Medora Musical

The Medora Musical is a musical that has is produced each summer at the open-air Burning Hills Amphitheatre near Medora, North Dakota. The musical is a look back at the "Wild West" days of the region and includes references to Theodore Roosevelt, who spent time in western North Dakota.

The musical premiered at the amphitheatre in 1965 and is the successor to earlier shows about Roosevelt.

History

The Burning Hills Amphitheatre was built in 1958 one mile west of Medora, for the production of Ol’ Four Eyes. That production was also about Roosevelt. The musical was planned to help celebrate Roosevelt's 100th birthday. The amphitheatre was carved out of the side of the badlands in Burning Gulch by local volunteers, cast members and boys from the Home on the Range Ranch. The original theater seated between 1,000, and 1,200 people. It was constructed of wooden benches on the hillside with rustic buildings that formed a set around the stage. The natural acoustics of the hillside meant that no sound system would be needed.