Banfield Principal Candace Raskin said Thursday was the first time she’d heard an entire grade come back from a field trip unanimously in favor.

Tuesday, May 16, 2000

Banfield Principal Candace Raskin said Thursday was the first time she’d heard an entire grade come back from a field trip unanimously in favor. The Banfield fifth graders declared the Guthrie’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" a smashing success.

So, in fact, so did the majority of theatergoers this weekend.

"A lot of people that saw it during the day came back and bought tickets for the evening performance, they loved it so much" Paramount Project Coordinator Nikki Hess said. "I know the people that went were truly amazed."

One person who didn’t get, but certainly deserves a standing ovation for Austin’s theatrical treat is native daughter Beth (Pesonen) Burns, a 1987 Austin High School graduate. Without Burns, who was the tour director for the show, Austin might not have been so lucky.

Burns started working on the Guthrie tour in November of 1998. There was a core group of bookings to start with, and it was up to her to fill in the blanks with places that made sense geographically.

"We needed communities that could support the show," Burns said.

"Austin was a good option, so I spoke to [Mayor] Bonnie Rietz to see if she thought the support was here. She really went to bat to make this happen," she said.

On Thursday, the morning of the first performance for the school kids, the slim blonde could be seen hustling around the halls of her alma mater.

"Mellow" would not describe Burns before or during a show.

She’s a ball of energy, making sure every thing is in place, everyone happy.

"It’s not too weird being here, because it’s changed so much with the remodeling," she said about being back in school. "I see a lot of familiar faces though – I knew a lot of these people as teachers."

The former AHS cheerleader wasn’t in theater in high school, she was into music and journalism. It wasn’t until college at St. Olaf’s that she became interested in theater, and it wasn’t until she did a residency with a children’s theater that she got hooked on arts administration. However, she credits her parents Judy and Ralph Pesonen with exposing her to lots of the arts as a child, and Austin for providing many opportunities.

"This is a really culturally wealthy community," Burns said. "That’s easy to take for granted, but it’s not the norm for a community of 20,000 to have an arts center, a children’s theater and a symphony, not to mention a place like the Paramount."

Bringing the show to her hometown was just the icing on the cake. The thing Burns was most excited about in Austin – other than good home-cooked food – was the way everything got set up here, with Hormel footing the bill for the production and the various arts groups getting the proceeds from the public performances.

"The money will stay in the community," Burns said. "So more arts can happen. That’s really nice."

"Austin was a good option, so I spoke to [Mayor] Bonnie Rietz to see if she thought the support was here. She really went to bat to make this happen," she said.

On Thursday, the morning of the first performance for the school kids, the slim blonde could be seen hustling around the halls of her alma mater.

"Mellow" would not describe Burns before or during a show.

She’s a ball of energy, making sure every thing is in place, everyone happy.

"It’s not too weird being here, because it’s changed so much with the remodeling," she said about being back in school. "I see a lot of familiar faces though – I knew a lot of these people as teachers."

The former AHS cheerleader wasn’t in theater in high school, she was into music and journalism. It wasn’t until college at St. Olaf’s that she became interested in theater, and it wasn’t until she did a residency with a children’s theater that she got hooked on arts administration. However, she credits her parents Judy and Ralph Pesonen with exposing her to lots of the arts as a child, and Austin for providing many opportunities.

"This is a really culturally wealthy community," Burns said. "That’s easy to take for granted, but it’s not the norm for a community of 20,000 to have an arts center, a children’s theater and a symphony, not to mention a place like the Paramount."

Bringing the show to her hometown was just the icing on the cake. The thing Burns was most excited about in Austin – other than good home-cooked food – was the way everything got set up here, with Hormel footing the bill for the production and the various arts groups getting the proceeds from the public performances.

"The money will stay in the community," Burns said. "So more arts can happen. That’s really nice."