Hal Cropp

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Hal Cropp, long-time Executive and Producing Director of Lanesboro, Minnesota’s Commonweal Theatre, didn’t always know he was going to spend his life working in theatre.

“I was 13 and in summer camp when I came out of the infirmary to play the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz,” Hal remembers. “I later considered other career options, marine biologist to name one. But what grabbed me most about theater, what grabs most actors, I think, is a sense of being accepted by the audience. Along with that is theater’s tremendous potential to bring people together in ways that are unifying and spiritually satisfying.”

Hal encountered a number of key stops on his journey to Minnesota. Born in New York City in 1952, he grew up in the small town of Hornell in western New York state and graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. After that, he lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 18 years, got a Masters in Nonprofit Management at Santa Clara University, and then headed to the National Theatre Conservatory in Denver, Colorado, to pursue his study – and love – of theater.

It was in Denver in 1990 that Hal first heard about Lanesboro from a fellow actor named Eric Bunge. “Eric asked if I’d be interested in joining a summer theater project starting in a little midwestern town where he had family roots,” Hal says. “It sounded interesting, I said ‘yes.’ That summer went well, and we were soon planning a second.”

That season the fledgling company produced three different shows every week: Greater Tuna, Tintypes, and Love Letters. “We even added a fourth in the fall, The Glass Menagerie,” Hal remembers. “It was a heavy schedule and lots of work, but we loved it! So did the audiences.”

Back in Denver that winter, Hal received an unexpected phone call from Eric. “He told me the Lanesboro project was facing serious challenges that threatened to close it,” Hal recalls. “He asked if I’d be willing to help the company get officially organized the following summer. I returned to Lanesboro where we got to work forming our own nonprofit. That’s how the Commonweal Theatre Company was born.”

What the Commonweal grew into is nothing short of remarkable. With a mission “…to enrich the common good through actor-based storytelling that is both transcendent and relevant,” the Company is now in its 38th season, producing five plays each year with a current annual budget of nearly $1 million. A major capital campaign in 2007 raised $3.5 million to create Commonweal’s stunning 200-seat theater on the site of an abandoned cheese factory. The recipient of numerous state, national, even international awards, the Commonweal Theater is now widely recognized as one of the leading rural professional theatre companies in America.

Lanesboro obviously benefits from its presence. “20,000 people come from all over to experience shows in this space every year,” says Hal, “and that happens in a town of 700+ people. We’re a magnet reaching far beyond our town, which is an intentional strategy for us. That helps create economic stability here.”

The community, in turn, gives back to the theater.

“Lanesboro is a unique community,” Hal says. “People here are welcoming and share a strong commitment to where they live. They get involved. They volunteer. They want to be a part of what’s going on. I first experienced that years ago when a lady stopped me on the street. She’d seen our play the night before and wanted to talk about its story and characters. I was very impressed by that. People in Lanesboro are active and engaged.”

Hal can count himself as one of those active and engaged people. In his nearly four decades in the community, he has served on Lanesboro’s City Council, its Economic Development Authority, and for multiple terms on the board (and as president) of the Lanesboro Area Chamber of Commerce. Hal was also a founder and original on-air host for Commonweal’s “Over the Back Fence,” a live radio show that ran for 25 seasons. Currently he’s involved with “Team 250,” a consortium of community leaders helping Lanesboro prepare for major downtown road construction in 2027.

“All of us need to help build the communities where we live. It’s how we give back, it’s how we make life better for everyone. I encourage our Commonweal ensemble members to get involved locally. It demonstrates to our fellow citizens that just because we’re actors doesn’t mean we’re different from anyone else. It’s also a way for us to bring energy to the town,” says Hal, who shares his adopted hometown with his wife, Adrienne Sweeney, a fellow Commonweal actor and the Company’s Associate Artistic Director.

The Commonweal family serves locally in many ways, from part-time jobs in local businesses and shops, to volunteering for seats on the Planning and Zoning Commission or the Library Board, to delivering Meals-on-Wheels every Friday. One actor is currently Executive Director of the Lanesboro History Museum. All that contributes to building a sense of place.

“Many things draw people to this community – its natural beauty, the bike trail, many fine businesses and restaurants. While they’re here, visitors discover our theater, too, and are pleasantly surprised by the quality of the work they encounter. We think of ourselves as offering 176 special events every year; it’s our priority to make every attendee feel welcome and comfortable at each one. That leads people to come back. That’s good for them, good for the Commonweal, good for Lanesboro, and good for our entire region.”

“Drama unfolds where the Root River bends,” is the Commonweal tagline. Imagine how different Lanesboro would be if the Commonweal Theatre didn’t exist, and how Hal Cropp’s life would have been different if he hadn’t said “yes” in that phone call long ago. Thankfully we don’t need to imagine either of those scenarios. Rather, we can enjoy and be grateful for the realities of what did happen, and for all the ways they have built – and are building – this very special little community.

Steve Harris

Steve Harris a freelance writer and author of “Lanesboro, Minnesota” and “Dads Like Us,” has a personal goal of never missing a Commonweal Theatre play. (steveharrissauthor.com)

For more information about the Commonweal Theatre Company, including current and next season schedules, please visit www.commonwealtheatre.com.