated for January
11, 1976 at the Monticello Community Building. On that date, the
first permanent Board of Directors was elected for Starlighters
II Community Theatre. Each Board member was to serve for a period
of two years. Tom Hoffman, a teacher at Monticello High School,
was elected as the first president of the permanent Board. It
was Hoffman who would prove to be the driving force behind the
growth that Starlighters II would experience over the coming years.
The little troupe catapulted to the forefront by staging ten successful
productions in three years.
The history of this organization took a significant turn, however,
when, early in 1978, representatives from the Anamosa Community
Theatre met with president Tom Hoffman and a few other members
of the Starlighters II Board of Directors, inquiring whether or
not their organization could combine forces with Starlighters
II. The Directors of both groups thought the idea was a good one,
so on February 16, 1978 the Boards of Directors of the two community
theatres met in the basement of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in
Anamosa. That night the Directors of the Anamosa Community Theatre
voted to join Starlighters II, and a new county-wide amateur theatre
company was born. The move also brought three new Board members
to Starlighters II Theatre. Ron Smith, Bob Witt, and Ann Wahl,
all of Anamosa. Smith was later to become president of the theatre
company, and establish himself as one of the most dynamic leaders
in the history of the theatre.
The move turned out to be a fortuitous one, as the combined membership
made for a strong and progressive new group. During the six years
to follow, under the strong and imaginative leadership of Hoffman
and Smith, Starlighters II staged twenty-six productions beginning
with "The Sound Of Music," the theatre's first musical.
It was the first show to be presented in both Anamosa and Monticello.
The production weekend for "The Sound of Music" proved
to be a monumental undertaking, never duplicated by the theatre
since then. The show was staged at the Monticello High School
auditorium on Friday and Saturday nights. The set was struck after
the Saturday night performance. Sunday morning the set was transported
to the Anamosa Junior High School auditorium and reconstructed.
A full-scale dress rehearsal was performed Sunday afternoon, and
the production was staged Sunday and Monday night, with the set
being struck and returned to storage after the Monday night show.
Starlighters II reached another milestone on February 15, 1979.
On that date, the troupe achieved non-profit status under section
501 (c) (3) of the U.S. Code of Law. This was culmination of a
long quest to attain the level of a tax-exempt, non-profit corporation.
Starlighters II, Inc. was born!
From 1978 to 1983 Starlighters II moved ahead at a frantic pace,
producing an average of nearly five shows a year. Towards the
end of this period of expansion, however, the theatre suffered
a tragic loss with the sudden death of Emil Prull. Some time before
that, Ron Ketelsen had been lured out of Iowa by a job opportunity,
and the other founder, Bob Furino, had seen his involvement severely
curtailed by the expansion of his job commitments helping to build
a fast-growing computer program at Monticello's elementary schools.
In 1983 the Board of Directors also suffered the loss of its visionary
leaders of the last half-decade, Tom Hoffman and Ron Smith, whose
occupational promotions took them out of the area.
Undoubtedly affected by these losses, and by the normal ebb and
flow to which all organizations are subject, the group tumbled
into a surprising period of inactivity. From December of 1983
until April of 1985, Starlighters II put on only one production,
causing many within the organization to wonder whether or not
the theatre would survive. The fortunes of the group turned the
corner in the spring of 1985.
Feeling like newcomers to the theatre they had founded a decade
earlier, Ron Ketelsen, who had returned to Monticello, and Bob
Furino returned to the Board of Directors, being appointed to
fill the unexpired terms of two members who had moved away. They
joined what turned out to be a very energetic Board which would
spark the theatre to rise like the phoenix during the next year.
One of the first signs of renewed vitality came with the production
of the musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" in
July of 1985. Directed by Virginia Danielson, this was the first
production staged in Anamosa in almost two years. The show was
a successful one, well-received by the public. It was a much needed
confidence builder for the organization.
Although Ketelsen had proposed it eleven years earlier, it took
until the summer of 1986 for Starlighters II to finally stage
the musical "Oklahoma!" With Ketelsen at the helm as
director of this ambitious production, the theatre staged one
of its most successful shows to that point. Enthusiastic crowds
greeted the show each night. During that same time, Ketelsen again
partnered with Furino to spearhead a membership drive that culminated
with over 75 new members joining the theatre. With these success
stories under its belt, the organization was poised for another
growth spurt.
The growth spurt came in the form of a five-show season in 1987.
The theatre thrived with the productions such as "Life With
Mother Superior," "South Pacific," "Come Blow
Your Horn," and the holiday extravaganza, "An Old-Fashioned
Christmas." By the end of 1997 the corporation had regained
its footing both artistically and financially. Starlighters II
was back!
In January of 1988, Starlighters II entered a new and exciting
chapter of its history with the purchase of a building. The troupe
had made several attempts at buying a home during the late 1970's
and the early 1980's, but this time luck was finally on the side
of the Starlighters II Board of Directors. In a move viewed by
many as a foolish risk, the Board, on a 5 to 4 vote, approved
the purchase of a building in downtown Anamosa. President Ron
Ketelsen cast the tie-breaking vote, and by the narrowest of majorities,
the organization became the proud owner of the former Coast-to-Coast
building on February 1, 1988. Work began immediately on the daunting
task of converting a hardware store into a theatre. Renovation
went on at an unbelievalble pace with numerous volunteers, and
the theatre was ready for the opening of the next show that spring.
Ketelsen exited from Starlighters II in 1990, leaving Furino as
the only one of the founders still active in the 90's. Bolstered
by an influx of talented new individuals and a strong core of
veterans, Starlighters II has made the 90's its finest artistic
period. The theatre has experienced some of its most significant
growth in the current decade, making major organizational strides
with the purchase of the second and third floors of the adjacent
building, and the launching of an ambitious new studio theatre
program, Starlighters 2000. While balancing each season in favor
of more standard fare, the theatre's mainstage has also witnessed
ventures into several contemporary, and sometimes controversial,
productions which have allowed actors and directors the opportunity
to stretch themselves artistically.
Another milestone was reached by Starlighters II Theatre in
another February when, in February of 1996, they became the first
theatre in Iowa to enter cyberspace with their own website. That
same year, the Starlighters II website was awarded the prize as
"Best Iowa Website."
In recent years, more and more new and creative individuals have
gained authoritative positions in the theatre, joining with veteran
Starlighters to continue the trend towards a higher level of professionalism
and artistic growth.
In 1998 Starlighters II embarked upon an ambitious expansion
project which, if successful, will culminate in the construction
of a new Starlighters II theatre building in Jones County. A feasibility
study was begun and hopes were high for success.
December of 1999 marked the end of an era as the last of the
original founders of Starlighters II Theatre, Bob Furino, determined
it was time to leave the theatre he helped create 25 years earlier.
So the year 2000 marked the first time Starlighters II had entered
a new year without Ketelsen or Furino. A new era had begun for
the 25 year old theatre company.
Starlighters II proudly looks to its future. Judging by past history,
the 21st century will be a wild, exciting, and wonderful ride
for all those involved in the operation of Starlighters II Theatre.