Scott Motto: Prior to coming to Dubuque, Scott and his wife Barbara lived in Chatsworth, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. He enjoyed a thirty-year career in institutional investments with Bank of America until his early retirement. Barbara is a native of Dubuque and they had visited here often and agreed it would be a great place to live. The earthquake of 1993 sealed their decision to make the move.

In 1994, soon after their arrival, they attended a show at the Grand Opera House and a friend asked if Scott wanted to volunteer to run a spotlight for the next show. That show was Guys and Dolls, and Scott was hooked. He became the Technical Director and has been involved ever since. During these last nine years, he has been fortunate enough to see significant upgrades to the technical capabilities of the theater. These included entirely new lighting and sound systems, both of which continue to be upgraded for the benefit of our audiences. He is looking forward to opening up the fly space and finally having a level floor on the stage.

Scott says the Grand Opera House is a great community theatre and one of which Dubuque can be proud. He hopes in some small way that he has made a positive contribution toward that end.

Bill Hoerstman: Bill Hoerstman retired from the John Deere Dubuque Works in 1994, after 29 years of service, where he was a Senior Engineering Analyst. He is now the Box Office Manager at the Grand Opera House.

He has been involved in 38 different productions at the Grand including acting in both plays and musicals, set building, stage manager, lights, sound, spotlights, props, and assistant director. He will soon be directing his first play, Alone Together. He has been on the Play Reading Committee for seven years, and was Chairman for four years. He worked part-time in the Box Office for several years before becoming the Manager. He has also been offstage help for many of the rentals that have been at the Grand.

His favorite roles have been in Guys and Dolls, It Runs in the Family, and The Odd Couple, the last because his entire family was involved with the show. Diane, his wife was in charge of props, Kim, his daughter, was one of the Pidgeon sisters, and Dana, his other daughter, was an usher.

Bill loves being involved at the Grand and meeting and getting to know a lot of great people, both on the stage and off. He says he couldn't ask for a more exciting place to work, act, and "hang out" after retiring from John Deere. He hopes he can be involved for many more years to come.

Nancy Ginter: Nancy is in her 12th season at the Grand. She enjoys the Grand's spirit of volunteerism and the "Grand" family of friends who have become such an important part of her life.

Nancy currently serves as the Chairperson for Props on the Production Board and has been a part of 37+ shows over the years. As head of props, Nancy has been found traipsing the far corners of Dubuque, shopping in thrift stores, visiting a Jewish temple for Fiddler on the Roof, or working with restaurants to make the real-looking waffles-on-a-stick for Nuncrackers. Assistant director, stage and house manager, props person, stage and technical crew (including sound, lights, and spotlight operator), set painter, make-up crew, and usher and concessions are other areas where you can find Nancy. Many shows she can be found wearing several hats at once.

Nancy's favorite onstage roles include the baker in Joseph, General Cartwright in Guys and Dolls, and a member of the servant chorus in My Fair Lady.

When not working on a show, Nancy helps her sister, Sheri, in the Grand Business Office, doing whatever needs to be done. In real life, Nancy is City Manager for Kelly Services and a freelance proofreader for Shepherd, Inc.

John and Pearl Kohnen: John and Pearl Kohnen have been volunteering at the Grand Opera House since 1988, when a friend of theirs invited them to help in the Concession Stand. They volunteered for their first show, and never looked back.

Though the Concession Stand is where they spent the bulk of their time at the Grand, their volunteer hours were spent doing tasks as diverse as helping to paint sets for productions to helping with bulk mailings in the Business Office. John and Pearl, who generally came as a team, were cheerful and willing volunteers for whatever work needed doing.

But probably the most unusual volunteer work John and Pearl did for the Grand was to reupholster seats years ago, when money was too scarce to bring in professionals. They took home eight or ten seats at a time to redo. John made an initial pattern and worked off that, until he discovered that some of the seats were different sizes. He then made a number of patterns to match the various seat sizes. John would then cut out the material and Pearl sewed the pieces together, despite the fact that she was blind in one eye. Then they reconstructed the seat with the new material. John and Pearl have truly been loyal and supportive Grand friends.

Susan P. Boyum: Sue's first "Grand" experience was as an audience member when she and her soon-to-be husband, Randy Ressler, received free tickets from the TH as an engagement present! The show was Isn't It Romantic, and listed in that show's program was an audition notice for an upcoming production, They're Playing Our Song. Sue showed up for the audition, song in hand, and landed the first of many leading lady roles.

Most recently she's been seen on stage as the single mother in Godspell and as Nancy in Oliver. Some of her favorite roles include the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, Golde in Fiddler on the Roof, Nellie in South Pacific and Reno in Anything Goes.

Sue also has choreographed and costumed several Grand productions and lends a hand with make-up and ushering when needed.

Sue has been recognized as an Outstanding Alumni from Mount Marty College in Yankton, South Dakota, where she graduated with a BA in Music, Theatre Arts and Education. In 1990, she received her MA from the University of Iowa.

Sue is currently a vocal music educator at Washington Junior High, where she is also Music Director for their Visual and Performing Arts Program. She is so pleased to have passed on her great love of the theatre to her husband, Randy, and their sons, Dylan and Bowen. As a family, they have been seen on the stage together in four Grand productions!