My husband and I moved to Nebraska in July of 2000 for me to take a job at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.  In that first hot week of unpacking, we took a break and went to a bookstore where we saw a modest display of  books about Nebraska.  In those few minutes browsing I had a number of revelations.  First, all those “too flat!” naysayers were only partially right.  Once you get off I-80, Nebraska has surprising and delightful contrasts, the easy hills of the Missouri river valley in the east, the stunning sandhills and astonishing flyway for migratory birds that pass through it, and the high deserts plateaus climbing to the Rockies in the west. The book I bought and loved that day was Local Wonders by Ted Kooser.  So, almost from day one, I wanted to share Ted’s insights and observations in the way I share stories—on the stage. I first asked Paul to only write the music, but it was clear, early on, that his responses as a man and a father deepened our approach to the material.

Virginia is an Associate Professor of acting and directing at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Artistic Director of Nebraska Repertory Theatre.

I was the fifth child of eleven growing up in rural northern Illinois.  We traveled very little.  Personal space was achieved only by going outside.  And it was there that I developed my love for weather, and stillness, the seasons, and the fickleness of daylight.  My local wonders surprised and tickled me constantly; and I try to capture that child’s sense of discovery and delight in all my writing.  Virginia sent me Ted’s book of essays and asked: “What do you think of it– as a man?” and then “Do you see any songs in it?”  I was awakened, once again, into that sense of discovery and delight and packed up Ted’s books, my guitar, my computer, and my wife and headed off to the rural lakeshores of Michigan.  The Lake (our Bohemian Alps) and Ted’s writing splashed idea after idea against my ear and out of my fingers.  I couldn’t stop writing.  I still can’t.

Paul is an Associate Professor of acting in the Theater Department of Columbia College Chicago and a free-lance writer-director-performer in theater and music.

Ted Kooser is a poet and essayist, a professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and most recently the 13th United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.  His writing is known for its clarity, precision and accessibility.

Ted has been so supportive of our efforts in putting his work on stage.  What started as a one-man show in 2005, now features Ted and his wife, Kathleen, as our guides on their journey.  Read and enjoy Ted’s full bio on our Ted Kooser page. 

When Virginia first asked Ted if she could try to find a play in his book, Ted was completely supportive.  He didn’t know then that he and his wife Kathleen would become the poet and his companion who take us on this journey.