25 expat voices: Ed Krause

In their own words

By Inside México Original Print Publication: February, 2009

For the "25 Mexicans You Should Know" edition of Inside México (November 2007) our editorial team sat in a room for hours, proposing and debating names of candidates, eventually whittling the list to a mix of well and less-well-known figures, each illuminating some aspect of this country.

For "25 Expats," we decided to do something different. We put the word out. We invited you, our readers, to tell us who to highlight. E-mailed nominations poured in from around the country, and several of you even called.

This inaugural group of 2009 finalists is a diverse bunch in terms of where they are from, where they live and what they do. You've helped us round up the expat equivalent of the "butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker." In this case, however, it is the activist, the developer and the expat filmmaker...and the dog rescuer, the theater founder, the birder, and the book store owner. The list goes on.

The common thread running through each selection is the effort these people make to build community between expats and Mexicans. We think that by doing so, they are helping to expand the definition of Mexico. That is what immigrants do.

Expat: Ed Krause

Ed Krause

Organization: Gertrude Pearlman Theatre

Originally from: I am originally from Auburn, New York, and moved to Orange County, California in the late 50's.

Lives in: I live in Punta Banda, Baja Norte. We are on the south side of Todos Santos Bay and look north across the bay to Ensenada

Living in Mexico: I first came down here in 1970 to get away on weekends from the noise and congestion of the Orange County-LA area.

My wife and I enjoyed a cabaña and trailer on the beach. In 1981 we retired and bought a full-time home in Campo La Jolla, and have been here ever since.

Tell us about the Gertrude Pearlman Theatre.

In 1985 I started a discussion group at my house. A couple from Vancouver came [and] suggested we read some plays and scenes. The following week they brought back a scene book...and we were involved in theater.

After several weeks of reading [we] decided to put on a play. I had been in a couple of community theater plays in Ithaca, NY, so I was elected director. Our group was called "Wigs and Giggles," and the first show in June of ‘86 was Prisoner of 2^nd Avenue. We were hooked.

In 1990 Gertrude Pearlman, one of our original actors, died. Her daughter presented me with a check for $500 and said that Gertrude always wanted a theater. Then the owner of Campo La Jolla donated the land. We broke ground in early ‘90. Our contractor, Bob Breeze, agreed to work as the money allowed.

The sidewalk superintendents would be there early in the morning with their cigarettes and coffee, shaking their heads. They said, "Well at least make the auditorium floor flat and we can use [it for something else]."

No way! We had the floor put in with elevated rows for seats. Mary Jane McCulpin went to a show in California, and when she learned the theater group was moving to a new building, she bought the seats. I'll never forget going there with a whole group from Punta Banda. We applauded at the play's end, then took out our wrenches and started dismantling the seats.

We had our first production on the stage of the Gertrude Pearlman Theatre in December of 1991. [It became] "Our little miracle, one hundred yards up a dirt road."

Our group is the oldest English-speaking theater group in Baja. We've put on lots of shows for charities. With the exception of our Mexican maintenance man, no one draws any salary. Since ‘86, we've staged over one hundred shows.

Do you have a specific Mexico "moment" or memory that always makes you think, "That's what I love about this place."?

Every day the sun comes up with the beautiful view and the most wonderful neighbors. We are so close to each other. In the States, I didn't know my neighbors who lived three doors away. Here, if I don't know you I'll strike up a conversation!

Bookmark/Search this post with: