Putting on a good face

IRONWOOD - Asked about the upcoming Halloween tour at the Historic Ironwood Theatre, Ironwood student Angelina Jarvela said, "This is not your grandma's haunted house."

On Oct. 30-31, area youth in the Awkward Stage Drama Club are hosting a haunted tour called "Insane Asylum." The tour will take place beneath the theater and Downtown Art Place buildings in Ironwood, featuring nooks and crannies filled with fear.

It is the first time the club is hosting the tour, and according to club director Mary Hansen, the goal is continue it into the future.

"After we received the Neighborhood Assist Grant from State Farm, we did some brainstorming to see what we could do in the community," Hansen said. "The kids came up with the idea for the haunted house."

The design for the tour was created by club members Mike Kytola and Tyler Saari, and features strobe lights, water vapors and other stage effects.

"Having them in charge has been great," Hansen said. "They have taken it all on themselves to put this together, which has been cool to see their ideas come to life."

Character design was created by member Ethan Puisto and make-up is being handled by Tim Demerath.

"Ethan created the different characters for the tour, and Tim has been using his unique make-up skills to create some pretty scary things for the characters," Hansen said. "What he can create in 20 minutes, is just unbelievable."

Overall 30 local kids from the Hurley, Ironwood, Bessemer, Wakefield-Marenisco and Gogebic County Community schools are participating.

"They have been blending together to put this on," Hansen said. "All working together for one mission."

According to Bruce Greenhill, managing director of HIT, seeing the kids together has been "really cool."

"It's really cool to see that, and see life in the theater," he said.

For the faint of heart, safety people will be on hand during the tour, and games and activities will be held for younger children.

"The event is really two-fold with crafts and games for kids upstairs and the tour for older kids and adults downstairs," Hansen said. "For 10 cents, the kids can make arts and crafts and play games. We wanted to make sure we had something for kids, and they can win a prize every time."

Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult during the tour.

The tours are sponsored by the drama club, which is a partnership between the Ironwood Carnegie Library and HIT.

"We want to thank State Farm for awarding us the grant to create a foundation to continue these types of events into the future," Hansen said. "Also, thank you so much to the theater and DAP boards for allowing us to use their creepy basements."

The tours kick off on Oct. 30 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the theater, and continue on Oct. 31 from 5 to 11 p.m. Kids games will run from 5 to 8 p.m. on both nights.

There is admission for the tours, with the proceeds benefitting Awkward Stage Drama Club.

"It's going to be knock your socks off scary," member Vivian Gammill said.

For more information, admission prices or to learn more about Awkward Stage Drama Club, call the Historic Ironwood Theatre at 906-932-0618, or the Ironwood Carnegie Library at 906-932-0203.