Press of the Day
Print media coverage of Johnson's productions
Johnson forged new relationship with local media
Reading through these articles, you see the evolution of local journalism though the years. Reviews began as largely praise-pieces probably designed to satisfy the participants and their families. The writers employed rather unsophisticated language, giving the impression that they may not have known how to offer up theatrical criticism. But around 1963, you'll notice that the writers started to delve into the plays with increased complexity. Fully-fledged examinations of the shows and the productions began to emerge. Medea and The Miracle Worker at John Marshall rated reviews not unlike professional analysis. Hansel and Gretel, (also at JM) spot-lit the innovative work Johnson spearheaded for the students interested in technical, backstage work.
I'd like to think (with good reason) that this change occurred in part due to Johnson's fierce engagement with the media and his desire to spread the word about what the theater department was doing. If that is true, the effect didn't last long. Sadly, at about the same time as Johnson's productions reached their zenith in quality, innovation and stagecraft, The Post Bulletin pulled back its willingness to dedicate multiple columns for the shows. Reviews gave way to "feature" stories. A case-in-point would be Johnson's masterpiece, Cyrano de Bergerac. Although there was a modest feature on stage manager Jay Toogood's remarkable return to theater following an amputation, the production itself only rated a one-paragraph description of the lead character's polyurethane nose.
NOTE | Partway through my work to digitize the press coverage of Dwain Johnson's work, a fire destroyed my home, including all of the news clippings and memorabilia my father saved and eventually left to me. Luckily, I had managed to scan and upload the Staples years prior to the disaster. That was fortunate as it was mostly school newspaper stories that I don't expect have ever been formally saved.
Pauline Ann Walle, 84, died on January 16, 2021, at Arbor Terrace in Rochester, where she had lived for the last several years. Pauline was born in Duluth, MN, on January 23, 1936, to Michael and Josephine Walle. She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother and sister. Pauline grew up on Minnesota's Iron Range, and graduated from Duluth East High School. Two junior high years at a boarding school in Old Frontenac, MN, instilled in Pauline a love of the bluffs and valleys of the Mississippi, a love she would carry with her the rest of her life. Explorations of towns and haunts on both sides of the river often showed up in her writing, years later. After high school, Pauline went on to pursue a degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota. Following graduation from college, Pauline worked as Women's Editor at the Hibbing Tribune, at the University of Minnesota/Duluth's news service, and started work at the Post-Bulletin in 1962 as Editor of the Society section. Her role evolved over the years, and she increasingly focused her writing on religion and the arts, along with stories on local residents and regional travel. She was a long-standing member of Christ United Methodist Church in Rochester, and was a loyal member of many local arts organizations. Her writing extended beyond the newspaper, and in 2010 she and friend Judith Smithson published a book of original poetry and illustrations titled Line Drawings: Poetry and Art on the Nature of Things.