Veteran stage and screen actor Granville "Sonny" Van Dusen will perform John Romano's King of the Wild Frontier, a reading for one actor, at Arkadia Center for Arts and Education (formerly The Commons), 401 E. Jefferson St., Viroqua. Performances are Saturday, November 21 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 22 at 3:00 p.m. The production is presented by Eddy Nix of Driftless Books & Music.
Both readings are a benefit for Living Faith Food Pantry, which has served the Viroqua area for more than 34 years, and for Arkadia, the community arts center hosting the performances. Admission is a suggested donation of $10, with proceeds shared between the two.
"This is a story that sneaks up on you," said producer Eddy Nix. "It starts at a country club and ends somewhere much deeper. Having an actor of Granville's caliber read it here, in a room this size, is a rare chance to hear a great piece of storytelling up close."
About the Piece
King of the Wild Frontier is a memory story set in 1960s New Jersey, told by a man looking back on the year he was a teenage caddy and a Catholic prep-school student. At the Ausonia Country Club, ten minutes from the Outerbridge Crossing, self-made businessmen share the fairways with a quiet crew of Staten Island mobsters under one unbreakable rule: no talking business on the golf course.
Then Bobby Altieri, a scratch golfer the caddies call "DiMaggio," starts to crack. His liquor-store partner is gambling the business into the ground, and Bobby begins dropping hints to the wrong foursome. Interwoven with Bobby's story is the narrator's own education at St. Augustine's Prep, where a gentle religion teacher and a formidable headmaster each teach him something he never forgets.
Funny, tender, and finally chilling, the piece is about learning where the steel girders are — the hidden structures that hold the world together, and the moment you realize they might give way. The reading is staged simply, with a chair, a table, and period music from Sinatra to "The Ballad of Davy Crockett." The piece contains mature language and themes and is recommended for adult audiences.
About the Playwright, John Romano
John Romano is an Emmy-nominated screenwriter, television writer and producer, playwright, novelist and essayist. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he taught English at Columbia University, wrote the literary study Dickens and Reality, and reviewed books for The New York Times before moving to Los Angeles in 1986 to join the writing staff of Hill Street Blues.
He received a Primetime Emmy nomination for writing the final episode of Hill Street Blues, and went on to write and produce for L.A. Law, Monk, Party of Five, Third Watch, Banshee and Hell on Wheels. His film credits include The Lincoln Lawyer, Nights in Rodanthe, Intolerable Cruelty and The Third Miracle, and he adapted Philip Roth's American Pastoral.
King of the Wild Frontier is a new dramatic piece. Ensemble Theatre Company presented a one-performance staged reading starring Joe Spano, also a Hill Street Blues alumnus, at the New Vic Theatre in Santa Barbara on August 30, 2026. The Viroqua performances bring it to the Midwest.
About Granville "Sonny" Van Dusen
Granville "Sonny" Van Dusen has worked on stage, screen, and in voice acting for more than five decades. Born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, he made his Broadway debut in The House of Atreus and appeared in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Billy Rose Theatre. He was a longtime fixture of Los Angeles theater through the Matrix Theatre, with regional credits including Phil Hogan in A Moon for the Misbegotten.
On television he has appeared in Soap, Hill Street Blues, Judging Amy, The Young and the Restless, The West Wing, and Star Trek: Enterprise, and co-starred with Patty Duke in Karen's Song. Animation fans know his voice as Race Bannon in The New Adventures of Jonny Quest and its follow-ups.
Wisconsin audiences may remember him as Abraham Lincoln: he played the 16th president for 25 years in the one-man play The Memoirs of Abraham Lincoln, and his 1992 performance in Wausau was broadcast on Wisconsin Public Television.
Event Details
What
King of the Wild Frontier, a reading for one actor
Written by
John Romano
Performer
Granville "Sonny" Van Dusen
Where
Arkadia Center for Arts and Education (formerly The Commons), 401 E. Jefferson St., Viroqua, WI 54665
When
Saturday, November 21, 2026, 7:00 p.m. · Sunday, November 22, 2026, 3:00 p.m.
Admission
Suggested donation $10 at the door
Benefits
Living Faith Food Pantry and Arkadia
Audience
Mature language and themes; recommended for adults
Presented by
Driftless Books & Music
Media Contact
Eddy Nix, Producer Driftless Books & Music, 518 Walnut St., Viroqua, WI 54665 · 608-638-2665
Photos and interviews with Granville "Sonny" Van Dusen are available on request.
About Living Faith Food Pantry: Living Faith Food Pantry, 209 Sands Road in Viroqua, has fought food insecurity in the Viroqua area for more than 34 years. Run with a strong network of volunteers and partners, it distributes about 6,000 pounds of food each week to nearly 200 local households, and Second Harvest Food Bank has recognized it as a leader in distributing fresh produce. Learn more at livingfaithfoodpantry.com.
About Arkadia: Arkadia Center for Arts and Education, 401 E. Jefferson St., is Viroqua's community arts center, formerly known as The Commons. It hosts performances, exhibits, workshops and classes, and in 2026 entered a new phase under the Arkadia name, with building renovations and expanded programming ahead.
About Driftless Books & Music: Founded in 2004 by Eddy Nix, Driftless Books & Music is a large used and antiquarian bookstore housed in a 1906 tobacco warehouse in Viroqua, with a long history of hosting live music, readings, and community events.
Event venue
Arkadia Viroqua, 401 E Jefferson St, Viroqua, WI 54665-1728, United States
Tickets
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