An emblem of North Dakota pride, Medora Musical turns 60 with surprise visitors

By Peyton Haug

MEDORA, N.D. — Stars, stripes, horses, beige buttes and odes to Theodore Roosevelt — there are few greater examples of North Dakota identity than the Medora Musical.

That was the vision of the show’s founders, the late Harold and Sheila Schafer, who in 1965 used the production as a vessel to preserve the town’s history and transform it into a hallmark of the state.

“This dream never belonged to just us, it’s in every voice that’s sung on this stage, and every hand that’s clapped, and every heart that’s felt a bit fuller by the time they left. Everyone who comes to Medora becomes a part of this legacy,” Harold told Sheila as the second night of the show’s 60th season closed Thursday, June 5. “As long as they keep believing in this story, this dream will never fade.”

The shadows of Harold and Sheila Schafer dance Thursday, June 5, 2025, in the windows of the makeshift Rough Riders Hotel on the Burning Hill Amphitheater stage in Medora.

For the first time since they both passed away after a lifetime of working to make Medora the state’s go-to tourist destination, the couple returned to the stage as silhouettes in the windows of an on-set replica of the historic Rough Riders Hotel, their voices chillingly and accurately resurrected by artificial intelligence.

“It sounded just like her,” said Angel Kessel, of Dickinson. “For the people who actually know them, it gives you goosebumps.”

Angel and Alyssa Kessel, both from Dickinson, wait for the show to begin on Thursday, June 5, 2025. The two see the Medora Musical as many as 50 times per year.

Angel Kessel attends the musical with her daughter, Alyssa Kessel, upwards of 50 times every summer. Last year, another of her daughters even got engaged at the show.

Alyssa and Angel Kessel said the entertainment side of the musical has changed “a lot” since both of them first saw it, each as children.

“It’s still really good, just more Broadway than it was before,” Alyssa Kessel said.

Both prefer traditional, old-western country music in place of some of the new songs written by modern artists, like Taylor Swift.

The first Medora Musical advertisement from 1965, which ran in newspapers statewide. 

Some of those changes come from RWS Global, one of the world’s biggest production companies that recently took over the musical’s production; others come from technological advancements, like AI and cordless microphones, as well as deep-pocketed investors — some of whom have individually contributed more than $25,000 to the musical’s endowment fund, according to the Medora Foundation’s website.

The show has evolved with its audience, according to outgoing President of the Medora Foundation Randy Hatzenbuhler, but he said the overarching story of Medora has remained the same.

“If we can put history, education and entertainment together, something magical happens,” he said.

Medora Musical performers close out the first act of the show Thursday, June 5, 2025, at the Burning Hill Amphitheater in Medora.

Much of the light-hearted, family-forward show is centered on the state’s affair with Roosevelt, who everyone around town refers to as “TR,” with a brief nod to the Indigenous groups who lived in the area before colonization.

Other parts focused on the town’s history, like when the local Rough Riders Hotel was won in a card game.

“The crowd was so much more lively and receptive than we even imagined,” said Noah Coon, a Fargo native whose first experience with the Medora Musical was being in it.

Noah Coon, a Fargo native, stands before the Medora Musical stage after dancing in the second night of show’s 60th season on Thursday, June 5, 2025.

His first impressions of the town, which has fewer than 200 permanent residents, were that it’s “peaceful” and has “postcard-worthy views in every direction.”

Coon began his career in theater as a child attending dance classes at Gasper’s School of Dance and Performing Arts. He is one of a handful of North Dakotans in the show this summer, alongside around two dozen performers from across the country.

Sarah Whelan, from Long Beach, New York, returned from last season to sing in the musical because she “loved” the community and the change of pace.

“It’s like a breath of fresh air,” she said. “I didn’t know what to expect. It was like taking a leap of faith, coming here, and I am so glad I did. The community here becomes a family.”

Sarah Whelan sings the story of the historic Rough Riders Hotel on Thursday, June 5, 2025, on the Burning Hill Amphitheater stage in Medora.

Whelan is particularly drawn to the musical’s setting, which is uniquely tucked away in the northern Badlands.

“You can’t really find it anywhere else,” she said.

Whelan also pointed to the stage itself, set with colorful western, saloon-style buildings that part several times — via railroad tracks — throughout the show, revealing the surrounding, dramatic sandy buttes.

To top it off, both during and outside of the production, local wranglers can be seen intermittently trotting across the stage on horses or scaling those steep butte backdrops.

“It’s such a platform for us to showcase this story every night,” Whelan said. “It’s just unique and special.”

‘A hidden secret’

Though most of the singers, dancers and crew members are coming to the state for the first time for the performance, around 60% of the crowd, on average, is made up of North Dakotans, according to Hatzenbuhler.

Lael Abelmann, 71, has been coming to the musical since it first opened in 1965. She remembers the main instrument being an organ and the Burning Hill Amphitheater seating being halved logs — a stark contrast to today’s venue, which boasts a full band and nearly 3,000 theater seats segmented by polished metal railings.

Lael Abelmann waits for the second act of the Medora Musical on Thursday, June 5, 2025. She was around to see the first renditions of the show in the late 1960s.

Less than a quarter of the 115,000 to 125,000 yearly attendees come from outside of North Dakota and its neighboring states, but those who do are often “pleasantly surprised.”

When Walter Weaver, of Jacksonville, Florida, told his family he and his wife were planning a trip to North Dakota, which was their last of the 50 states to visit, his sister told him the musical was a “must-do.”

Walter Weaver waits for the Medora Musical to begin on Thursday, June 5, 2025. Weaver traveled with is wife from Florida to see the musical. 

“People ask us, ‘Who goes to North Dakota?’ Well, we did, and we’ve been pleasantly surprised,” he said. “Coming from Florida, we thought it was going to be flat. We had no idea there would be rolling hills and valleys like this. It’s a hidden secret. It’s spectacular.”

The iconic Badlands complement the show’s long-standing themes of family, faith and freedom, Hatzenbuhler said.

“Tradition is what brings people back to the musical, time and time again,” he added.

To avoid resellers and scams, organizers suggest people go directly to Medora.com to purchase tickets. Prices hover around $70 on average, with promotions for students and children.