The Beardstown Show
2009 · Beardstown Elks Club, Beardstown, Illinois
Tom Beard, Look What You Done! — known in Ken's archive as the Beardstown Show — is an original musical history of the founding of Beardstown, Illinois, told through the eyes of Edward, son of the town's founder, Thomas Beard. In 1819, the 25-year-old Thomas Beard rides up the Illinois River to the Kickapoo Mounds, finds a thriving Native American settlement amid burial mounds and swampland, and establishes the ferry that gives rise to the town that bears his name. The show traces the Beard family's westward journey from New York — its hardships and adventures along the way — and Thomas's life on the river: snakes, floods, snowstorms, steamboats, and showboats. The script opens with the line "Thomas Beard, Look What You Done!"
Ken Bradbury, the Lincoln Land Community College / WREC theatre instructor, wrote the musical after a yearlong search researching Thomas Beard, and described it as "an adventure tale that Disney would have appreciated." He composed most of the score, with additional music by Roger Wainwright of Chatham, who is credited as co-composer. Ken also led and directed the nineteen-member theatre class that rehearsed and performed the show as their class project.
Songs
Performance order from Ken's music list:
- Memories of a River (Welcome, Old Friend) — "Welcome, old friend, I long for my river / Wonderin' just when I'll see you again / Rollin' along...you long, and lonely river / Memories of a river...like the smiles of a friend."
- Ferry Song (Ride My Ferry!) — "Hop on board! Come ride my ferry! / Hop on board! And walk this way! / Mind your step as you leave the prairie! / Cross that river? You're goin' my way!"
- Hitch Up the Wagons — "Hitch up the wagons! It's West I'm headin' for! / Hang your heart on a brand new star and don't look back no more!"
- Windy Night
- Goodbye, My Friend — "Goodbye my friend / Please think of me now and then / As we leave the life we've known / And I promise to remember you / As I walk this long and lonely road." (Roger Wainwright's song; not on the recording CD)
- Doodle (Jedidiah Kissed His Wife) — "Je-di-di-ah kissed his wife and grabbed his trusty rifle / Went to fight the British leaving nine kids in Ohio!"
- Traveling West
- Coming Upon the Mounds
- Coming of the Snakes
- Nervous Horse
- Marriage #1
- Marriage #2
- Skinny Dippin'
- Skinny Dippin', slow
- Big Freeze
- Indian Lore
- Steamboat Comin'
- Showboat (Showboat's Comin'!)
- Tough
- Family River
- Memories of a River, reprise
- Ferry Song, reprise
- Curtain Call
Cast
- Edward Beard / Lonely River Singer — Logan Bobb
- Thomas Beard — John Love
- Nancy Dickerson Beard, Mrs. Jedidiah Baird (Beard), Shoe Mama — Katie Taylor
- Mrs. Thomas Beard — Erin Washington
- Jedidiah Beard — Phillip Whited
- Stella Beard, Starving Widow — Hannah Westrope
- Caroline Beard, Starving Child — Jess Clinton
- Sarah Bell — Annie Schone
- Rigley — Billie Smith
- Lonely River Singer — Dalton Kindred
- Clerk — Kyle Cummings
- Millman — Luke Waldon
- Starving Child — Wes Burton
- Ryan Harris
- Michael Roegge
- Brennan Vahle
- Josh West
- Brian Tonry
- Kim Troxell
Production Notes
The show was staged at the Beardstown Elks Club on Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 3:00 p.m., with reservations taken at (217) 323-5479. It was presented by the Beardstown Opera House and the Lincoln Land Community College Theatre Department and performed by the WREC theatre class — nineteen students who rehearsed the show as part of their regular class work and performed it as a class project. The promotional poster billed "Arenzville's Finest in Tom Beard, Look What You Done!"
Ken spent a yearlong search researching Thomas Beard, the founder of Beardstown. From his research notes: Thomas Beard arrived at the Kickapoo Mounds on the Illinois River in 1819 at age 25; the family name changed from "Baird" to "Beard"; Beard obtained a Schuyler County ferry license for $6 a year, with tolls such as 75 cents for a wagon and four horses; and steamboats like the Farragut were built at Captain Ebaugh's boatyard. The story is told through the eyes of Edward, Thomas Beard's son.
The original score was recorded as roughly fifty-five WAV and WMA audio files dated October through December 2009; co-composer Roger Wainwright of Chatham contributed additional music, including "Goodbye, My Friend." The program and press release credit Ken Bradbury as playwright and author.
Photos
