Don't Hug Me is a national award-winning musical comedy that takes place in a colorful, rustic north    woods bar in tiny Bunyan Bay, Minnesota. It's the coldest, most bone-chilling day of the year and cantankerous bar owner Gunner Johnson is ready to sell the business and move to sunny Florida. Clara, his wife and former Winter Carnival Bunyan Queen, is perfectly content staying right where she is. Bernice Lundstrom, the pretty waitress, wants to pursue a singing career. Her fiance, Kanute Gunderson, wants her to stay home. It's a battle of wills that tests their relationships and when a fast-talking salesman, Aarvid Gisselsen, promises to bring romance into their lives through the 'magic' of karaoke, all heck breaks loose!

                                                Don't Hug Me was originally produced for the stage by Dan Hirsch

                                                at The Whitefire Theatre in Los Angeles in November 2003 to rave r                                               reviews and sold-out houses. Originally slated for a six week

                                                run, Don't Hug Me was extended by popular demand and was the

                                                longest running musical comedy in Los Angeles when it closed after six

                                                smash hit months. Don't Hug Me has played in more than 60 cities

                                                around the U.S. and Canada.

                                                Don't Hug Me won 4 Artistic Director Achievement Awards in Los

                                                Angeles including, Best Original Musical, Best Author Original Play,

                                                Best Director, and Best Ensemble Cast. In addition, Don't Hug Me was

                                                given one of the top honors in The Robert J. Pickering Award for

                                                Playwriting Excellence as well as the McLaren Memorial Comedy Play

                                                Writing Competition, and was selected top 5% in Hollywood's

                                                prestigous Chesterfield Writer's Film Project out of 2,600 scripts.

 

 

 

 

PHIL OLSON (Book & Lyrics)

Don't Hug Me is Phil's 4th

award-winning play. His other plays include, A Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol, Crappie Talk (a.k.a. KOLD RADIO, Whitefish Bay), and A Nice Family Gathering. Don't Hug Me, A Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol, and A Nice Family Gathering can be licensed through Samuel French Publishers. KOLD RADIO is published by Eldridge Publishing. Phil also has 4 one-acts that are published. Phil's plays have played in more than 100 cities around the U.S. and Canada. Phil sold 2 screenplays. As a script doctor, he has re-written 3 screenplays that were produced. He also wrote for a television series that aired in Europe and another that aired on E! Television. Phil graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in math where he played football on the Ivy League Championship Football Team. After trying out for The Chicago Bears, he received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
 

PAUL OLSON, M.D. (Music) Norwegian on both sides, the Olson brothers grew up in Edina where they played football, basketball and track in high school. Paul (a.k.a. Bear) also performed in concert, stage, jazz and marching bands at Edina East and Southern Methodist University. Paul graduated from the U of Minnesota Medical School and is now Chief of Nephrology at the Allina Medical Clinics in Shakopee. Among his many board designations, Paul serves as the Chairman of the National Kidney Foundation, Minnesota affiliate.

 

     Don't Hug Me                                                                                                                                        About   Don't Hug Me