Next weekend is the last concert of the season and it’s a program I have been planning since arriving in Springfield four seasons ago. It’s part of our mission to make the orchestra a community cornerstone by creating programs once in a while that truly celebrate where we are, which in this case is a couple of blocks from Route 66……
During my audition week I couldn’t help but notice the historic markers around town for the Mother Road with tidbits about its history. After doing further reading I soon realized that Springfield lays claim to be the first city to announce the naming of the highway. Founded by Cyrus Avery from Tulsa and John Woodruff from Springfield any organized ride on the road seems to make Springfield a destination and a couple of blocks from our hall is a Steak and Shake that frequently sees a huge gathering of old cars and motorbikes. Route 66 as important as it was to the nation, it is still important to Springfield, so I came up with the idea to do a concert called Route 66: A Trip Down Memory Road.
The concert is partly going to be a journey starting in Chicago (highlights from the musical), going through Missouri (St Louis Blues, Shenandoah) the Grand Canyon (Sunrise from the suite) and beyond. We will have a vocal group sing In My Merry Oldsmobile and we even have an Elvis showing up! It’s easy to find images (there are hundreds and hundreds) and so we are going to do a continuous power-point. What I’m most excited about is that our local history museum owns some footage showing the road in Springfield in the 30’s and the 60’s so we asked Jaime Bihlmeyer a documentary film maker who teaches at Missouri state to make a mini documentary incorporating the footage that we will premiere at the concert. There will be memorabilia scattered around the orchestra also.
Our hope is that we will create great memories and a sense of nostalgia for our audience, whilst giving them a great Pops concert. Our mission though is to recognize and celebrate what’s important and relevant to our community.
Here is the complete program for any who are interested and for orchestras along the route who might want to do a similar program with the same theme. I had a lot to choose from and made some tough choices with what to leave out. I would be very happy to hear of other pieces you might have included.
Download route_66_page.doc (new version 5/01/08)
What a great program, Ron! Just thinking of the towns mentioned in the song lyrics, without looking on a map, there is also: “You Came a Long Way From St. Louis” and “Meet Me in St.Louis.” For Chicago, you could do: “My Kind of Town, Chicago Is” (the Sinatra hit), “Chicago, Chicago, That Toddlin’ Town” (also Sinatra.) For Amarillo, there’s: “Yellow Rose of Texas” and “Texas, My Texas” (the state song.) For Gallup, if you want something truly obscure there’s a Sousa March called “New Mexico.”
Like you said, there’s a lot to choose from!