Flashback to When Colorado Was ‘The Land of Milk & Honey’ (Review)

Arriving at the show’s location, attendees will instantly notice a large barn and two towering silos, standing tall and proud in stark contrast to the sprawling suburban cityscape surrounding them. If audience members have done their homework and read the historical notes emailed out in advance, they know this dairy farm is the one that Louis Shoenberg built to serve as a tuberculosis sanatorium over 100 years ago.

If they haven’t done their homework, they quickly figure this out in the show’s phenomenal opening scene featuring Chris Kendall as Louis Shoenberg and Christine Kahane as Seraphine Eppstein Pisko. Here we learn Seraphine is a fundraiser from the National Jewish Hospital, the organization that will directly benefit from the dairy products that will soon be produced here. She’s elated by the generosity of Louis’ donation, but he’s worried it doesn’t do enough to honor his son Dudley, who he lost to tuberculosis.

What we’re seeing unfold here is considerably detailed and highly specific to our surroundings. It wouldn’t make sense to tell this story anywhere else, and being here intensifies the grandiosity of the narrative. The production casts the audience, about 20 strong, into the role of turn of early 20th century Colorado philanthropists concerned with the TB crisis who are touring the Shoenberg farm. Standing inside this historic landmark, surrounded by artifacts from the early 1900’s, I’m suddenly very invested in finding out what happens next.

After the opening scene, we’re led outside towards a handful of smaller milkhouses that surround the barn and silos. Our group is inconspicuously split off into smaller groups of five or six. Next, we’re shuffled through six different scenes with six different characters played by three remarkably talented actors.

Here, the story of Shoenberg Farms continues across time, leaving a bit of guesswork to the audience about who each of these people are and how they fit into that story. There’s a ton of content to absorb, follow, and connect all the dots with, and that can occasionally conjure moments of confusion or dissonance (which later led to great post-show discussions).

The interactive portions of the show are not particularly novel, but they are appropriate and contextually relevant. We are served snacks (ice cream, of course), taught how to tie a cow with a rope for quick release, cast votes on immigrant school board expenditures (such as hiring teachers and purchasing books) and even help a neurotic corporate marketer figure out how to position “death” as desirable. In one notable scene, we meet a modern day hero who has organized an operation to pack survival kits for the unhoused. We join the assembly line to pack a few bags, then leave with one in hand to keep in our own vehicles and to actually hand out next time we see someone in need out in the world beyond the show.

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We eventually reconvene with the rest of the audience in the barn for the spectacular conclusion to Louis Shoenberg’s story. Joined by the rest of the cast (including us, the audience), Louis comes to terms with the loss of his son through an awe-inspiring candle lighting ceremony. As we sit in near-darkness and watch him head for the door, he stops, slowly turns around, and leaves us with these words:

’Til we meet again

’Til we meet again

Have peace

Have peace

The Land of Milk and Honey commits to a huge undertaking in having so much story to tell, yet choosing to tell it in such a non-traditional way. The talent of the cast is in a league of its own, but even with their flawless performances, this show requires a bit of processing to bring it all together. Which is to say, read the pre-show materials to get the context you need for the journey The Catamounts have prepared for you. It takes some mental energy and commitment to get there, but don’t let that distract you from being present in each of the moments, either.

The Land of Milk and Honey runs through June 27; tickets are currently sold out.

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