Next SMU Page Series event highlights our nation’s history
WINONA, Minn. — The Pushcart Players will present the musical tribute “Let Freedom Ring: America at the Beginning” as part of Saint Mary’s University’s Page Series Thursday, March 3.
The robust musical review that celebrates our nation’s birth and development will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Page Theatre, located in the Performance Center.
Audiences will enjoy a history lesson come to life — “Let Freedom Ring” is a compilation of authentic folk songs and vignettes that illustrate significant moments in history.
The play begins with the beginning of time, moving quickly to the arrival of the first Americans from Asia. With the passage of approximately 30,000 years (in under five minutes!), Freedom introduces second Americans who arrive on the Eastern shores in 1620, after a long and arduous journey from England.
Among the new settlers are four main characters —Sam, Sarah, Jennie and Ginny — who transcend time, distance and circumstance to lead us chronologically and geographically through two centuries of our American past. Their journey through the landscape of America includes whistle stops along the way to witness early encounters with Native Americans, disputes with Mother England, the Boston Tea Party, American Revolution, westward expansion, Underground Railroad, Civil War, California Gold Rush and Industrialization.
The finale is a spirited medley of international songs that celebrate the new wave of immigration at the turn of the 20th century.
Nominated for an Emmy for its two prime time specials on CBS, Pushcart Players will be celebrating its 35th year as a touring ensemble.
Tickets are $12 for adults, $5 for seniors and students and are available at the SMU Box Office, (507) 457-1715, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday or online at www.pagetheatre.org.
Saint Mary’s University is a fiscal year 2010 recipient of an Institutional Presenter Support grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is funded, in part, by the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008.
