Scandinavian-American and Rural Humor Books

Books about Farm Life, Small Town Life, the Midwest, and Scandinavian-Americans

Featuring the Heartwarming Humor of "Those Lutheran Ladies"

The Church Basement Ladies Musical Comedies

Produced by Troupe America

To date, three musical comedies have been written, produced, and thoroughly enjoyed by audiences throughout the nation. All three — and a fourth now being developed — are based on Martin and Nelson's books, especially their best seller, Growing Up Lutheran .

The first play, Church Basement Ladies, opened September 8, 2005 at the Plymouth Playhouse (in Plymouth, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis) and closed March 2, 2008. Since then it has been touring nationally for about nine months each year. Then, a week after the first show closed, the sequel, Church Basement Ladies 2: A Second Helping, opened at the same theatre running through October 2009. True to form, the third play, Away in the Basement, with a church basement Christmas setting, opened a week later at the Playhouse and ran through the holiday season closing at the end of January 2010. The sequel is about to begin a touring schedule and, due to popular demand, Away in the Basement will again be staged at the Plymouth Playhouse during the 2010 - 2011 Christmas holiday season.

Original Cast Recordings of the Music (CD format)

Church Basement Ladies

Church Basement Ladies, the first show in the series, is a humorous reflection about growing up in an era before women wore pants to church, and before men served in the church basement. Church Basement Ladies gives you heartfelt, hilarious insights into the lives of those who prepared and served at weddings, anniversaries, funerals and farm auctions.

This CD was recorded in August 2005, just prior to the opening of the first play. Vocals are by original cast members: Greta Grosch, Janet Paone, Dorian Chalmers, Ruthie Baker, and Tim Drake. Keyboards, for this CD, are performed by Drew Jansen who is also musical director of the show. Kyle Nelson was the organist for live productions performed at the Plymouth Playhouse.

Songs on this CD include: Closer to Heaven, The Pale Food Polka, Get Down to Business, Song for Willie, My Own Personal Island, Dead Spread, The Cities, This is Most Certainly True, Sing a New Song, Mother of the Bride, and For Good.

Based on Norwegian-Lutheran humor books written by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson
Script by Jim Stowell and Jessica Zuehlke
Music and Lyrics by Drew Jansen
Directed by Curt Wollan

CBL-1    $15.95

Church Basement Ladies 2:  A Second Helping

A Second Helping, the sequel, takes place in 1969 and 1970. The four scenes include getting ready for the Luther League Banquet, preparing for the Mission Festival, the congregation's Annual Meeting, and sprucing up the church and spring cleaning.

Vocals are by original cast members: Greta Grosch, Janet Paone, Dorian Chalmers, Tara Borman, and Tim Drake. Keyboards players on this CD are Drew Jansen, Dennis Curley and Kyle Nelson. They are accompanied by percussionist Matt Weaver and Chris Stauffer playing the bass.

Songs on this CD include: Everyone Knows a Church Basement Lady, God's Way of Sayin', Cardamom, Cinnamon, Ginger and Clove, You Never Know, Mary/Martha, Old Dog-New Tricks, My Baby Wants Beef, Get Back in the Game, Vivian's Bad Trip, The Tales of Your Heart, and An Additional Gift.

Based on Norwegian-Lutheran humor books written by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson
Script by Greta Grosch
Music and Lyrics by Drew Jansen and Dennis Curley
Directed by Curt Wollan

CBL- 2     $15.95

Away in the Basement

The CD of the Christmas production was recorded in the Fall of 2009 by five cast members. Unlike the first two productions, this show had two sets of cast members rotating in and out to meet the intensely scheduled calendar of holiday shows. Vocals on the recording are by Greta Grosch, Robbie Mancina, Dorian Chalmers, Tara Borman, and Tim Drake. Drew Jansen, who wrote the music and the lyrics for this show, plays the keyboard on the CD. Other accompanists are Andy Nelson on the sax, Vin Parker playing percussion, and trumpeter Adam Rossmiller. (The other five actors, not heard on this CD, are: Shannon Herman, Judi Gronseth, Roxanne Britz, Andrea Alioto and Greg Eiden.)

Songs on this CD include: Away in the Basement, The Unforgettable Christmas Program of 1958, Everybody is a Kid Again at ChristmasTime, Just Not Mary Material, Always One More thing, I Think You'd Like Her, Pińata, Whatsoever You Doo-Wop, Reindeer Rendezvous, and the world's best version of "Jeg er så Glad."

Based on Norwegian-Lutheran humor books written by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson
Script by Greta Grosch
Music and Lyrics by Drew Jansen
Directed by Curt Wollan

CBL-3     $15.95

Troupe America's 2010 Tour

of Church Basement Ladies

Mar 30	Daytona Beach, FL	Peabody Auditorium
April 1	Winston-Salem, NC	NC School of the Arts
April 8	Avon Park, FL	So FL Community College
April 9	Palm Beach Gardens, FL	Palm Beach Community College
April 11	Belle Glade, FL	Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Ctr
April 13-16	Hot Springs, AR	Hot Springs Village Concert Assn
April 18	Chickasha, OK	Te Ata Mem. Auditorium (USAO)
April 20	Bartlett, TN	Bartlett Performing Arts Ctr
April 21	Elizabethtown, KY	Hardin County Schools
April 22	Wabash, IN	Honeywell Ctr
April 23	Terre Haute, IN	Sturgis Young Auditorium
April 24	Terre Haute, IN	ISU Tilson Auditorium
April 25	Anderson, IN	Paramount Theatre
April 26	Mt. Carmel, IL	Wabash Valley Arts Council
April 28	Concordia, KS	The Brown Grand Theatre
April 29	Pittsburg, KS	Memorial Auditorium Convention Ctr
May 1	Eau Claire, WI	Eau Claire Regional Arts Council
May 2	Maquoketa, IA	Ohnward Fine Arts Ctr
May 4-5	New London, CT	Garde Arts Ctr
May 8	Crystal lake, IL	Raue Ctr for the Arts
May 9	Tecumseh, MI	Tecumseh Ctr for the Arts

Troupe America's 2010 Tour of
Church Basement Ladies 2: A Second Helping

March 29 through May 22 Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse Rock Island, IL

Read more information about this production.

Read a review of this production.

"Those Lutheran Ladies," Janet Martin and Suzann Nelson (holding coffee pot), and Director/Producer Curt Wollan at a very Lutheran Opening Night Party at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

The play is a smash hit. See the newspaper reviews:

From Church Basement to Main Stage (Sept. 14, 2005)
Take two scoops of hotdish, hold the Jello and prepare for a hit (Sept. 14, 2005)
Augsburg Alumnae receive 'Gold Pen Award' (Oct. 23, 2006)
Church 'casserole queens' receive overdue tribute (Apr. 25, 2007)
United Methodist cooks share prize-winning church recipes (Apr. 25, 2007)
Church Basement memories (Apr. 25, 2007)
Theatregoers know the ladies can cook, and they're welcome to seconds (Pioneer Press, Dec. 6, 2007)
Isn't That Special? (Minneapolis Star Tribune, Dec. 21, 2007) (Word document of article)
Evora Wheeler has a winner (Emporia Gazette, March 19, 2008) (Word document of article)
Church Basement Ladies: Sing for your lutefisk (Isthmus, Madison, WI., Aug 15, 2008)
A review from a blogger who saw the show at the Capitol Theater and loved it (Aug 14, 2008)

Some viewer comments: Photo by Paul Nixdorf

The play was great! Everyone said it was even better than the first one (if that is possible).
I loved how the play was not a sequel - you couldn't say that one was better than the other becuase they were both different and both great!
When Beverly came out in her navy dress (identical to my Kelly Green one from 1969) and sang, my 4-year-old grandson whispered in his dad's ear: "Daddy, she is beautiful!"
It was marvelous! (This was written by a woman in Vintage clothing. She left Minneapolis about 1:00 am, drove to W. Central MN in the snow, and emailed this at 4:56 am before she left for work in Alexandria. SN)
Congratulations, Suzann, on another hit. I know this one will run for years!

Newspaper Reviews of Church Basement Ladies 2, A Second Helping:

'Church Basement Ladies 2' still cooks (Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 17, 2008) (Word Document of article)
Plymouth Playhouse cooks up another tasty offering (MN Sun Newspapers, Mar. 26, 2008) Word Document of article)
Church Basement Ladies still dishing out the good stuff in a second serving spiced with the same humor (Pioneer Press, March 28, 2008) Word document of article
Play gives Plymouth theater new lease on life (MN Sun Newspapers, April 4, 2008 (Word Document of article)

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