The Ice Fishing Play  is filled with Northern Minnesota humor as well as emotion and despair with characters richly portrayed by our talented cast. 

There is a question of whether your life really does "flash before your eyes" when you die or have a near-death experience.  Is our leading character, Ron experiencing a dream, replaying memories, or is this a final organized review of his life?  It's an interesting question for the audience to ponder.

Playwright, Kevin Kling is also an actor, author, storyteller and cultural advocate, and is hailed as a Minnesota state treasure.

Established in 2022, Stages of the Range Players is a theatrical company that travels to stages across the Iron Range, bringing performances to you!

Although the company is new, it is under the direction of folks who have a long history of producing and presenting live performance.

Pete Pellinen, Stages of the Range Players President, has 22 years experience as director of Small Parts Players Regional Theater Company which brought theater education and performance to young Iron Rangers from 2nd through 12th grade.  Pete founded Small Parts Players in 2000 thanks to a Blandin Foundation Fellowship and investment.  He also has 24 years experience as the major force behind the Iron Range Regional Repertory Players and Northern Stage Works community theater company, now branded as Stages of the Range Players.   Pete studied Vocal Music Performance at Bemidji State University and Opera Performance at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.  He has performed with the Northern Lights Music Festival, San Antonio Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Minnesota Opera and Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera, companies, among others.  Pete was instrumental in the development of the Laurentian Arts and Culture Alliance which saved the 1912 historic Lyric Opera House in Virginia, Minnesota's Historic Commercial District.  He looks forward to finding ways that all Iron Range community members interested in theatrical production can participate and have fun enjoying being part of live theater.

Stages of the Range Vice Chair/Treasurer, Mary McReynolds is former Executive Director of the Lyric Center for the Arts and lived a lifetime as an arts advocate having more than 24 years experience coordinating artistic presentations and productions.  She was awarded the Maddie Simons Arts Advocate Award by the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council in 2022, coordinated the Creative Communities Focus Group as part of the IRRRB's Recharge the Range initiative, inspired the development of Revive Virginia during her tenure as a City Councilor in Virginia, has been instrumental in multiple initiatives demonstrating arts as a vital part of economic development and sustainability, and is a past appointee to the Minnesota State Arts Board.  She is also a weaver, painter, poet and playwright and current member of the Board of the Directors of Sod House Theater, Chair of the Virginia Age-Friendly Citizens Advisory Committee and Chair of the Virginia Planning and Zoning  Commission.

The groups actors, directors and stage crew are a mix of first-time participants, and seasoned theater folks.  It's a happy, supportive group and a great place to try out being part of a theater collaborative.  We'd love to have you join us!