Director:
Derek Collins
Musical Director:
Ken Ferris
A seemingly endless tour conducting in America's concert halls leaves Anton Dvorák desperately tired and drained of inspiration. Summer 1893 finds him unexpectedly in a remote Illinois lumber town populated largely by Bohemian immigrants - his native people - under the dominance of a hard-headed Irish woman known as Ma Flannagan.
She owns just about everything there, from the Blarney Stone Saloon, to the growing timber. Unrecognized for once, the famous composer gratefully takes a brief sabbatical, playing the piano in Flannagan's saloon. The township soon feels the benevolence of his kindly wisdom as he offers advice on the romance between Milli the barmaid and her once-a-year visiting salesman, Joe; saves Uncle Marek from being cheated out of his land; and smooths love's path for young Shaun-saving grace of the Flannagan family-and Marek's charming niece Karolka. Refreshed, his inspiration returns, and with it his most popular creation-the New World Symphony.
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