A story of faith, and a tribute to those whose story we must never forget
Powerfully and beautifully, “1856” The Musical tells the story of the handcart saga of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In the October 2006 General Conference of the Church, President Gordon B. Hinckley, referring to the 3,000 LDS converts who traveled by handcart from Iowa to the Salt Lake Valley between 1856 and 1860, said, “What a story it is. It is filled with suffering and hunger and cold and death. It is replete with accounts of freezing rivers that had to be waded through; of howling blizzards; of the long, slow climb up Rocky Ridge. With the passing of this anniversary year, it may become largely forgotten. But hopefully it will be told again and again to remind future generations of the suffering and the faith of those who came before. Their faith is our inheritance. Their faith is a reminder to us of the price they paid for the comforts we enjoy.”
1856 Performances
We are pleased that “1856” has now been enjoyed by more than 30,000 people in audiences in Arizona, Utah and Colorado. Feedback almost always refers to the power of the message and music.
2005-2006
After a successful premiere production in Arizona in 2005 (4,000 people, 5 shows), we made improvements and put it on again in Arizona and Utah in 2006. In Arizona we were proud to be in the new Mesa Arts Center Ikeda Theatre. With a superb cast of 140 people, we performed eight shows for 7,000 people with the audience size growing each night. The reviews of the show were glowing.
Then, we took the entire cast and crew to the historic Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City for five shows. Again, audience size increased each night, and we performed for 4,000 people in the grand theatre.
Additionally, we were invited by the Church to perform a reader’s theatre style concert on Temple Square on July 22, 2006. Attendees universally spoke of the sweet spirit there that night.
Next, we were pleased to see a stake perform the work. The Colorado Springs North Stake put heart and soul into the production and gave three rousing performances in October 2006 in their Stake Center for a combined audience of more than 1,300 people. The participants in Colorado spoke of many life-changing events as they honored the handcart pioneers with “1856”.
2007
In the summer of 2007 stakes in Grace, Idaho and Parker, Colorado performed “1856”. Both stakes did a magnificent job and played to a full theater for every show.
2008
In 2008 the hub production company, with a cast of 175, performed in Utah at the Capitol Theatre and in Arizona at the Mesa Arts Center. More than 7,000 attended and the post-show celebrations in the lobby were full of emotional and joyful feedback.
Renowned LDS composer Crawford Gates attended “1856” at the Capitol Theater in 2006. Of the experience he wrote, “We so enjoyed both your superior writing of 1856 the Musical, and your superb direction of it, so that it not only gave life changing experience to your cast but thrilled your many audiences. Highest congratulations for these achievements.”