By Seth Schmidt
Ladies and gentlemen! Step right up to the sights and sounds of the 1950 Iowa State Fair!
That’s right. The Fine Arts Council of Tracy will be staging the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical State Fair next spring, and people from all walks of life are invited to join the fun.
Director Erin Dahmes plans auditions Sunday and Monday, Jan. 13-14, and encourages both adults and high school students to try out. The April 5-7 production will be Tracy’s first community musical in nine years. The last was the 2010 staging of Annie.
The FACT board chose State Fair for several reasons. Dahmes feels the rural setting, humor, and story line make it a good fit for Tracy, and its Rodgers & Hammerstein score is filled with appealing and easy to sing melodies. Visually, the State Fair midway offers many possibilities for a colorfully appealing set. Although the score officially calls for 17 men’s parts and 12 women’s, the cast easily be expanded.
For more on this article, see this week’s Headlight-Herald.