If you’ve ever viewed any of the Missouri River Folk History DVDs at Western Historical Manuscript Collection in Columbia, you’ll understand why Meredith Ludwig was so inspired by the stories she heard. Fred Oerly, born in 1922, can remember when his dad took him to the river to watch a house in the Overton Bottoms cave into the water. Lottie Klein knows what it’s like to walk through gumbo. Born in the bottoms, she grew up with the blackish goop between her toes and watching it pile up on the wagon wheels. Lucy Coleman was raised on Wilson Island in the middle of the river. Her family farmed the land with a black family. While racism was rampant elsewhere, Coleman declared, “We needed each other.”
These river residents and many more convinced Ludwig that the Missouri River was in need of a musical. Teaming up with composer/musician Cathy Barton, Gumbo Bottoms, A Big Muddy Musical will celebrate its world premiere at Thespian Hall in Boonville, November 21 - 23, 2008. Pictured at left are the stage director, Lesley Oswald, Meredith Ludwig, and Cathy Barton in Thespian Hall.
The show is set in 1928. It follows the story of Vivian Marks, a wealthy easterner, who discovers that her fortune has been reduced to a piece of bottomland in Missouri (“Misery,” as she sings in the opening song). Things go from bad to worse when she discovers that her rich bottomland has been taken by the “Wiley Guiley Mighty Mo.” The story continues with laughs and music as big city wealth clashes with rural river life.
The production is sponsored by Turner Hall River Rats for the Arts, and funded in part by Boonville Tourism Commission. For more information please visit www.gumbobottomsmusical.com or call 660-882-5523 for tickets and reservations.
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