Circa divine comedy reunites theater family

Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, Rock Island, has been a second home for Krianna Walljasper her whole life.

Now the 21-year-old Moline High alum is celebrating on stage with her parents Tom and Shelley, as the trio have leading roles in the new Circa production of the beloved audience favorite “Church Basement Ladies.”

The new show (the original divine comedy, which premiered in 2005 and kicked off a series of nine musicals) reunites mom and daughter, after they played in “Away In The Basement” in a recent CBL national tour. That third CBL show and a Christmas-themed story set in 1959, premiered in 2009, but it’s one Circa has not done before.

“It’s a really cute one,” Shelley Walljasper said at Circa Wednesday morning. She played Vivian and Krianna was Signe at 15. This was their first national tour and Shelley said it was always “a bucket list thing for me.”

Curt Wollan (executive producer of Troupe America, in Plymouth, Minn., which produced the first CBLs) directed Circa’s “Grumpy Old Men” last year and asked Shelley about doing a Midwest tour.

They couldn’t find an actress who looked 15 (as Karin’s daughter Signe), Krianna said, noting her mom suggested her. They had to commit two and a half months, starting rehearsals in mid-October outside the Twin Cities.

They did performances beginning early November, touring 28 cities through the end of December. The tour went as far as Kansas, Ohio and Kentucky, and the closest to the QC were shows in Amana, Iowa and Dubuque.

“We were so close to home for Thanksgiving that we got to go home,” Krianna said, noting they also came back to Moline for Christmas, Dec. 24-25. They had just two performances after Christmas.

Some tour stops were in high schools, and the largest theater was the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, Ill.

“It was exciting walking into a new venue, and look out and see,” Shelley said. “We stayed at some really nice hotels.”

“We had a beautiful black bus,” she said, noting they had a cast and crew of nine people.

“I was lucky enough that I didn’t go to college, and they thought I was talented enough to pursue that,” Krianna said. “I didn’t want to be known for the Walljasper last name; I knew what I was doing. I just wanted to experience it. I wanted them to see me for me.”

She was just 4 when she saw Tom first as the pastor in CBL at Circa in 2007.

“I like CBL because there’s always something happening,” Krianna said. “Your brain doesn’t have a moment to just stop. I’m Signe until the very end, and like, the show’s over?”

Shelley said the tour was so much fun, and they stayed in the same hotel rooms together. She got sick (Krianna took her to an ER) with a urinary tract infection and had to miss her first performances ever. The tour had to fly in an understudy for two shows.

Shelley has been in other CBLs at Circa (but not the first one), always playing Mavis, more a comic character, and this is her fourth one. The last one was “You Smell Barn” in 2021, which Tom was not in. She is Vivian now, the role she was on tour, and Tom reprises his popular role as Pastor E.L. Gunderson, a character he first performed at Circa 17 years ago.

Other members of the ensemble include Bootlegger and mainstage performer Sydney Dexter Richardson, and making her Circa ’21 debut, Kathy Day.

“I enjoy playing Mavis, because she’s got a lot of good lines and I can identify with the character,” Shelley said Wednesday. “Mavis has to do a lot of physical stuff and as I’ve gotten older, it’s harder. I like playing Vivian, it’s just different.”

CBL synopsis

A celebration of the church-basement kitchen and the women who work there, the original CBL features four distinct characters and focuses on their relationships as they organize the food and solve the problems of a rural Minnesota church about to undergo changes in 1965, according to a synopsis.

From the elderly matriarch of the kitchen to the young bride-to-be learning the proper order of things, we see them handle a record-breaking Christmas dinner, the funeral of a dear friend, a Hawaiian Easter fundraiser, and a steaming hot July wedding. They stave off potential disasters, share and debate recipes, instruct the young, and keep the pastor on course while thoroughly enjoying (and tolerating) each other as the “steel magnolias” of the church.

CBL began as an adaptation of Janet Letnes Martin’s and Suzann Nelson’s book “Growing Up Lutheran” and has been a popular stage entertainment for nearly 20 years. Before the current production, Circa’s frequent production of CBL have been:

• 2007 – CBL 1, the same one they’re doing now and the biggest selling show in the 47-year history of the theater

• 2010 – “A Second Helping”

• 2013 – “A Mighty Fortress”

• 2015 – “Last Potluck Supper”

• 2018 – “Rise Up O Men”

• 2021 — “You Smell Barn”

CBL has been so successful since its 2005 debut that it has inspired no fewer than eight stage sequels, the most recent of which – Church Basement Ladies in “Plowin’ Thru” – had its world premiere at the Ames Center in Burnsville, Minn., in September 2022.

In addition to touring nationally, the musicals have been licensed in all contiguous 48 states and Canada, and it is estimated that more than four million audience members have attended CBL and its sequels.

Audiences can relate to each character, regardless of what religion you are, Krianna said. “There always people willing to help and serve the community, to make it a better place.”

“The bond between the women and how the pastor treats each of them differently, based on their personalities,” Shelley said. “There’s a lot of love in the kitchen and there’s a lot of fun in the kitchen. Also, it’s the comedy – we call it the third act.”

“You can just stand there and do nothing and they keep laughing,” Krianna said of audiences.

They grew up attending St. Pius Catholic Church in Rock Island. She went to Jordan Catholic School, before Moline High. This CBL is a dream come true for the family trio.

“You’re already doing what you love, and then to do it with the people who you love…” Krianna said.

“There’s a trust on stage that’s already there – it doesn’t have to be established or developed,” Shelley said. “You’re not afraid to look at each other and touch each other.”

Krianna starts 17 in the show and is married at 19.

Vivian doesn’t have any children the closest she has to a daughter is Signe. “There’s a special bond between them and Vivian is always trying to teach her and support her,” Shelley said.

Signe’s mom in the show is played by Circa veteran Sydney Richardson. She and Krianna were in “Sound of Music” together while they were at Moline High. “We were really close when I was a busser (at Circa), and then my partner Aidan, they grew up together.”

“She’s like a sister to me,” Krianna said. “That definitely helps on stage.”

Parents as role models

Krianna works part-time at Iron & Grain Coffee House in Davenport and East Moline. She’s also going to be in Circa’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” children’s show (March 21-May 18), and will train to be a Bootlegger, the popular performing wait staff, after CBL.

Krianna played Litle Red Ridinghood in Countryside’s “Into the Woods” last July, directed by her dad. Shelley was on tech crew for that.

“He’s just like a coach; he’s been my coach in softball,” Krianna said of Tom. “We are so similar.”

“We just are in each other’s brains, it’s kind of scary,” she said. “I thought we would butt heads, but he always tells me how it is and I appreciate that so much. We communicate really well. He’s not afraid to give me notes and push me to be better.”

At Circa, Krianna has performed with Tom in “Sound of Music,” “Annie” and “Bridges of Madison County.” When she was 6, she was in the ensemble for the former Harrison Hilltop production of “Sweeney Todd,” when Tom was the title character and Shelley was Mrs. Lovett.

Shelley and Krianna have done 11 shows together; Krianna said “Sweeney” was her favorite,” and she got to sing the first line (“Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd…”).

She recalls growing up at Circa sleeping under the seats or in the dressing room, or working on her coloring books.

“All our kids grew up here,” Shelley said of her three daughters.

“Being off book is one of the main things,” Krianna said of starting rehearsals without having to look at the script, to get into character. “That’s how my dad is, and he wants to fully commit to the character. I want to as well.”

“She memorizes so fast,” Shelley said.

“It’s what I love to do, so it’s easier, when you love to do something,” Krianna said. “They’re just such good people; I’m so lucky to have them as parents.”

Having the first tour under her belt, Krianna hopes she can nab other theater jobs outside the area.

“They told me, once you have CBL on your resume, you could be working for the rest of your career,” she said. “Already, they’re gonna have to add matinees. There are clans of women who love to come here.”

Krianna said she doesn’t need to have a college degree to have a successful career.

“I financially didn’t think I wanted to go to college – why would I spend money to sit in a class, and just be anxious and under pressure, when I can go to places where people who do have that experience are willing to teach me?” she said. “My junior year is when COVID happen and we didn’t have the fairs and people come talk to you, or help you do the scholarship stuff.”

“I’ve been around adults since I was 7 years old,” Krianna said, noting she’s done 14 professional productions. “I’m willing to work hard enough to show people I don’t need a degree. I can be in touch with telling a story and getting it across to an audience.”

Directing and choreographing Circa ’21 latest iteration of CBL is venue veteran Andrea Moore, a former longtime member of the Bootleggers. Moore previously appeared in such productions as “Grease,” “Grumpy Old Men: The Musical,” and “Cats” and longtime area favorite Ron May serves as her show’s music director.

Show details

The musical will be presented at Circa through April 27, with performances on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 5:30 p.m. and Wednesday matinées at 1:15 p.m. Pre-show entertainment featuring the theatre’s wait staff the Bootleggers will precede all performances.

Tickets are $63 for the Friday-through-Sunday dinner-and-show productions and $56 for all Wednesday performances, available at the box office (1828 Third Ave., Rock Island) or by calling 309-786-7733 ext. 2.

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