Amana: What would draw an 84-year-old theater director out of retirement and back into co-writing, co-producing, directing and even a cameo appearance on stage as an octogenarian radio station technician? When asked, Thomas P. Johnson (Middle Amana) simply replied, “When you’re in the theater you never really retire. There’s always a good project just waiting around the corner. As one of the characters in the show says, ‘When you feel it, you just got to do it.’” He then quipped, “And wait, who said I was retired?”
A new musical revue from the Iowa Theatre Artists Company, “Wild Rosie’s Rip Roarin’ Radio Round Up, will premier in June at the Amana Performing Arts Center, a venue that once was home to the Old Creamery Theatre. A notable setting due to the fact that Johnson was a co-founder of the Old Creamery back in 1971 in the small farming community of Garrison and performed there until 1996. The Old Creamery added a second performance space in Amana in 1988 and rotated productions between the two theaters for nine years. Johnson finished his work at the Old Creamery in 2007 and the very next year he founded the Iowa Theatre Artists Company (ITAC) in Amana with his wife, Meg Merckens. “Wild Rosie” will kick off an ITAC series of musical events set in the fictitious radio station, WWOW, with Wild Rosie (Merckens, Middle Amana) broadcasting from a town “not far away and in a time not quite like our own.” The show within a show will feature real people sharing their own stories through words and music.
First up in the WWOW Radio Round Up series is Paul Roberts of Sharon Center, a popular professional musician in Eastern Iowa. Roberts will take center stage in “ONLY PAUL – The Story of an Iowa Farm Boy and His Banjo. ” Coming from a farming background, Roberts began playing banjo over forty years ago and performs regularly with numerous bluegrass groups in the area. Roberts shares stories of his banjo playing years and shares original songs and instrumentals along with some classic bluegrass music. Joining Roberts on stage will be Marc Janssen (Solon) on fiddle and mandolin, and Mark Wilson (Hills) on lead guitar. Both Janssen and Wilson are well-known in their own right and perform with numerous groups in the area. They both are members of the Burlington Street Bluegrass Band. Janssen also performs with the Dandelion Stompers and The Splinters and Wilson with The Great Bluegrass Herons and Banjoy, to name just a few.
Six performances of ONLY PAUL will be performed at three different locations. The first three shows are scheduled in Amana on June 6 and 7, followed by two performances in Garrison on June 21 and then one performance in Kalona on July 12. For any questions, please contact itac@southslope.net. Scheduling and ticket information is available on the ITAC website: iowatheatreartists.org.
What: Wild Rosie’s Rip Roarin’ Radio Round Up
Only Paul – The Story of an Iowa Farm Boy and His Banjo
Where: Amana Performing Arts Center
39 – 38th Avenue Amana
When: June 6 & 7
Performance Times: Friday: 7:00 PM
Saturday: 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM
Price: $15 – General Admission – Tickets available at the door
Contact: Meg Merckens (319) 551-1264
Email: itac@southslope.net
Website: www.iowatheatreartists.org
PLUS:
What: Wild Rosie’s Rip Roarin’ Radio Round Up
Only Paul – The Story of an Iowa Farm Boy and His Banjo
Where: Farmers Mercantile Hall
100 W Main St Garrison
When: Saturday; June 12
Performance Times: 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM
Price: $15 – General Admission – Tickets available at the door
AND
What: Wild Rosie’s Rip Roarin’ Radio Round Up
Only Paul – The Story of an Iowa Farm Boy and His Banjo
Where: Hillcrest Academy – Celebration Hall
1421 – 540th St Kalona
When: Saturday, July 12
Performance Time: 7:00 PM
Price: $15
General Admission – Tickets available through the following link: https://celebrationhall.ticketspice.com/only-paul
Jim Magdefrau 