Fred ‘Doc’ Heide | Northern Sky Theater

Fred ‘Doc’ Heide

Co-Founder/Artistic Advisor/Playwright/Performer

This summer Doc celebrates 50 years on the Peninsula State Park stage. He first appeared here in 1973 in Northern Sky’s predecessor troupe, The Heritage Ensemble. For the next half-century, he returned in summers from Pennsylvania and California to sing under the stars in his home state of Wisconsin. Doc has authored or co-authored almost two dozen musicals including Guys & Does, When Pigs Fly!, Packer Fans from Outer Space, Belgians in Heaven, and several with Second City founding director Paul Sills. Doc has released three CD’s and a songbook (2022’s Tangled in Wonder) and published in lots of dense professional journals with imposing titles. His award-winning research on relaxation-induced anxiety has been heavily cited for 40 years and even generated a colloquial term (“stresslaxation”). Retiring from full-time teaching in 2020, Doc is Professor Emeritus at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University and teaches improv (with Lee Becker) at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He now premieres his newest songs for Bailey, his darling 2-year-old granddaughter.

Email: doc@northernskytheater.com

Doc Heide