MANSFIELD — Michael McQuillen had seen his daughter perform on stage and decided it was time to get in on the fun himself.
“My daughter goes to Ashland and she’s been in a couple of Kroc Center productions,” he said. “It’s always been a blast watching her. It looks like they are having so much fun up there. I thought it would be cool to do.”
McQuillen is making the leap onto the stage for the first time as part of a seven-member ensemble cast in the comedy “Squirrel Lake,” a Second Stage production that opens Friday night at the Mansfield Playhouse for a two-weekend run.
McQuillen plays Patrick Olsen, one of three adult siblings who gather at their deceased mother’s summer home at Squirrel Lake, Wisconsin, for the reading of her will.
The sibling trio, which includes Scott Woodlee and Missey Anderson, are joined at the lake by a cast of characters that include a nun (or is she?) and her insane cop brother; a psychic, supposedly sent by Mom from the great beyond; and their own out-of control children.
All of them add madness to mayhem as they try to get everything sorted out.
McQuillen said he has enjoyed the creative process that leads up to opening night at the 95 E. Third St. community theater in downtown Mansfield.
“I expected it to be a lot of fun. But I didn’t expect it to be this much fun. It’s a blast. It’s like the highlight of my day getting to come here and rehearse and go over everything and make tweaks to what we’re doing,” McQuillen said.
He said the cast, most of whom are Playhouse veterans, have made his work easier.
“Again, not really surprising. But it’s reassuring just how helpful everyone has been. It’s a really open- and learning-type environment and everyone is willing to help you out,” McQuillen said.
(Below are photos taken from a dress rehearsal of “Squirrel Lake” at the Mansfield Playhouse’s Second Stage venue this week. The story continues below the photos.)
“Squirrel Lake”
The Cast:
Scott Woodley — Phillip Olsen
Michael McQuillen — Patrick Olsen
Missey Anderson — Sally Olsen King
Jeff Hutchison — Bob King
Mary Kettering — Sister Mary Catherine Elizabeth Theresa
Drew Anderson — Detective Lance Hardy
Amanda Lyons — Joy
Director: Gregg Ashbrook II
Assistant Director: Liana Ashbrook
Tickets to Second Stage shows are all $15 general admission seats. The intimate venue has a 75-seat limit and often sells out. Get tickets now at www.mansfieldplayhouse.com or call the box office at 419-522-2883 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 1 to 6 p.m. and one hour prior to all performances.
Each performance begins at 8 p.m.
Director Gregg Ashbrook II, a Playhouse veteran who directed “Airplane Encounters” on the Second Stage in 2023, said there is a lot of “misdirection” in “Squirrel Lake.”
“That misdirection keeps pushing the story in different ways … different points where everyone is trying to figure out what’s really going on. Nobody is really talking to anyone. They are just whispering behind their backs,” he said.
Ashbrook said he has enjoyed directing Second Stage shows.
“I like being able to challenge the actors to come up with their own characters.
“When you are on stage as an actor, you are figuring out your own character and some of the nuances and relationships with everyone. As a director, you’re kind of asking questions and you are pushing people to figure those conversations out and you get to piece it together like a big old puzzle,” Ashbrook said.
“It’s fun to watch (actors) develop and grow and just the characters come to life as they find new ways to express themselves and new ways to explore their characters,” he said.
Woodlee, who plays Phillip Olsen, is a veteran member of the cast, last appearing on the Playhouse’s main stage in September’s “Caught in the Net.”
“It’s fun to see the family dynamics on stage … because we all have a fun family,” he said with a laugh.
“Hakuna matata. Family has to stick together,” Woodlee said.
“We also just need a break from everything else that goes on in the world. That’s what I love about the Playhouse. It’s an opportunity to step out of all the controversies that face us every day,” said Woodlee, pastor at Mohicanville Community Church in Loudonville.
Woodlee said his character has his siblings’ best interests at heart.
“But he also prefers giving them a hard time. Sarcasm is my love language, too,” he said.
Anderson, who made her Playhouse debut in “Airplane Encounters,” said she finally had time again to commit to the several-week process involved in performing in a play.
“It took me a year and a half to do it again because my kids aren’t currently in any sports and it just fell right in the schedule,” she said of her decision to portray Sally Olsen King, wife — and mother of several feral children in the show.
She has enjoyed the difference between her first show and the second.
“In ‘Airport Encounters,’ there were like eight or nine different skits. This one is actually an hour and a half of storytelling. So I have to remember my lines … but also when and where I am on stage. We didn’t have to block much in ‘Airport Encounters,'” she said.