VCT to debut original musical about Vermillion Production
will celebrate
community�s 150th anniversary By Patrick Morrison
Yankton Media, Inc. Vermillion�s history will unfold on stage this July as the Vermillion Community Theatre debuts its production of �In Every Generation: An Original Musical Photograph.� Written and produced entirely by the local community and the VCT, �In Every Generation� will chronicle the history of Vermillion from its earliest days, Head Writer Steve Miller, the musical�s head writer, said. �It�s basically historical fiction,� Miller said. �We use real names, real places and real things that happened, but we fictionalize them. We�re trying to create the idea of history and keep it playful and fun.� Miller said the production is a �musical photograph� because the story will be told through the photo album of a fictional local family. The production will be narrated through the eyes of the Weavers, a fictional family created by the writing staff. As the photos are explained, the cast will act out the scene in that particular photograph. �You will see actual photographs of Vermillion throughout the show that are blended into the script,� Miller said. �Our set designer actually built a screen into the set so when a narrator talks about a photograph, you will see the photograph as it�s acted out.� Miller added that in some cases, descendants of the characters used in the production are either in the musical or still part of the Vermillion community. �There are actually a few names of families that we are delicately using, but most of the names of individuals we use lived prior to World War II,� he said. �This was purposeful so we don�t have anyone portrayed on stage that is sitting out in the audience.� The historical nature of �In Every Generation� is in no way a coincidence to the celebration of Vermillion�s Sesquicentennial this year, Miller said. �A few years ago, we thought, �Hey, lets do a musical on the history of Vermillion to celebrate the 150th anniversary,�� Miller said. �This will be a nice piece to fit into the celebration.� Anthony Burbach, president of the VCT and musical director for �In Every Generation,� said the VCT began preparations for the production by recruiting Rachel Foulks to direct the show. �When we pick a show, we like to find a director who is a new face and who can bring a fresh perspective,� Burbach said. �We found Rachel in the USD Theater program and she was more than willing to be part of the project.� The next challenge was to select the overall theme of the production and form a creative team, Miller said. �Interestingly enough, the writers started with what stories we wanted to tell, and what we ultimately came up with were 10 �photographs,�� Miller said. �We then wrote a song to be paired with each photograph, which was eventually adapted to the cast.� Miller also said that creating a new production gives the directors and writers the flexibility to alter script when necessary. �When you are working with community theater, you are not sure who is going to show up at auditions,� he said. �The beauty of writing your own production is that you can write to the strengths of the cast. You can say, �We have these two great high school students, so we are going to write a song just for them.�� Although the added flexibility is a bonus, the main benefit of community theater is working with the community itself, Foulks said. �I think the best thing about this is that it brings everyone in the community together,� Foulks said. �Everyone involved feels like that they have a piece of it and that they had a hand in crafting it.� �In Every Generation: An Original Musical Photograph� will run from Friday, July 10 to Monday, July 13 at the VHS Performing Arts Center. Show times are 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Monday and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, visit www.VermillionCommunityTheatre.org.