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Show ( vi 1 . How a dream, backed by community effort, turned a wheat field into an open-ai- r opera house by James E. Armstrong re wheat field WAS A DREAM and a five years ago near Springfield, Illinois, Today at the same spot near the shores of Lake IT . to perfecting their parts. While driving home after rehearsal, a player from 20 miles away went to sleep and ended up in a cornfield. He showed up next night for rehearsals, bandages and all. An abandoned airport hangar near the opera site was turned into an artist's studio. A young artist lived there six weeks turning out scenery. Women of Springfield and environs went through " 55-ac- Springfield, overtures sound through the night, and there are bright lights and brilliant costumes the fifth Springfield Municipal Opera season is about to open. - T community effort and the Through all-o- ut radius of- -i ile"community Springfield the wheat field has been transformed into a "pay as you go" venture. To indicate how, the opera has grown in four seasons, the association is the first nonprofessional group to be permitted to produce "Call Me Madam," which will be presented this season, opening July 7. The community movement got its official start April 21, 1950, .when" the Springfield Municipal organization, Opera Association, a was incorporated with John E. MacWherter, now mayor, as president; Attorney Lacey Catron as vice president; and E. Carl Lundgren, producer- -, director, as secretary-treasure- r. lease" of the grounds They obtained a f or$l a year from the jdty, which owns the lake John H Hunter city l?roperty, ''with'uie 'help-ocommissioner of public property. More than 100 residents guaranteed $200 each for the season. Everybody pitched in to helpTnHormers were volunteers. Bankers, laborers, lawyers, city and county officials, rich and poor helped with hammer, paintbrush, and money. Unions, Jaycees, civic clubs, Boy Scouts, and many other groups 7 volunteered time and effort ; Rehearsals started with many of the players working during the day and giving their evenings ; 60-y- -- :, Carl lundgren, few years, it was K Carl Lundgren who "waved the magic wand" for the opera's successes. Lundgren, who is now director of the Illinois Wesleyan University Junior College of Music in Springfield, the first three years. Bewas producer-direct- or cause of the press of other duties, he asked to be relieved, and Walter S. Russell, director-manag- er j or FAMILY WEEKLY MAGAZINE JUNE 27, K4 ' ' , ? -. - - -- - Ij .1 " r - 1 7 1 i "f J. m 'I if 1 'Wft i T Probate Judae Creel Douglas, Eugene, Canham, and Grover E. SHipton grew mustaches and beards for roles. of the Civic theater at Springfield, Ohio, was brought in. Latest addition to the opera staff is KSD-T- V in Harry Farbman, music director of St. Louis and associate conductor of the St. Louis Symphony orchestra. Why does the Springfield Municipal Opera continue to be a success? The answer is: community cooperation. Frank M. Chase, in a review, of the . first performance in 1950, said those attending "saw men and women who could well afford to take life easier putting in days; cast end to perfect their parts; people giving up their vacations; people digging in their pockets; singers and actors and directors going short on sleep and driving many miles and paying their own expenses to get to rehearsals all for the common goal." Which only goes to show what a community can do if it tries. v I 1 I II jjjjJ-- . , TfTJp ;J1 .S . 18-ho- ur Oflhiosehoavente - producer-direct- r on of the opera during its first three years, directs one of the rehearsals E. . Vi also sent along hubby's discarded tuxedo. At the opera site, light poles went up and a stage was constructed; 520 tons of crushed rock were spread; water was piped in; and a parking lot for 1,000 cars was constructed. Then came opening night July 17, 1950. It rained in the morning, but that night the stars came out, and despite cool weather 3,000 attended the -raising production of "The Merry Widow." After the first season's performances, the 106 guarantors paid $60 each to make up the deficit, , instead of the $200 they had guaranteed. ' The next season, and the next and the next, improvements were added as the opera gained in public acceptance, and by the end of 1953 the opera was "in the black." An enlarged "board of man- - ... of the city's business agers" a virtual cross-sectiand professional people now assists the original board, which remains as trustees. Ill - o, curtain- 1 1 .... i , , 1 I ' - - - ny.. ofit ear . Iclosetifor-dresseathey-woulo'tjvearjagainla- extends-to-a-90-m- not-for-pr- t 111 rf- -C in i Handmade, colorful costumes and scenery marked the "Totem Pole Dance," one of the production numbers t J mi i nrrr- I 1,1 irr""-- i I IT- II 1 1 "" "ml operetta, "Rose Marie," presented byr ihe Springfield Opera Company during the 1953 season in the I . |