Don’t miss Songs from the Tall Grass

By Rebecca Petersen | The Daily Journal

Published Friday, July 27, 2007

Where has summer gone? It's already almost August, which means there are only a couple more Concerts in the Park (Frank Weible, saxophonist, on Aug. 2 and Simon Rowe Trio, jazz, on Aug. 9) in Roosevelt Park.

Finishing touches will soon be made for the Summer Musical, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, which will be performed in the Middle School auditorium Aug. 10-12 and 17-19.

Lance Johnson will be back to play the Mighty WurliTzer Theater Organ for a Silent Movie in the theater on Aug. 4. In addition, things are coming together for “Songs from the Tall Grass,” another A Center for the Arts theater production.

You may remember when it was here a few years ago. If you didn't see it then, be sure to catch one of the bookend performances at A Center for the Arts. Here's the story behind that production:

“Songs From The Tall Grass,” coming to A Center for the Arts in Fergus Falls Aug. 24-26 and Sept. 28-30, is a story from America's heartland and follows a homestead family in the 1860s. Seen through the eyes of a modern-day narrator — who breaks the fourth wall and seamlessly travels between the past and the present as he unearths his own journey of discovery.

As the narrator guides us, we follow a family as they begin their journey to a new land that both confounds and replenishes.

Their desire for the 160 acres of free land offered by the United States government puts them at odds with the emotional, physical and psychological price of this boon from Uncle Sam.

Vast, open prairie contrasts sharply with dark, one-room, windowless houses made of sod; the thrill of land ownership plays heavily against the death of loved ones; bountiful crops give way to the robber baron railroads, unforgiving weather, insect infestations, and the prairie fires.

Yet, hope perseveres and love abounds as the daughter, after the death of her mother and the emotional collapse of her father, marries the bachelor — a man very much her senior.

Kind and compassionate, together they build on the dream that was begun by the daughter’s original family.

Overcoming defeat, forming the Grange and giving women on the prairie the right to vote, together the bachelor-turned-husband and daughter-turned-wife, forge the life her parents had only dreamed.

Punctuated by a gaggle of children who offer a delightful view into prairie life, “Songs From The Tall Grass” delivers poignant, yet often hilarious observations of homestead life — observations which not so surprisingly, mirror our own modern day struggles.

Like a hooked rug from the past, “Songs” weaves an interlocking collection of stories that bring immigrant pioneers from worlds apart in direct contact with fur trappers and Native Americans.

At the junction of these diverse civilizations, beauty and grace are defined by a sincere hope for the future. Ending with “A Hundred Years From Now” — a powerful song with prophetic lyrics that were written in 1899 — asks what the world will be like in 100 years.

“Songs From The Tall Grass” leaves audiences laughing, crying and feeling empowered by the past — as well as hopeful about the future.

Rebecca Petersen is the director of A Center for the Arts in Fergus Falls.