THE FINAL NOTE
Larry Mitchell, Fort Dodge’s musical man, dies
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Larry Mitchell, who was the driving force behind musical theater in Fort Dodge for about 42 years, died Friday night.
His death was confirmed by friends and several organizations, including Comedia Musica Players, the theater troupe he established, and the Fort Dodge Community School District, where he taught from 1966 to 1997.
From 1967 to 1997, he directed 31 of the spring musicals performed by Fort Dodge Senior High School students.
Mitchell started with "Where's Charlie" in 1967 and concluded his high school directing efforts with "Naughty Marietta" in 1997.
He established Comedia Musica Players in 1968. He directed his last show with that group, "Cardiff," in 2006.
Throughout his long career, the man known to many as "Mitch" helped hundreds of young singers hone their talents.
He was also one of the last people who could say that they were a personal friend of Karl King, Fort Dodge's legendary band leader and composer who died in 1971.
"There are some people whose impact on a community simply cannot be measured," said Shelly Bottorff, executive director of the Fort Dodge Fine Arts Association. "Larry was one of those people."
"His contributions to the arts, music, theater and the countless lives he touched are truly endless," she added.
Scott Johnston, a friend of Mitchell and a member of Comedia Musica Players, said he "affected an astonishing number of people."
"Like every teacher or coach, it’s great to point to the stars that you have helped along," Johnston said. "Certainly, Mitch could do that. But he was equally proud of the groundwork he laid in people like myself, who could continue to take their musical talents with them and have life-changing experiences that nobody else ever hears about. For me, as a guy who spent his life in the car business, I can also say that I have sung in the Concert Hall of the Kennedy Center and that I have sung in the chorus of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the direction of the renowned Robert Shaw. Not bad for a car guy in the middle of Iowa."
Johnston said he met Mitchell when he entered Fort Dodge Senior High School in the fall of 1968.
"I was involved in vocal music all my years of high school and he asked me to help with a Fort Dodge Civic Glee Club show in the winter of 1970-1971," he said. "It was a show featuring old radio shows, and I had an interest in tape recording, splicing and editing. The recordings of old shows were used during the breaks between songs."
After Johnston graduated in 1971, Mitchell asked him to help with the lighting for a Comedia Musica Players show called "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." He later became technical director for several Fort Dodge Senior High musicals, Comedia Musica and the Civic Glee Club. He performed in several Comedia Musica shows.
"Our friendship continued until Friday night when he left us," Johnston said.
Kathleen Schreier, who retired as vocal music director at Iowa Central Community College, first encountered Mitchell when she was a high school student. Later, she and Mitchell were both music teachers working at the same time. but in different schools.
"My first introduction to Larry Mitchell was in 1968 when I attended my first musical production at Fort Dodge Senior High," she said. "I was a St. Edmond student at the time and had never seen a full-staged musical. The FDSH production was "Brigadoon," and it was magical. How they turned the school gymnasium into the Scottish highlands still baffles me. I never missed one of their musicals after that."
"Fast forward 10 years when I became the choral director at St. Edmond High School," she added. "Being the new kid on the block, I found a colleague in Larry Mitchell who graciously shared his knowledge, time and ideas, loaned me music from his files and even provided transportation to and from All-State for some of my students so I didn't have to spend an extra day in travel."
Schreier shared what she called her favorite memory of Mitchell. She said they were comparing the Fort Dodge Senior High and St. Edmond choral students.
"He said to me, rather slyly, that he had something I would never have at St. Edmond High School," she said. "I'm thinking, 'What could that possibly be?' With that he boasted that he had choir members who were children of ministers. He proceeded to rattle off the names of ministers' children who had contributed to the success of his program through the years. Sure enough, he was right. To this day, I tell parents if they want their son or daughter to excel in music and neither parent's a minister, have them join a church choir where singers and instrumentalists perform new music each week. It certainly worked for Larry Mitchell."
Jerrold Jimmerson, former director of the Karl L. King Municipal Band, recalled that Mitchell portrayed King on a couple of occasions.
"My absolute favorite memories of Larry were the times he would do a monologue as Karl King that he had researched and written," he said. "Larry was about the same height and weight as King and was given some of Maestro King’s uniforms. When the King Band was invited to perform at the Circus Fans of America National Convention in 2014, I asked Larry to perform that monologue during our concert performance."
Mitchell portrayed King again in 2017 for a Preserve Iowa Summit held in Fort Dodge.
"Larry brought so much joy to so many people during his time here in Fort Dodge," Jimmerson said. "He will be missed, but will live on in the lives of those he touched each day."
Schreier was not the only music educator who benefited from knowing Mitchell.
Dan Cassady, a retired band director who is now the director of the Karl L. King Municipal Band, met Mitchell when he started teaching at Fort Dodge Senior High School in 1976.
"We were teaching colleagues for 20 years and remained close friends ever since," Cassady said. "He was encouraging and helpful to me. We had a mutual respect for each other and I will always remember him as a passionate supporter of the arts in the area."
Paul Bloomquist, director of instrumental music at Iowa Central Community College, described Mitchell as "visionary."
"Then he turned that vision into reality," Bloomquist said.
"I got to know Mitch after his teaching days, but his knowledge of musical theater and opera were so in-depth," he added. "In addition, he was a gracious gentleman that cared about everybody."
When Mitchell first went to college at Iowa State University in Ames, he envisioned becoming a veterinarian.
As an extracurricular activity, he sang in the choir directed by Robert McCowen.
He soon found himself spending more time in the music room than in any laboratory. That led to a change in his career path.
After two years at Iowa State, Mitchell realized that music, not veterinary medicine, was his calling. So he transferred to Iowa State Teachers College, which is today's University of Northern Iowa, to become a music teacher.
After graduating, he taught music for grades eighth through 12 at Orange Township School District south of Waterloo.
He often said that he applied for only two jobs -- the one in Orange Township and the one in Fort Dodge.
He began teaching at Fort Dodge Senior High School in the 1966-1967 academic year.
The comedy "Where's Charlie" was performed in the spring of 1967.
A long string of musicals, most of which were performed in the gym of the old South Junior High/Fair Oaks Middle School, followed.
The 1970 performance of "Hello Dolly" starring Donna Johnson was one of the most memorable. The show was so popular that an extra performance was added.
Mitchell also had some remarkable experiences directing choirs.
In 1973, he directed a 200-member chorus in Los Angeles, California.
The following year, he directed the Fort Dodge Senior High School Choir in a Des Moines show in which the group sang a particularly difficult piece called "Death's Dance."
In 1976, he directed the Iowa All State Summer Chorus at the University of Iowa.
Mitchell also wrote a book called "A Practical Handbook for Musical Theatre." The first edition was a pamphlet. The most recent edition is a volume of several hundred pages that could double as a doorstop.
Schreier called the book "my lifeline through many musical productions at St. Edmond and Iowa Central."
In 2012, he received the Robert M. McCowen Memorial Award from the Iowa Choral Directors Association.
"As the time has gone by since Mitch’s passing, I am feeling that Larry Mitchell didn’t die on Friday night," Johnston said. "More than anything, I think he completed his life. There is a difference."
"He didn’t have to choose Fort Dodge after he left college and his first teaching job at Orange," he added. "He chose our community as his home and immersed himself in it. He chose us and we chose him."
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