Stuart The Musical

HostA2021StuartTheMusical

I think the 150^th year celebration for Stuart, Iowa is 2021.

We should perform this: Stuart: The Musical.

Here’s Why and How.

In resonance with the AHA!, the gist, the imperative of Philippians in one of my projects, I’m thinking that, since ‘joy’ is used 16 times in the epistle written from prison, that singing about one’s life and circumstances could legitimately follow.  Thus, My Life: The Musical, My Workplace: The Musical, My Hometown: The Musical.

I was rattling on about this at work, and one con-worker said something such as, ‘You wouldn’t even have to write the music, you could just use the music from a musical, with different words.’

I thought: Oklahoma.

WE HAVE SIX YEARS.

WE CAN DO IT.

I WON’T BE THE ONE TO DO IT, BUT I WILL HELP IT ALONG.

Here’s a refrain we could use, as an illustration.  At the end of the song ‘Oklahoma’ is this: ‘You’re doin’ fine Oklahoma, Oklahoma OK’.

We could have this as a refrain.  (Look at the events to be celebrated in song).

‘You’re doin’ fine Stuart Iowa! Stuart Iowa Hooray!’

For the first tune, honoring the founder, Captain Stuart, it could be: ‘You’re doin’ fine, Captain Stuart! Captain Stuart, Hooray!’

[Remember, we might not use Oklahoma—the rights could cost too much.  And I’m thinking that the Captain Stuart song could include the move from railroad, to the men of Stuart getting together on a Saturday morning with their equipment and building a road to Dexter, and the Interstate, and now the Internet.

(Note:  The road to Dexter later became part of what was at that time the most heavily-traveled road in America, I’ve heard, and now is part of the White Pole Road. Before roads, town baseball games, at least one, had to be called because of train schedules).

Our next steps are two:  1—List the events.  2—List the tunes from ‘Oklahoma,’ the musical, to use.  Well, 3—Should we use ‘Oklahoma’? Can we afford the rights?  Well, 4—Should we use a tune popular at the time the event happened?  What was the most popular tune in 1871?

The second part can be searched.  Here are some options for the events—this could be something that energizes the community.

1—Captain Stuart

2—Railroad and other transportation (Post Office as background throughout?)

3—Ode to farming

4—

5—

6—

7—

(4, 5, 6, 7 to be filled in)

8—Good Egg (the start of the town celebration, ‘Good Egg Days’).

9—Scoop the Loop (or should that go with Good Egg?)

10—Future (Re: Captain Stuart, it would be nice if it was a comprehensive preview, touching on all parts, an overture, with words too?)

…Grow up here and go (we educate ‘em, they leave) (also, military)

…Reunions

…Homecoming Queens (it would be nice to have, maybe ‘I feel pretty’ from Westside Story, and pictures of the Homecoming Queens?) [Is there life after high school?]

…Winter (a verse about ‘School’s called off, let’s drive our cars to town and play pool) (Also, snowbirds)

--The plot could be kind of time-travelish, or something like ‘This is Your Life’, or Back to the Future, but I say, just keep it simple.  Here are events, here are tunes with new words, tunes to which we can sing along

…Te Deum, with a chorus running along that names all the churches

…Something with baseball, and 4 verses, the first starting at ‘home’ and the last ‘coming back home’?

‘Sweet Adeline’: ‘Sweet Stuart Home’?

…the newspaper, The Stuart Herald

…Librarians (Marian, from “Music Man’)?  Fire Rescue, etc. City Council, School

--You see this intersects and goes along with what Bob Cook has been doing)

..For all those we’ve missed, We Want To Remember YOU, Next Time

--To make sure we get the whole culture, the map of culture in E. T. Hall’s ‘The Silent Language’ would help

--At various times, we ask this: ‘What do milk, bread, and eggs cost, Margery?’ This honors the feature in The Herald that Margery Watts writes about 70 ,50, 35, and 25 years ago, respectively.

Who knows, this could be monetized, somehow, with YouTube videos, etc.

Now, when I explained this to Kit, he burst out with ‘God Bless Stuart,’ perhaps jestingly, but I proposed that he be in the musical, and he seemed receptive.

This might be big.  It might be worthwhile.

We need to know the events, and we need a composer.

BUT WE HAVE UNTIL 2011!

Love in King Jesus,

Charlie Hartman