College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

• August 8, 2007

  "Farmer Song the Musical" New York City bound

• "Farmer Song the Musical," an original production with a strong Iowa State University contingent, has been invited to participate in the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival this August.

  The production will be performed off-Broadway with five performances at the New School for the Drama Theater Aug. 13, 15-18.

  Iowa State engineering graduate student Joe Hynek and his mother Angie wrote "Farmer Song the Musical," basing it on their real life farming experiences near Ellston, Iowa. The musical originally got its start as a collection of songs written by Joe and performed by their family band Pumptown.

  The New York City production features an all-Iowa cast. Jane Cox, ISU Theatre professor, is the director, while Janice Baker, assistant professor in the College of Human Sciences, has assisted with the show's choreography.

  Joe Hynek also stars in the show, which also features Iowa State students and/or alumni Amy Burgmaier, Tami White, Bill Hynek and Kira Scott.

  "Farmer Song the Musical" premiered last spring in two performances at the Maintenance Shop of the Memorial Union. The show has also been performed at the 2006 Iowa State Fair and other locations throughout the state.

  The musical was honored this past year with second place in the National Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival playwright competition. It also received a 2007 Robert E. Stewart Humanities Award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

  "Farmer Song the Musical" looks at the bankruptcy that plagued farmers during the Farm Crisis in the 1980s. Young and ambitious, Carl Pitney (played by Joe Hynek) buys a farm and starts a family while his neighbors are losing their shirts. Carl and his wife Becky (Amy Burgmaier) struggle to keep their land as the music puts into song the changing roles of women, men, agriculture and business.

  Joe Hynek was surprised by the audience reaction to the musical.  Many farmers affected by the Farm Crisis were moved because Farmer Song had finally given them a voice that explained how even thought they tried everything the Crisis wasn't their fault. 

  "I'm very pleased with the final product," Hynek said. "I'm hopeful that we can get the sheet music from the show published and get a more professional recording." 

Scenes and CD cover "Farmer Song"

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