He did what was expected, but his second act is bringing down the house (2024)

Editor's note: This is the final story in a series of profiles featuring LGBTQIA+ artists in the community during Pride Month, celebrated each June.

MOORHEAD — Craig Ellingson sits in the first row of the Gaede Theater at Minnesota State University Moorhead, tapping away on his laptop before he can leave for the weekend.

“I just have a couple of things to get done,” he said.

Today, this makeshift office — bathed in soft stage lighting — is eerily quiet compared to what the space held just a week earlier: standing ovations and sold-out shows for "Fiddler on the Roof," which Ellingson directed for Act Up Theatre and Straw Hat Players .

Ellingson also took on the role of the Rabbi. One might assume portraying a Jewish clergyman in 1905 Russia would be a stretch for someone raised in rural Nebraska in the late 20th century. Yet for Ellingson, it might just be part of the allure of the craft that he loves — not just entertaining audiences but using entertainment to reflect our changing, evolving society, including its role as a safe space for exploring LGBTQ+ themes.

Craig Ellingson grew up in the small farming town of Ord, Nebraska. The son of a salesman and cake baker, he says his childhood was “idyllic, low-key, and easygoing.”

While he didn’t come out as gay in high school, nonetheless, when it came to LGBTQ+ issues, he was bullied “here and there.” However, his involvement in the popular and competitive show choir became a favorite and welcoming space for everyone, from the captain of the football team to cross-country runners to music kids. (Nebraska's version of "Glee"?)

Contributed/Ord High School Yearbook via Ancestry.com

Preparing for the group’s two yearly performances helped foster the creativity that had bubbled at the surface in childhood.

“I actually started choreographing in fourth grade. But then, in high school, I started choreographing for the show choir and became a full-time choreographer for about three years,” he said.

Following graduation, Ellingson attended the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, for musical theater. And he didn’t take summers off from practicing his craft. He performed at Tivoli Theatre, an amusem*nt park in Kansas City, Missouri.

“We could do as many as 14 shows a week, so that’s where I really learned the skill of putting something together fast and also being able to maintain it,” he said.

In his final couple years of college, he started making a name for himself in local theater, choreographing and ultimately directing local shows before graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater with a dance minor.

While he loved performing, part-time teaching sparked his interest, partly because of his high school show choir teacher, Dayle Johnson.

“She had a major impact on me, not only the idea of performing but also creativity,” he said. “She was very hands-on and really pushed so many of us at that time period.”

After working with mentors during “two intense but fabulous years," Ellingson earned a master's degree at Minnesota State University Mankato and was hired by Minnesota State University Moorhead in the fall of 1997. He also became the director of MSUM’s long-running summer theater program, Straw Hat Players.

While Ellingson was building his professional resume, earning advanced degrees and working where he could, he was also taking a traditional path in his personal life, getting married to a woman and having a child with her. The marriage ended in divorce.

When people ask Ellingson if he would have changed anything, he replies, "no," because, without the marriage, he wouldn’t have his son, Matthew, he said.

Ellingson's work on stage has given him even more perspective on his life choices.

“One of the shows we're thinking of doing for Act Up this coming fall is “Falsettos” which takes place in ‘79, and ‘81. There was a lot of AIDS going on around that particular time,” he said. “In hindsight, I think I got married to a woman at that time because I was too afraid to come out, which maybe protected me in that time bubble. I eventually came out and have been out and proud ever since.”

Contributed/Craig Ellingson

He said the theater seems like it’s always been a safe place to be out.

“I think the idea of what the fine and performing arts, what they promote, is self-awareness, and inclusivity and creativity,” he said.

He said many performers through the years have been open about who they are–their sexuality and identity–and they’ve paved the way for others.

“For people now in Ord, Nebraska, it may be much easier to be gay today, and that's because of the work of many people and also this idea that the social construct of gender and sexuality continue to be questioned,” he said.

Those questions are sometimes asked between the four walls of theaters like the one where Ellingson now sits – places where he says he always feels “at home.”

“Over the last 10 to 15 years, we hear more stories from minorities. It's not just a white straight man's world anymore, and voices are being given more amplification,” he said.

For example, last year, Act Up held a production of “The Prom,” which, through humor, told the story of a young woman who met resistance because she wanted to take her girlfriend to her high school prom. “Falsettos" will advance the narrative of LBGTQ+ issues.

Even so, Ellingson said he looks forward to gay characters starring in what he calls “kitchen table dramas,” where they just talk about life.

Dennis Krull / Contributed

“It doesn't have to be life and death. There is a time for AIDS and civil rights and things like that. But isn't it nice to go to the theater and see a play that just happens to have gay characters, it doesn't have to be a gay musical. It's just a musical,” he said.

While he says he hates to use the word "normal," he hopes in life and on stage, people will see that gay people are just as “normal” as everyone else.

“Gay couples worry about the same thing that quote-unquote, straight couples. How to pay your bills. What are you gonna do with the kids? What are we having for dinner tonight?” he said. “You realize there isn’t much difference. Instead of finding the things that make us different, we need to find the things that make us the same.”