Medora, ND (the town and Medora Musical)

Of the small towns we've seen on this trip so far, Medora is my favorite.  Glen likes Red Lodge.  Medora was originally settled in 1883 and by the early 1960's had seen better days. At that time most of the buildings were old and decrepit.

In 1962, Harold Schafer, head of the Gold Seal Company of Bismarck, took an interest in Medora and began a restoration and renovation of the old western town.  It has been said that if not for Harold Schafer, North Dakota would have little tourism.

Downtown Medora

The town, now managed by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation and by the efforts of many independent business people have helped make Medora the premier entertainment destination in the state.

Have you ever seen a collapsible water slide?  This one is blown up every day and deflated every evening.  I suppose when the weather turns bad, it gets folded up and put away for next summer.  My question is, what happens if the blower stops working when it's full of kids?

A highlight of our visit here was to see the Medora Musical.  We weren't sure what we were in for but came away very impressed with not only the production but the facility; the Burning Hills Amphitheater.

Heading down the escalator to the amphitheater seating.

Still going down.............beginning to see the set below and the backdrop of the hills.  There are two long escalators that take you down to the top rows of the amphitheater.  Then there are lots of stairs unless your seats are at the very top.  It seats 3000.

From our seats, looking at the stage, and a beautiful sunset.  The cast comes from all over the United States and are very talented.

Early in the production all the children, 12 and under were invited to join the cast on the stage.  They were presented with American flags and they honored all veterans by singing The Star Spangled Banner.

If you notice the set was open to the hills and cliff behind the set in previous pictures.  The buildings are on steel rails and move in and out.  Behind the buildings is a area for live horses to ride in and out of the set.

 In the picture below, fiddler Hannah Drollinger dazzles the audience.

The guest performance was Chicago Boyz Acrobatic Team: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgzTvGOIAw8  and     http://www.chicagoboyzacrobaticteam.com/  They could jump, twist, flip, and fly both high and long.  Below, the team was preparing to do back flips over the lineup.  Some of the team did flips over a member that was standing on another's shoulders.  It was an amazing performance.

The finale included a waving flag projected onto the cliffs in the background.  If you look in the top right corner of the picture you will notice the stars.

I must admit that my reservations about the show were WRONG.  It was a good show and worth the money to see it.

Off to Minnesota on Thursday