Acting with their heads and their hearts: Two BVHS alums take the PRT stage in ‘22 season

The Bandon community will find two familiar faces gracing the South Dakota State University stage this summer. Isaiah Dietz and Grant Gunderson, two Brandon Valley High School alumni, are performing and working behind the scenes for Prairie Repertory Theater’s 2022 season at SDSU. 

Dietz graduated from SDSU this May and this is his fourth summer with PRT.  

“This will be my last PRT, so it will be my last show here at the Performing Arts Center so I’m really glad that ‘Footloose’ is the last show so I can kind of send myself off,” Dietz said.

He graduated from BVHS in 2016. His theater journey started on the Brandon stage when he and his friends joined the production of Roald Dahl’s “Willy Wonka.” From then, Dietz tried out for every musical at BVHS and SDSU.

John (J.D.) Ackman is the director of theater at SDSU and has worked with Dietz all four years of his college career. 

“Isaiah has a really gentle demeanor and I think that comes across real nicely in a lot of the characters he does,” Ackman said. 

Initially an engineering major, Dietz eventually decided to go the theater route and has performed in multiple shows for both PRT and the State University Theater program. His major roles at SDSU include Jeff from ‘[title of show],” a four-person production SUT did during COVID, Angel, a main supporting role in “RENT,” and most recently, Dietz will play Ren McCormick in this year’s “Footloose: The Musical.” 

“It’s always been fun to go watch him, whether it’s a small role or a large role, it’s always fun to see your child up on stage,” Dan Feeken, Dietz’s father said.

Not only does Dietz perform, but he has also done a great deal of technical work behind the scenes working on lighting and sound design for different shows. 

“He’s a super talented composer,” Ackman said. “He’s done composition for several different shows and he just goes away and comes back and he’s got this nice piece of music written.”

Gunderson got his introduction to theater in a similar way to Dietz. He, along with a group of his friends, tried out for BVHS’s production of “Cinderella” his sophomore year. Gunderson said he enjoyed the experience so much that he tried out again for the fall play, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” the following year where he landed a principal role.

“It’s been truly amazing to watch him grow into the person he is,” Emery Gunderson, Grant’s father said. “He’s been able to develop a lot of special characteristics and personalities and … it’s really amazing how he can morph into the different characters he plays.”

Gunderson will be a junior at SDSU and this is his PRT debut. He graduated from BVHS in 2020 and majors in theater and data science at SDSU. Since joining State’s theater department, Gunderson said he feels right at home.

“It’s been a wild ride, but I definitely feel like I’ve found my place, this is definitely where I’m supposed to be,” Gunderson said. “Everyone here is so welcoming and you’re surrounded by people who have those similar interests who are all working to better themselves in their field. It’s been amazing and I’m very blessed to get to be here.”

In this summer’s PRT productions, Gunderson is playing Robert in “The Play That Goes Wrong,” Sam in “The Cemetery Club” and is stage managing “Footloose.” 

Gunderson also stage-managed the SUT productions of “Thanksgiving” and “Women of 4G” last semester and assistant stage-managed “[title of show]” in 2021.

“As a stage manager, he is just one of those people that is so organized, that he makes you feel disorganized by comparison,” Ackman said. “I judged the state One-Act contest and saw him in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and just based on his performance, I was like, we gotta get that kid to SDSU.” 

Ackman said it has been a pleasure working with both Dietz and Gunderson and wishes them well in their future acting endeavors. 

“If I had to describe the difference between the two guys, Grant really works from his head and Isaiah really works from his heart,” Ackman said. “I would say both of these guys have what it takes to make it.” 

For Ackman, this will be his last production with PRT and SDSU, as the long-time professor is retiring after nearly 40 years of working in the theater industry. 

This year’s PRT shows are “The Play That Goes Wrong,” a comedy play where, as you might have guessed, everything goes horribly wrong, “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a retelling of the origins of Peter Pan, “The Cemetery Club,” which follows three widows visiting their husband’s graves, and “Footloose,” the Broadway musical. 

To purchase tickets and check showtimes, visit their website, www.PrairieRep.org.

The Play That Goes Wrong

June 8-10 @ 7:30 p.m. and June 11 @ 2 p.m.

Peter and the Starcatcher

June 15-17 @ 7:30 p.m. and June 18 @ 2 p.m.

The Cemetery Club

June 22-24 @ 7:30 p.m. and June 25 @ 2 p.m.

Footloose: The Musical

July 6-8 @ 7:30 p.m. and July 9 @ 2 p.m.