'Church lady' memories fuel musical comedy

Suzann Nelson, who teamed with Janet Letnes Martin on the series of humorous books that led to the comic musical "Church Basement Ladies" (opening Sept. 11 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts), can tell you the exact date and time she gave up her office job to become a full-time writer.

"It was Aug. 11, 1994, at 6 in the morning," she says, "I had a three-piece suit, pantyhose job and I suddenly thought, 'There must be a better way to make a living.'"

Nelson had a head full of funny stories about growing up on a farm in rural Minnesota and the lives they lived then. In those days, the church was the town's community center. "I don't have many memories of what was going on in school in those years," Nelson says, "But I know vividly what was going on in church. We didn't have babysitters then. So if our mothers were working at the church, we were there working along with them."

Nelson was also, like all nascent writers, a fly on the wall - observing, storing up memories, packing away stories for later use. On that day in August 1994, Nelson had the inspiration that telling her funny tales of growing up Lutheran in rural Minnesota would be a more interesting way of making a living than the desk job she had then for the state. .

Nelson contacted Martin, an old friend and fellow alum from Minneapolis-based Augsburg College, and the two talked. Martin had already written and published five books on the subject.

As they put it on their Web site, Rural Route Bookstore (ruralroutebookstore.com/aboutsuz.htm), the two met and talked over coffee and laughed and laughed over the stories they shared. They discovered they had found a rich vein of material. They also took copious notes and over the next six months they wrote and published three books about their Lutheran upbringing including "Cream Peas on Toast: Comfort Food for Norwegian Farm Kids (and Others)."

The books quickly established the two as "Those Lutheran Ladies," first in Minnesota and then nationally. If you go to Amazon.com you will find six books by the two available, including the tellingly titled, "Growing up Lutheran: What Does this Mean?"

All of their work lovingly pokes fun at the now-gone world they grew up in, a world of church events and small-town Minnesota life. "I don't want to call it a celebration of what our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers did," Nelson says, "But they put in so much hidden work for the churches and communities. After WW II they were the ones who took care of the veterans and the families that lost boys in the war." The stories Nelson and Martin tell recount their efforts - but in a humorous way.

If this sounds like Garrison Keillor territory, Nelson reminds me that Keillor was not raised Lutheran. "I like to say that Garrison writes inspired fiction," Nelson says, "We write humorous nonfiction. He hasn't lived it. He must do a lot of research."

Janet Martin and Suzann lived it - and now tell the tales, leavened with hilarity. Jim Stowell, Jessica Zuelhke and Drew Jansen adapted their work for the stage as "Church Basement Ladies," with William Christoper, "M*A*S*H's" Father Mulcahy, as the minister.

Church Basement Ladies opens Sept. 11 and runs through Sept. 27 at the North Shore Center for the Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, Illinois. For tickets, call (847) 673-6300 or visit northshorecenter.org.