Decorah Middle School music teacher Dean Beckman marks his 30th 6th grade operetta in Decorah

Dean Beckman (all photos courtesy of Tami Bohr)

Decorah Middle School Vocal Music/Choir Teacher Dean Beckman is celebrating his 30th sixth grade operetta in the Decorah Community School District. Each year the sixth grade class is involved in putting on a musical, and every student participates in the show. Many community members have been involved in the shows over the past 30 years, including several teachers who were his former students.

Decorah resident Tami Bohr was in the original production of "Tom Sawyer" in 1989. Her son Berndt was in the 2013 production of "Honk Jr." and son Baylor was in 2015's "Hairspray Jr."  Tami says, "I'm so proud to be involved in some way with three of the productions!"

The following is a list of all the operettas that have been performed over the past 30 years:
 
1989: Tom Sawyer
1990: Pandora
1991: The Trial of the Big, Bad Wolf
1992: Hey George! (What Do I Do About This Dragon?)
1993: Pirates of Penzance
1994: Clowns
1995: The Granny Awards (with Mirror, Mirror)
1996: The Inside Pitch
1997: H.M.S. Pinafore
1998: Tom Sawyer
1999: Hey George! (What Do I Do About This Dragon?)
2000: Pandora
2001: Guys and Dolls Jr.
2002: Annie Jr.
2003: Music Man Jr.
2004: Fiddler on the Roof Jr.
2005: Honk Jr.
2006: Disney's Aladdin Jr.
2007: Getting to Know…OKLAHOMA
2008: Getting to Know…CINDERELLA
2009: Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka Jr.
2010: Disney's Mulan Jr.
2011: Seussical Jr.
2012: Guys and Dolls Jr.
2013: Honk Jr.
2014: Beauty and the Beast Jr.
2015: Hairspray Jr.
2016: Disney's Peter Pan Jr.
2017: Legally Blonde, The Musical Jr.
2018: Disney's The Lion King Jr.

Due to the weather and subsequent schedule changes, the 6th grade performances of "The Lion King Jr.," will now be:

Thursday - Cancelled (additional performance added on Saturday)
Friday - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday - 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

All performances will take place at Carrie Lee Auditorium; in lieu of admission, there will be a free will donation box.

For those who are interested in attending both performances on Saturday, please wait to be seated until just before the start of the second performance in order for those attending for the first time to be guaranteed a seat.

Girls from the first production, Tom Sawyer in 1989, L-R: Kari (Barnaal) Yearous, Erica (Severson) Denniston, Anne-Alise (Carlson) Muir, Tami (Hendrickson) Bohr, and Robyn (Christopherson) Aiels

David Hart and Aaron Judisch in Tom Sawyer in 1989

Cast from Honk Jr. in 2013

Cast of Hairspray Jr. in 2015