Whether you take the time to get out of your houses to take a break from your chores — or you just come to the theater to de-stress — or you come before or after softball games — find a way to come see this once in a lifetime show this weekend at the Capitol Theater in Burlington.
“A Musical Celebration of Iowa’s Heritage” opened Thursday night and continues tonight and Saturday, also at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students, and are available at the Capitol Box Office or online at Burlingtoncapitoltheater.com
Music instructor Lori Wilson, a multi-talented, classically trained opera singer who has been performing and teaching here and in NYC for decades, has written her own show that she has worked tirelessly on for a long time.
“Opening the show with our current community and commemorative sites like Snake Alley and the Homes on Heritage Hill, this production takes us all the way back in time to 1833 when Dr. William R. Ross started a settlement by building cabins for his family, a school, and a church,” Wilson explained. “It references the opening of the Erie Canal and the abundance of immigrants that flooded New York City and soon traveled on to the Midwest; the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad line established in 1852 and the Orphan Trains that created the largest mass migration of children in the US history. The Underground Railroad and John Brown’s anti-slavery campaigns, the Grand Opera Theater that could hold 1,200 people, and much more.
“In my experience, there is far too much music out there that people have never heard or performed. So I do not compose new music for my shows. I believe my talent lies in finding the right music for a specific situation or singer. Then my job is to help the singer learn that music and perform it well. All through my research, songs would come to mind that I felt would work perfectly to elaborate on the information in the script.”
Wilson said some of the 17 songs are from familiar musicals like “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Les Miserables,” and “The Greatest Showman,” but others from the musicals “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Hadestown,” “Finding Neverland,” and “Ragtime” are more obscure.
“Our opening song, simply entitled Iowa, was written by Meredith Wilson (who also wrote “The Music Man”) and performed by Bing Crosby in 1941.”
She said the cast of this show is extremely diverse and that there will be two guest artists.
“The performers range in age from 6 to 60s and come from Burlington, West Burlington, Mount Pleasant, Danville. Dallas City, Carthage, Lomax, Keokuk, and Fort Madison.”
Kristin and Ammon Doney of Fort Madison, are an absolutely lovely, sweet, talented, married couple that are in the production. They have four kids and both work, yet they find the time to do this.
Kristin says, “In the production, the narration talks about the history of Iowa and Burlington specifically. It talks about orphans that were sent from New York to Iowa. In the production, I get to adopt one of the orphans.”
Kristin and Ammon are both in a few group numbers, they each have a solo and they sing a duet together.
Kristin and Ammon moved here from Idaho. Kristin says, “Music drives a lot of what we do. We have a ‘say yes’ mentality. We moved here and had baby number four and I felt stuck at home too much. I used to sing in choirs back in Idaho. So, I got out my computer and Googled choirs in the area. Lori’s name popped up as a part of something called Treble Clef Club. It talked about how you had to come audition. So I shot her an email and she said yes, come audition! The rest is kind of history. That’s how I met Lori.” Kristin also plays guitar, piano, sings, gives voice lessons, and paints.
For Ammon, how he got involved with Lori’s theater is a little different.
“I saw a Christmas production that they did and I loved it so much. I went up to her after and told her I wished I could have been on stage with her,” he said.
Ammon was also involved in Chamber Choir, he plays drums, he’s a dancer, a singer, a sports MVP and more.
Kristin and Ammon say they enjoyed working with Wilson. “Lori is very faith based, led and inspired by God, a very spiritual woman,” Ammon says. “Lori is a mastermind. She is from a rich musical background. Any effort we put in, she’s tenfold back. She’s very passionate. She’s also the one that’s always trying to keep music around, because she knows how important it is.”
Kristin and Ammon both say, “Everything just lines up and you meet people for a reason.”
