Minnesela

By Derek & Bob Olson

Venue

BF Rec Center Auditorium
Dates

July 23 – 26
Duration

Approx. 160 Minutes (Incl 15 min intermission)

A comedy of western proportions

We are so excited to bring the story of the orphan Emma to the Belle Fourche stage again. Originally produced by the Belle Fourche High School in 2010, this beloved show about the ghost/sister town of Belle Fourche tells the story of Emma as she travels from the big city to track down her hero and star of his own book, Tom Bragg, hero of Minnesela. Tom has his own worries from a woman who wants to be his betrothed and the brother of a man he killed who wants him dead, and the truth of his own story catching up with him. These two collide, as well as many hilarious characters in the once thriving town of… Minnesela!

Minnesela by Derek & Bob Olson cast — Enjoy shootouts on the Minnesela Main Street

Minnesela Sponsors

The History of Minnesela

The story of Minnesela rightly starts with Belle Fourche’s former rival, Minnesela. Founded in 1882 but abandoned by 1901 Minnesela was the original county seat of Butte County but when the railroad eventually went through the area that would become Belle Fourche instead the town began to die. Thanks to Seth Bullock’s donation of his ranch land for the train depot to be built, the town of Belle Fourche grew up around it quickly, Seth Bullock even donated land and many residents and businesses from Minnesle moved, including the Butte County bank which led to Belle Fourche winning the county seat in 1894. Some cowboys from Belle Fourche even stole the county books of Minnesela.

Although, the interesting rise and fall of Minnesela could make a great show, that isn’t what ours is about. The play Minnesela is completely fictional though it takes inspiration from the town and the whole area. The story originally started as a movie screenplay by the authors Derek and Bob Olson while Derek was in college in 2005. At that time the movie was called Dry Creek and was about Sheriff Dave Hoffman and Tom Bragg as they try to track down some stolen army gold under the nose of Crooked Nose Jack and his gang. While the script was actually looked at by a producer at CBS, it unfortunately wasn’t sold and laid dormant until 2007 where it became a comic in the local monthly periodical, Deadwood Magazine. After over a year run it came to end and the story was dead once again, just like Crooked Nose Jack.

Then in 2009 Derek took over the Belle Fourche High School Theater Department and started directing and writing original plays and in the spring of 2010, the authors wanted to revisit the characters of Dry Creek but that story did not lend itself to the stage, thus Minnesela was born. Minnesela is a sequel of sorts to the original Dry Creek, though you don’t need to know that story to enjoy this show. Tom and Dave’s adventures in Dry Creek are in Minnesela as almost a prologue, but this story revolved a new character, the orphan Emma Williams. This new play followed her journey to the town of Minnesela due to Tom Bragg’s book he wrote of his exploits, Dry Creek. The show was a hit, even to the point the actors were promised they could shave the director’s heads if they sold out and they got close enough. After that, these characters were put on the shelf again.

Now, 16 years later, it felt the right time for BFACT’s first western to be something about the area itself. Minnesela was chosen, given a little bit of a bit of a spit polish and is coming to the stage the last weekend of July. So come see a story over 120 years, 21 years, 19 years and 16 years in the making.