Theater fundraiser takes trip down musical memory lane

Le Mars Community Theatre will hold its biennial fundraiser Friday and Saturday with a dinner theater at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Money raised will be put toward maintenance and general remodeling at the Postal Playhouse, pictured here. [Click to enlarge]

"Hello Dolly," "If I Were a Rich Man," "Prepare Ye the Way."

Those familiar tunes and others will be featured in the Le Mars Community Theatre's "Musical Memories" biennial fundraiser Friday and Saturday.

"We went through all the musicals in the past and looked at the ones that had songs that would be fairly familiar to the audience," said Marlene Fitzpatrick, co-producer of the fundraiser. "We asked people who have been in musicals in previous years (to perform)."

The dinner theater starts with a 5:30 p.m. social hour, followed by a 6:30 p.m. meal and wraps up with the 7:30 p.m. musical review, Friday, Aug. 22 and Saturday, Aug. 23.

The event will be at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 120 First Ave. N.E., north of the Postal Playhouse.

Because this year is the theater's 40th anniversary, entitling the fundraiser, "Musical Memories" seemed fitting, Fitzpatrick said.

There will be 23 songs, 21 individual singers, plus a group performance at the beginning of the review, and one at the end that will encourage audience participation.

"Some of the people that are performing are actually performing that song from the musical that they (originally) appeared in," Fitzpatrick said.

Like Glendon Peterson, who will be singing "I Believe in You" from the musical "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," -- 38 years later.

That was the first musical produced by the theater in 1970 at the Little Theater at Le Mars Community High School.

"I was surprised it came back," Peterson said of relearning the song. "I remember how I sang to myself in the mirror. There will be a mirror this time as well."

Peterson also performed in other musicals with the community theater including "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Gateway."

"Musical Memories" is going to draw a crowd, just like it brings back memories for performers, Peterson said.

"It's going to be a good reflection on past musicals that the community theater has offered,' he said. "I would sure enjoy going down to listen to some of these old show tune hits."

Peterson's not the only past performer who thinks the dinner theater will bring in a crowd.

Sheila Anderson, who performed in the musical "Hello Dolly" in the 1970s, will sing a modified version of "Hello Dolly."

"I think it's fantastic because you are going to have a lot of people from the past musicals come back to town," Anderson said. "It's a wonderful way for people to enjoy a whole evening and then give back to the community, too."

Tim Pick, co-producer of "Musical Memories," said the theater started holding fundraisers in 2004 as a way to meet maintenance expenses.

"The moneys from this (fundraiser) aren't earmarked," Pick said. "It's just the general remodeling."

The cost of the "Musical Memories" dinner theater fundraiser is $40 per person or $300 for a table of eight.

Tickets are still available from any board of director member by calling the Postal Playhouse at 712-546-5788, stopping by between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. or emailing postalplayhouse@frontiernet.net.

Tickets are selling well, Fitzpatrick said, and she's been hearing enthusiastic responses.

"There are people who don't miss anything that we do," Fitzpatrick said. "We have a very loyal patron base."