Actors Chase Stoeger and Molly Rhode talk Lumberjacks in Love, and chance encounters.
Molly and Chase early on in their relationship, backstage during a Door Shakespeare production.
Milwaukee Rep’s upcoming production of Lumberjacks in Love is sure to be a funny, woodsy and romantic show for patrons. However, for real life husband-and-wife actors Chase Stoeger (Moonlight) and Molly Rhode (Rosemary), returning to the Stackner Cabaret for this production conjures up memories of a different story – the first time they met.
It was fall 2004, both were wrapping up shows in Milwaukee, and despite being local actors in the same city for years, they had never met. Until one night, they were introduced by their mutual friend at the Stackner Cabaret while grabbing drinks, the same theater Lumberjacks in Love will play November 8-January 12.
They married in May of 2009, right before their summer season of shows at Northern Sky Theater. While on the journey up north for the summer they decided, like true Wisconsinites, to honeymoon in Algoma, WI. They welcomed their daughter in 2011 and have been almost exclusively working in Wisconsin theaters their entire careers. With many of their projects being together, this will be the first time they both are performing in the Stackner Cabaret. 20 years after the night they met.
For Chase and Molly, funny, woodsy and romantic doesn’t even begin to describe what this show means to them. Get to know them below and make sure to get your tickets to see them in Lumberjacks in Love.
Q: You have been fortunate as a married couple to get a lot work performing together, do you know how many shows you’ve done together?
Chase and Molly almost simultaneously: Oh my gosh no (they laugh).
Chase: Give us a few days and we might be able to get you that number.
Molly: It’s a lot. But I will say the show we have been in the most together has been Lumberjacks in Love. I know that number too. This will be my 6th time as Rosemary Rodgers and 7th time for Chase as Moonlight. Many of those times were up at Northern Sky Theater.
Chase: We have basically been on staff or working there for the last 20 years?
Molly: (to Chase) Just about. But Lumberjacks in Love has been by far one of our most favorite shows to be in together, no matter the location. It has been a huge part of our lives and our careers. It was actually the reason Chase learned guitar!
Chase: That’s true! I didn’t know how to play guitar before being cast for the first time as Moonlight in 2007, so I had to learn pretty quick.
Molly: Lumberjacks in Love is very much responsible to the expansion of Chase’s musicianship. I didn’t do the show until 2008 with him, but I had seen it before and I had always loved the show. It’s just this big old love story – but we aren’t in love in the show.
Chase: We don’t fall in love, share any lines or even make eye contact in the show.
Molly: Yeah its funny, we do this show a bunch but we have never been cast opposite each other.
Chase and Molly in 2023 at a World Premiere Wisconsin Event, which Molly is on the board for.
Q: Was it weird or is it weird to be in a show that is all about falling in love but you don’t get to fall in love with each other?
Molly: Oh gosh no.
Chase: It happens all the time actually.
Molly: We have done so much together in the 20 years we have known each other, but I would say we have been romantic interests with each other about half the time. But after we had our daughter in 2011 and since then, we have actually actively tried to take jobs where we would be on separate schedules entirely. But we have been very, very, very lucky to have out schedules align more often than not in our careers.
Chase: (Chuckles) But I still get to be her assistant for choreography sometimes.
Molly: (Laughs) Yes! Because Chase and I obviously live together and I am also a choreographer, he is often my de-facto tryer for dance moves to make sure they are doable…But again, we just really enjoy working together. To have your livelihood be in the arts, you know, can be a big challenge. The fact that we met, got married and have consistently worked together, and been able to work primarily in Wisconsin theaters feels like a huge blessing.
Q: How does it feel coming back to the theater where the two of you met for the first time and it being your first time both performing in this space together?
Chase: Well it’s interesting, because it went through that huge renovation a few years ago, so obviously it looks different. But it is still the same, in a way. It’s also interesting to be able to look out in the other direction and perform to an audience. It will be a totally different experience, which I am excited about.
Molly: Yes, this is by far the most intimate space I have performed in, it will be a whole new way of experiencing the show, for both the performers and the audience. It will be fun.
Chase: Lumberjacks in Love is a good show to be our first together at Milwaukee Rep in the Stackner Cabaret. Even though we don’t interact in the show!
Molly and Chase celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary in Algoma, WI this past May. Standing in front of the only restaurant that was open late in 2009 for their honeymoon dinner.
Molly: Oh yeah, it is a show we know so well and we like doing so much. Of all the shows we have done over the years, it adds up, but this is a huge favorite for both of us, and to do the show in Milwaukee is huge for us.
Chase: It has been one of those shows that has been with us through big times in our lives. It was one of the first shows we saw together our first year dating and working up north.
Molly: We also did Lumberjacks in Love together the year I was pregnant! Not to spoil the show but I play the upright bass for it, so our daughter got to hear the bass line of the show while in utero! She is now learning the upright bass too which is a cool full circle moment for me.
Q: So, do you recommend a night out at the Stackner Cabaret?
Chase: Oh absolutely, especially for this show!
Molly: Yes! Who knows, you might just meet the man of your dreams!
To learn more or purchase tickets to Lumberjacks in Love click here.