The Sedona Historical Society will be presenting “Our Town Sedona: Only We’re Dead …The Musical!” at 4:45 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 27, and Saturday, Oct. 28.

The hour-long performances will consist of a series of vignettes depicting the lives of a variety of figures from Sedona’s history, played out in the Cook’s Cedar Glade Cemetery, west of Airport Road near the Sedona Elks Lodge.

“As Halloween approaches, enjoy a lighthearted look at Sedona history as the spirits of those buried in our historic cemeteries rise from their graves to share their stories in word and song,” the SHS teased in its announcement of the program, which will replace the popular cemetery walks of previous years.

“Our big thing with the show, besides the maintenance of the cemeteries, is to introduce people to [those] who made Sedona,” event producer Shondra Jepperson said. “So that they can better understand those who were before us and some of the struggles they went through … Sedona’s built on good bones … [It] wasn’t an easy life [and] when people get more invested in the history of their town, they’re more apt to take care of their town.”

Jepperson compared the format of “Our Town Sedona” to that of “Spoon River Anthology,” except with a greater focus on dialogue between the characters and the audience to get people comfortable and help them get to know past residents of the red rocks.

Reno and Sheila McCormick will be providing live music to accompany the performance.

“They are festival winners and [play] standup bass, they’ll be playing probably that,” Jepperson said. “Reno also plays banjo and mandolin. They’re really, really good musicians and singers.”

The duo plans to feature “the big hits of the 1880s and the early 1900s. But there’ll be some sing-alongs and things that people will already know from their childhoods, probably, and some other songs that they may not know.”

“We decided, rather than having people walk through the cemetery because there’s many colorful people in there, [to] put on a colorful show,” playwright Dev Ross said. “We’re treating the cemetery respectfully, but as an outdoor theatre … The characters in the cemetery are going to [be] telling their stories of their lives. But they’re going to be interacting with each other much in the way they would as in a community. Then it’s going to be filled with music and it’ll be a bit of a sing-along. It’s basically  a celebration, because the characters start off in the very beginning [by asking] why would anybody want to hear what they have to say?”

“The direction I’m going is [their lives] meant something to shape the town [and] your lives mean something, everything you do has meaning and to live your life to the fullest,” Ross said. “They’re wishing upon us to live every day as fully as they did, and to continue too enjoy our beautiful town, and just remember that long after they’re gone too, these red rocks will be here for another million years. Basically the idea is that we’re here for a moment in time, we do the best we can and then we leave it to the next generations, hopefully in a good condition, and know that this town’s going go on without you.”

Personal histories are Ross’ favorite parts of Sedona’s cultural heritage.

“Like Mrs. [Margaret Elizabeth] Pirtle slugged a teacher in the mouth … because the teacher had the audacity to spank her child, very protective,” Ross said. “Then she had to go in front of the judge, and she was fined $5, but she gave the judge $10. And he wanted to give her change. She said no, ‘because as soon as I leave here, I’m gonna go back and slug the teacher again.’”

Or there was Apolonia Chavez, who became instantly smitten with her future husband when she spotted him selling his peaches and, in order to get his attention, ended up buying his entire stock of fruit.

“Those [stories] are just rich that show the feistiness and the characters,” Ross said. “They had to be so tough to live here … None of them are my favorites. I love them all. It shows incredible resilience.”

This program is not recommended for children under the age of 13. Guests should be prepared for possible changes in the weather and bring flashlights to walk from the parking area to the performance location.

The event is sponsored by local businesses. The society is still looking for additional sponsors and those interested can contact Jepperson at tomandshondra@tomandshondra.com.

“We’re hoping to make enough to pay a stipend, at least to our actors, and we always have been able to do that,” Jepperson said. “So it’s good because everyone’s donating their time. No one’s getting paid for rehearsals.”

Tickets are limited to the first 80 paying guests per performance and are priced at $35, with all of the money from admissions going toward the maintenance of the Sedona Historical Society’s cemeteries.

Tickets can be purchased at sedonamuseum.org and questions directed to SHS at (928) 282-7038.

Cast

Sedona Arabella Schnebly: Tricia Greer

T.C. Schnebly: Tom Jepperson

Alvin Clifford: Dave Belkiewitz

Henry “Red” Hedges: Mike Peach

Apolonia Chavez: Mindy Mendelsohn

Margaret Elisabeth Pirtle: Dev Ross

Nettie Van Deren: Shondra Jepperson

Clara Thompson Purtymun: Theresa Hawkins

Doretta Schuerman: Joan Westmoreland

James Andrew Jackson Sr.: Thomas Bruck

Music by Reno & Sheila McCormick