Kristin Larson starts Goldfinch Theater Company
Kristin Larson, professor of art and theater at Grand View University, has a vision. Her vision is to reward performing actors/actresses with compensation for their hard work. Compensation and theater don’t often go together. In 2014, Larson decided to take this vision and make it a reality by starting Goldfinch Theater Company. Helping her is well-known Iowa Nice Guy, Scott Siepker.
Siepker is the host of Iowa Outdoors on channel 5 and a sports talk radio announcer. Along with these two jobs, he stays busy with public speaking and acting in different local shows.
After a year of discussions, they finally decided to start their company with the famous play “Macbeth.”
“It was a great success,” said Larson. “The production was lively and really fun and vibrant.”
It was a success in other ways, as well. People from all over Des Moines came to watch, and in the end, all the people involved in the play were compensated. Everybody involved in the play from actors to producers was paid the same amount of money. It might not have been a lot but everyone was rewarded for their hard work.
While producing a successful play, Larson also brought publicity to Grand View. The final production of the play was held at Grand View’s theater, which brought different faces from the community to campus. Goldfinch Theater Company gives Larson and Siepker the opportunity to produce professional theater and tie it to Grand View.
“We have beautiful space here, and it doesn’t see enough community faces,” Larson explained. “I would like to see some theater that can draw in the community.”
While they do want to make sure that every actor or actress gets paid for their work, Larson and Siepker still want to keep their ticket prices affordable for everyone. They were able to produce “Macbeth” and compensate everyone on the staff while charging only $15 per ticket. This price makes it affordable for everyone at any age in the community to come and enjoy the play.
The next play that Larson and Siepker are preparing for is called the 7-11 theater project. This is a contest between different teams that sign up for the event starting March 15. Every team has 7-11 days to write, rehearse, and perform the play. Each team draws blindly for a genre, props, and dialogue. The winners of this competition will be rewarded prizes for their skills and creativity.
Larson is working with Grand View and Goldfinch for the production of this play. This gives students the opportunity to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes to put together a professional theater performance. Larson said she loves working with the students at Grand View and hopes to continue that with opening up internships in the future with Goldfinch.
Siepker enjoys working with Larson for a number of reasons.
“She is one of the most caring, considerate people that you’ll ever come across in any walk of life,” Siepker said. “She has the biggest heart.”
With everything Larson does from producing plays at Grand View, as well as starting Goldfinch Theater Company, she is stretched thin. She does her best to help her students as much as possible and bring good, affordable, and professional theater to the city of Des Moines. In the end, she says it is definitely worth all the hard work.
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