The U.S. Bicentennial Wagon Train Show, which played across the country in 1976 as part of the national celebration of America's bicentennial, returns to central Pennsylvania for a special 30th-anniversary reunion show with the original performers on July 3 at University Park.
The Wagon Train Show will be performed at 6 p.m. Monday, July 3, in Esber Recital Hall, University Park. The performance is free to the public.
The Wagon Train Show, a musical revue commemorating America, features music by Don Tucker and Bruce Trinkley, Penn State professor emeritus of music, and lyrics by Tucker and Roger Cornish. The show was commissioned by Pennsylvania Gov. Milton Shapp to commemorate the American Bicentennial in 1976.
In honor of the part that Conestoga wagons played in the settling of the West, Shapp had gifted a Conestoga wagon to each of the 50 states. Starting from their home state, each wagon began a journey towards Philadelphia, joining up with wagons from nearby states to form five convoys of Conestoga wagons. All 50 Conestogas converged at Valley Forge on the Fourth of July in 1976 for a grand celebration attended by President Gerald Ford and Shapp. Accompanying each of the five convoys was a cast of singers/musicians who performed the Wagon Train Show every night, all across America.
Twenty members of the original five companies will reunite after 30 years to recreate the musical revue, including the director of the show, Manuel Duque, Penn State professor emeritus of theatre; the producer, Douglas Cook, former head of the Department of Theatre; the costume designer, Montez King; and the technician for the original companies, Del Boarts.
The Wagon Train Show was the first cultural program created at Penn State to have a national impact. The show played more than 2,000 performances across the entire country before countless audience members. Each of the five Wagon Train Show companies had six performers, who not only sang in the show but also provided the accompaniment of piano, guitars, banjo and electric bass. More than half of the original cast members were Penn State students at the time.
For more information about the Wagon Train Show and the history of the Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage and to listen to the music from the show, go to http://www.music.psu.edu/WagonTrainShow online. Information about a July 4 performance at Fort Robertdeau is available online.