Workin' it Out…Beardstown!
2012
"Workin' it Out…Beardstown!" is a documentary musical built entirely from the voices of Beardstown itself. Ken Bradbury compiled the script from interviews with more than twenty residents — past and present — weaving their recollections of work and livelihood into a single evening of theatre. The result is a community portrait drawn in the words of the people who lived it, from longtime locals to newer arrivals, each describing the labor that filled their days.
The show was presented by the Traveling Theatre of Lincoln Land Community College, a troupe of full-time and part-time LLCC students alongside high school students earning dual credit. Earlier that year the same company had toured eighteen area elementary schools with the anti-bullying play "Bully Beware." The Beardstown production was mounted in conjunction with "The Way We Worked," a Museum on Main Street exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution, and the script's focus on work histories grew directly out of that theme.
Music for the evening was written by Ken Bradbury and cast member Elisabeth Werries, and the young company stepped well beyond acting — learning banjo, stand-up bass, accordion, and guitar to bring the stories to life on stage.
Production Notes
- Compiled and directed by: Ken Bradbury, adjunct instructor of theatre for Lincoln Land Community College
- Music by: Ken Bradbury and Elisabeth Werries
- Presented by: the Traveling Theatre of Lincoln Land Community College
- Performances: April 14 & 15, 2012
- Sponsored by: The Old Lincoln Courtroom and Museum, the Beardstown Houston Memorial Library, and the Illinois Humanities Council
- In conjunction with: "The Way We Worked," a Smithsonian Institution Museum on Main Street exhibit
- Lighting: Chuck West
The script was drawn from interviews with Beardstown residents including Luis Beltrane, Carrie Carls, Nathan Carls, John Conner, Brian DeLoche, Francis Halligan, Janice Jameson, Dick Jockisch, Corky Kinstel, Carnell Korsmeyer, Hershel Logsdon, Mac McClure, James Monger, Mickey Paul, Tom Penwarden, Evaristo Rodriguez, Bob Schoolcraft, Shaver Tillet, Randy West, and Claudia Zambala, along with three anonymous contributors.
Cast
- Brooke Batterson — of Waverly; a veteran backstage worker and stage manager for area productions
- Cathy Colburn — a Jacksonville High School senior planning to major in theatre
- Brittany Davis — a veteran of the Beardstown Opera House
- Andrew Holtschlag — of Jacksonville and a devoted St. Louis Cardinals fan
- John Love — a Triopia senior bound for Illinois College
- Cydney Musch — of Beardstown, a member of the LLCC troupe
- Tim Phillips — an LLCC student from Jacksonville
- Kendi Sayre — a Triopia athlete, scholar, and actor
- Malory Scarber — a full-time LLCC student from Roodhouse who learned banjo for the show
- Billie Smith — a Triopia senior and the LLCC class "band leader"
- Alex Stanberry — a member of the LLCC traveling troupe
- Cody Springer — an LLCC student from Jacksonville who learned stand-up bass for the show
- Erin Washington — a Traveling Theatre mainstay, "the girl of a thousand voices"
- Elisabeth Werries — guitarist and co-composer of the show's music
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