Frank Morral named new president of TWN
Pam Murphy takes final bow after three years
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
The curtain closed on Pam Murphy's three-year presidency of the board of the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket last Thursday night as Frank Morral was voted as its new president during the annual meeting.

New TWN President Frank Morral, and former president Pam Murphy. DON COSTANZO/The Independent

"Now it's time for a little Pam time," said Murphy. "I'd like to get back on the stage and have a little fun. I'm extremely pleased with the accomplishments achieved under my three years as president and feel I am passing on a much more financially secure entity, with greater recognition and respect in the community. With Frank's calm leadership and [producing director] Jordana Fleischut's effervescent enthusiasm and experience, I am confident we are leaving things in very good hands. They have lots of new ideas and input to add to the accomplishments of my term."

Before becoming board president, Murphy served as its secretary and vice-president. Since she began with the group in 2001, she has focused on the TWN playbill, its advertising and increasing revenue through numerous means including marketing, donations and underwriting. The year Murphy became president the troupe also moved from Bennett Hall into the vacated Actors' Theatre spaces in the Methodist Church, opened an administrative office where the costume collection was accessible and created the new role of artistic director for Jane Karakula.

Within the past year, with Fleischut's assistance, the TWN children's productions expanded and a talented group of youth performed the musical "Moby Dick." Other children's programming included "Story Time with a Princess," "Jack and the Beanstalk," the formation of drama camps and a collaboration with the Nantucket Boys and Girls Club called Shooting Stars, which introduced youngsters to the world of theatre.

"All in all, I feel very satisfied that public awareness and appreciation of TWN and its illustrious 51-year history has been raised, and that more people are seeing more theatre than ever before," said Murphy.

Morral first came to Nantucket in 1961 when he married Linda Backus, whose family owned The Wauwinet House from its founding until the early 1960s. Morral was a regular visitor to the island from 1964 and retired here as a year-round resident in June 2006. An educator with a doctorate in English literature from Columbia University, Morral first taught English literature for two years at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., his alma mater, then moved on to Carlton College in Northfield, Minn. where he taught Shakespeare and other subjects for 42 years.

He has directed and performed in several of Shakepeare's plays and locally has acted in the Short Play Festival and in TWN's "Born Yesterday," "The Graduate," "A Christmas Carol," "A Kind of Alaska" and "To Grandmother's House We Go." He also co-chaired the Nantucket Arts Council's Shakespeare Week this August with Hadley St. John.

Morral joined the TWN board a year ago as its secretary. He has five children who live on the mainland and five grandchildren. He said he enjoys movies, walking on the beach and reading, but now will immerse himself in building on the progress and innovations made by Murphy and others, adding that TWN further plans to involve its board and the community more in making future decisions on what plays it will present.

"Pam has done an enormous amount for the last three years," he said. "We had a very successful children's season, and we're talking about having a comedy fest and perhaps a major musical yearly. Jordana is the volcano from which many ideas will come. We have a terrific board with a number of new people who will give us energy and ideas. I think it's going to be hard to live up to what Pam has done, but I'm excited and I think it's going to be a lot of fun."

Another major change for TWN is the retirement of Artistic Director Jane Karakula, who has been in the island's theater community for 17 years and was hired by TWN three years ago after Actors' Theatre closed. In Murphy's opinion, Karakula's programming and uncompromising professionalism brought consistent excellence to the TWN stage. Though she is stepping down as artistic director, Karakula said she intends to remain involved

with TWN as an actor, director and advisor. I