Town Hall Tonight: David Peterson show revived in Beaver Dam

The Beaver Dam Area Community Theatre is mounting a production of  Town Hall Tonight, a “musical memoir” conceived and directed originally by David Peterson, suggested by Harlowe R. Hoyt’s 1955 book of the same name. David Peterson (1935-2014) was a University of Wisconsin-Extension faculty member and composer of musical shows based on Wisconsin subjects, which he produced as part of the Wisconsin Idea Theatre, a program begun in 1945 as a creative educational program in the theater arts conducted with the people of the state by the College of Letters and Science, the College of Agriculture, and the Extension Division of the University.

The David C. Peterson Collection is part of Mills Music Library’s Wisconsin Music Archives, and is comprised of Peterson’s manuscripts, photos, audio and video recordings. Mills Music Library worked with the folks behind this production, reformatting a VHS of the show that had been filmed for Milwaukee Public Television on July 29, 1969, so they could view it on DVD, and provided other materials from the David C. Peterson Collection. The DVD is now available to checkout.

Check out the Beaver Dam Area Community Theatre production, and come check out the materials we have in the library!