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Church Basement Ladies | |
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![]() Church Basement Ladies Logo | |
Music | Drew Jansen |
Lyrics | Drew Jansen |
Book | Jim Stowell Jessica Zuehlke |
Basis | Growing Up Lutheran by Janet Letnes Martin & Suzann Nelson |
Productions | 2005 Plymouth, Minnesota 2009 West Coast Premiere 2008 A Second Helping 2009 Away in the Basement 2011 A Mighty Fortress 2013 The Last (Potluck) Supper 2016 Rise Up, O Men 2018 You Smell Barn 2099 Hark! The Basement Ladies Sing 2022 Plowin' Thru |
Church Basement Ladies is a musical comedy, book by Jim Stowell and Jessica Zuehlke, music and lyrics by Drew Jansen. The story is about the ladies that work in the church basement cooking meals for church functions, and is inspired by the humorous book Growing Up Lutheran, by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson. Published in 1997, Growing Up Lutheran is a "scrapbook of memories" of what it was like to grow up Lutheran in the Midwest in the 1950s. In addition to their bestseller, Martin and Nelson, aka "Those Lutheran Ladies," have written numerous other works, including Growing Up Rural, published in 2017. Their lives and writings have inspired eight additional Church Basement Ladies musicals. The ninth sequel to the play, "The Church Basement Ladies Plowin' Thru" premiered at The Ames Center in Burnsville MN on September 7, 2022.
The show's 2009 national tour featured William Christopher as the pastor. [1]
A celebration of the church basement kitchen and the women who work there, Church Basement Ladies is a musical comedy featuring four distinct characters and their relationships as they organize the food and solve the problems of a rural Minnesota church about to undergo changes in 1965. From the elderly matriarch of the kitchen to the young bride-to-be learning the proper order of things, we see them handle a record-breaking Christmas dinner, the funeral of a dear friend, a Hawaiian Easter fundraiser, and a steaming hot July wedding. They stave off potential disasters, share and debate recipes, instruct the young, and keep the Pastor on course while thoroughly enjoying, (and tolerating) each other as the true "steel magnolias" of the church. Funny and down to earth, audiences will recognize these ladies as they witness the church year unfold from below the house of God.
Christmas Dinner
Willie's Funeral
Hawaiian Easter Dinner
Wedding
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Church Basement Ladies (CBL) has spawned an entire series of musicals, with eight sequels and prequels to date.
Produced by Troupe America Inc., Curt Wollan, Executive Producer, the first six musicals in the series opened at the Plymouth Playhouse in Plymouth, Minnesota. Installments 7, 8 and 9 opened at the Ames Center in Burnsville, Minnesota .
In addition to touring nationally, the nine musicals have been licensed in all contiguous 48 states and Canada. More than four million audience members have attended the musical and its sequels. On November 18, 2016, the company celebrated its 3000th performance at the Plymouth Playhouse. Original Cast Recordings are available for Church Basement Ladies 1 through 7.
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