A Historical Musical about Gumbo Bottoms

By Meredith Ludwig

            "Go see Tall Paul at the Sports Shop on Hwy 5. He’ll fix you up," David Oswald told Deb Jewett. Deb was at a loss as to where she would find a fishing net for the upcoming production of "Gumbo Bottoms, a Missouri River Musical." The trammel net they had borrowed from true-to-life fisherman, Joe Reeder, had proven to be more than the actors could handle. Oswald, owner of Turner Hall in Boonville and the technical director for the show, was busy installing conduit, while Christopher Bolin, scenic designer, painted the shanty boat. Doug Elley was pondering the "HOTEL" signage, studying lettering styles from the 20's while Brenda Bestgen was listening to owl hoots and coyote sound effects.

            That was the scene back in November of 2006 as Turner Hall River Rats for the Arts prepared for a workshop production of Gumbo Bottoms, a musical inspired by oral histories collected along the Missouri River by me and AmeriCorps member, Kate Gorman. We interviewed over 40 river residents during 2004 and 2005 for the Missouri River Communities Network, a not-for-profit organization based in Columbia. The histories were videotaped by Gorman while I conducted the interviews.  We were able to raise $20,000.00 from foundations mainly in Missouri; Stafford Family Charitable Trust, Boon Electric Community Trust, Orscheln Industries Foundation, William T. Kemper Foundation, Commerce Bancshares Foundation, Missouri River Natural Resources Conference and South Loupe Studios from Chicago, IL. The interviews are now stored on DVD and available for viewing at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection in Columbia.

            We tossed around a lot of ideas about what to do with the interviews; an interactive website, a documentary film, a book, but all along I was getting a very strong feeling that this river needed a musical. It had lessons to teach and I wanted to share them by bringing them to the stage. When I heard Cathy Barton play her overture to Most Perfect Harmony; Lewis and Clark: a Musical Journey, at the Missouri Theatre, I knew I had found my composer. We began work on the musical in the summer of 2005.

            The story takes place in 1928 and follows the misadventures of Vivian Marks who has discovered all she has left of her family fortune is a piece of bottomland in Missouri. On her arrival she learns that the Mighty Mo has since taken that piece of land as well and sends her on a river adventure with Lucy Taylor, bottomland farmer, Gabe Burns, fisherman and the conniving scoundrel, Jacque Jeanrue.

            Working with Cathy on the songs was a pure joy. She and her husband, Dave Para, were very busy touring as a musical duo. So I would e-mail her song titles, ideas and lyrics and she would come home after being on the road, sit down at the piano, banjo or guitar, and a few days later I would get a call to come listen to some new songs. What a thrill for us to see what poured forth; 12 songs, three of them based on traditional fiddle tunes, the rest all Cathy.

            With the help of the River Rats, actress and choreographer Lesley Oswald, a wonderful community cast and endless hours of volunteer talent and labor, the show ran for three packed performances. Since that time I have finished revising the script and it is  presently being considered for production by several professional regional theatre companies in Missouri. There is also interest in touring a local community production to nearby towns such as Hermann and Columbia.

            I came to these stories as a writer, not a historian and I always remind people that Gumbo Bottoms is a work of fiction. Only one of the five characters is loosely based on an actual river resident. The other characters are compilations of people and ideas that emerged from the interviews, but the musical only exists because of this oral history project and I thank Steve Johnson at MRCN for encouraging me and offering to help make it possible. As I wrote in the program notes, "It was talking to people like Fred Oerly, Lottie Klein, Joe Reeder and Lucy Colemen and hearing their stories of life along the river that made me want to turn back the clock and 'get into the gumbo.' This is my gift to the people I met by the shore and to anyone who has ever pondered a river life."

 [Meredith Ludwig is a writer and producer living on the banks of the Missouri River in Moniteau County. Her weekly column called The Compost Pile can be heard on KOPN FM, which is now streaming on the web, Sunday afternoons at 2:15 PM. Her company, Your Town Folk History Theatre, is about to record interviews with the oldest living members of a nearby women’s club. Excerpts from the interviews will then be compiled into a performance piece for the community giving them a glimpse into their past. Ludwig can be reached at Meredie_L@yahoo.com]