The Art Box - Episode 75 - Dastardly Desert Desperados - Meet Screen Writers Sue and Nancy

The Art Box had an amazing fun interview with screen-writers Sue and Nancy last week. Our sides hurt from laughing and we can hardly wait for their newest Melodrama to open on March 17. You can get tickets at the Mesquite Fine Arts Center Monday-Saturday 10am to 4pm or on-line at: https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/vvtgnv/6616

Let's learn more about these two dynamos.

Nancy Arnold has appeared in community theater productions in Colorado and Alaska including The Corn is Green, Jack and the Beanstalk, A Member of the Wedding, Rumors, and The Importance of Being Earnest, to name just a few.  Since the 1980’s, she has written and directed - as well as acted in - dozens of melodramas for Anchorage, Alaska’s mid-winter celebration known as Fur Rendezvous. Nancy has worked with young people throughout her life, conducting theater workshops for elementary-aged students and judging Alaska statewide talent competitions.  She has also staged, choreographed, and directed several state and local scholarship pageants in Alaska. Her involvement with local pageants has given her the chance to meet some incredible young people, and she hopes she has encouraged them to follow their passion.

A native of New Castle, Colorado, Nancy was a Theater Arts major at the University of Colorado.  She has been married to husband Don for 53 years, has two sons, one daughter-in-law, and one incredible grandson who loves learning new accents. Nancy, who is retired from the Anchorage School District, moved with Don to Mesquite in February, 2018 after 38 years in Alaska. 

Nancy has been involved in the theater community since she arrived in Mesquite.  She directed Arsenic and Old Lace, and appeared in An Evening of Culture and Hallelujah Girls. Along with Susan Kjellsen, she has written four melodramas for the Virgin Valley Theatre Group (VVTG) and directed each of them.  These popular productions have garnered a wide and enthusiastic following.  Nancy is also a member of the VVTG Board of Trustees, serving as its Vice President.

Susan Kjellsen was born and raised in Kansas City and attended the University of Kansas, earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Education with an English concentration.  She has lived in Alaska, North Carolina, and now makes her home in Mesquite, Nevada.  She has three grown daughters, four grandchildren, two cats, and a dog.

Susan has been writing for the past 40 years.  Her early work was as a novelist with Harlequin/Silhouette Books.  For several years, she was the head writer for the Anchorage, Alaska School District’s television station, writing all of their public relations videos.  She also held the position of head proposal writer for K2 Solutions, Inc., a government contracting company in Southern Pines, North Carolina.  Her freelance work includes articles published in Guideposts, Just Labs, and Retriever News magazines.

Susan and her writing partner, Nancy Arnold, have written close to a dozen old fashioned melodramas first for Anchorage Alaska’s mid-winter carnival, Fur Rendezvous, and now for the Virgin Valley Theater Group in Mesquite.  Susan does a little acting and singing in each play, “just because it’s so much fun.” She is also a member of the VVTG Board of Trustees.

Susan is an avid photographer and spends as much time as she can exploring the backroads with her camera in hand searching for that next great shot. She got her first camera when I she was ten and has loved photography ever since.