ELY—When Carly Wogen casually mentioned she might be interested in directing, Northern Lakes Arts Association’s Ian Lah didn’t hesitate.
“Yeah, let’s do it. Do you want to do the winter musical?”
“I thought I could start small,” Wogen said with a laugh, “but then I said, ‘Sure. Let’s give it a go.’”
Now, the 40-year-old Ely resident is bringing her vision to life as first-time director of NLAA’s production of “A Christmas Carol,” a one-act musical featuring music by Alan Menken, the composer behind Disney classics like “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin.”
“The music is super catchy and really fun, and very heartwarming,” Wogen says of the production, which runs Dec. 12-21.
Wogen’s journey to the director’s chair began shortly after she moved to Ely in 2021. Originally from St. Cloud, she had spent about 10 years in the Twin Cities before she and her boyfriend — now husband — fell in love with the area during weekend getaways.
“We were looking at moving in together, buying a house, and we were looking in the suburbs, but we weren’t really excited about the suburbs,” she said. “I think we both were secretly looking at Ely properties.”
Six months after relocating, Wogen reached out to NLAA and jumped into “Little Shop of Horrors” as the sound technician. Though she had been heavily involved in theater during high school, sound was relatively new territory.
Since then, she’s become NLAA’s regular sound person and stage managed the summer’s Broadway in the Boundary Waters productions. Working at Vermilion Community College’s bookstore and library has also helped her connect with the community.
Learning on her feet
Directing has proven to be its own education.
“When you’re trying to imagine how you want people to move on a stage, you’re dealing with a fictional space, but you need to make it look like it makes some kind of sense,” Wogen said. “I came up with some ideas, but then I would go back and say, okay, people are barely moving. I need to go back and have them do a little bit more so there’s more visual interest.”
The production’s standout scene, a lavish party at the bank where Scrooge once worked, showcases choreography by Lah that required coordination among a large ensemble cast.
“All the actors have been working super hard on getting this choreography,” Wogen said. “It just kind of really pulls the whole party together and makes you feel like you’re at a big fun holiday Christmas party.”
Adding to the complexity, many cast members play multiple roles, requiring careful costume coordination by Laurie Kess.
“In one scene, they’re one character and then two scenes later, they’re a different character,” Wogen said. “Laurie has been juggling all the different costume changes — how do we make them look like a rich woman and then like a middle-class person and then they’re at a party with the minimal resources of a community theater.”
Growing the theater
community
One aspect of the production that excites Wogen is welcoming newcomers to the stage. The cast includes at least two or three people who have never performed in a theater production before, along with others who are new to the area.
“We continue to keep getting new people in the mix, which is so fun,” she said.
She’s also noticed a shift in the local theater scene since she started. What was once a concern about finding enough men to audition has transformed into a thriving community of performers.
“A couple of guys have tried theater who had never done it before, and then their friends see it and they go, ‘If he can do that, I think I’ll give it a go,’” Wogen said. “We now have this nice group of guys who enjoy coming out and doing productions.”
The production of “A Christmas Carol” runs Dec. 12-21 at the Vermilion Fine Arts Theater. Tickets are available at northernlakesarts.org.