A dark stage no more

This is my weekly column for today’s Hibbing Daily Tribune. I’m posting early because of the timely nature of the topic.

A dark stage no more
By Aaron J. Brown

The history of the Iron Range has been shaped by people, geography and geology. To the outside world, we’re known for the iron beneath our ground. The Iron Range’s unique location, nestled on hills above massive forests and bogs, makes it both isolated and continentally significant. The true shape of this place, however, has always been molded by people: new, old, teeming masses and shining individuals.

There was Joe Greeni, an immigrant miner who marched off the job and lit the fires of the Range’s biggest strike.

There was Victor Power, the tough Hibbing mayor who stood up to the mining companies on behalf of the citizens.

Then there is Mike and Ellie Ricci and their daughter Danielle, who for the past dozen years have been mainstays of the Hibbing Community College Theater program.

These people all made deep impressions on the history of the Range, but share one other trait – they came here from someplace else. Unlike the others, however, the Riccis are not names from a book or portrait to my family; rather they are like family to my wife, sons and me. And they are no less significant to the Range and its future.

Today at 2:30 the final performance of “The Pirates of Penzance” at the Hibbing Community College Theater represents Ricci’s last official show for the college. On Thursday, May 21, Ricci will direct the winning play from the Dylan Days One Act Playwright contest, which will be his last Iron Range production before he takes a similar job in the Twin Cities. Many know of Mike’s role as director but I make mention of his wife Ellie and daughter Danielle because they too have played a significant role in this chapter of Range theater lore. Ellie has designed nearly every set and provided important influence on Hibbing’s visual art community. Danielle choreographed many shows and was active in the local dance community.

Live theater performs many functions in a society. It’s an escape, for one. It’s also something that reminds us of what makes us human, what defines our culture and history. On that front, the Ricci plays have served as a needed salve at one of the emptiest times in Range history. As our economy and population shrunk, Mike exposed the Range to unknown shows like “We Won’t Pay, We Won’t Pay” and “The Visit,” which explored the desperation of hard times. When our towns and the nation were divided by war, he directed “Chain of Command” from an original play and unearthed the exposed nerves of modern conflict. And of course, there were the big productions of large, great shows, which brought many actors and audience members to their first true theater experiences.

Over the years, like many, I’ve seen most of Mike’s plays at the college, including all of the big musicals. The first was “Tommy,” which I remember well because it was the first time I’ve ever been left speechless by something done on an Iron Range stage by Iron Range actors. Many other big productions followed, too numerous to list here. In many cases I was compelled to go out and listen to CDs or watch movies of professional productions of the same plays I saw on the HCC stage. This was where the true worth of the Riccis’ time in Hibbing became clear. The people singing on those CDs were professionals with perfect pitch and resonance, probably trained since childhood to deliver those very performances. And yet more often than not I prefer to go back to my memories or the inexpensive recordings of the Hibbing productions. Sure, someone in the back wasn’t hitting the high notes, probably someone I knew. But they were good. Good enough and a damn sight better than when they started.

The voices that have graced the Hibbing Community College stage during the last 12 years were not from Broadway. Those voices were ours. They were the voices of the people of the Iron Range, voices brought to a community stage by a family that will be remembered and missed for a very long time.

Farewell, but not goodbye, Mike and Ellie. You have made the Iron Range a better place to live and your work here lives on in the story of this place and its people. The lights on our stage may go dark for now but thanks to you hundreds stand ready to light them again and again.

Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Contact him or read more at his blog MinnesotaBrown.com. His book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” is out now.