Ozark Lyric Opera Presents True Tall Tale In Memphis
Performers from Ozark Lyric Opera in Springfield, Missouri, delighted and awed the audience with the production of its new folk musical ”Dream Big: The True Tall Tale”, which was inspired by the life of Ella Kate Ewing known around the world as the “Missouri Giantess”. The Opera company played to a sold-out crowd at the Memphis Theatre on June 4, 2026, for a special hometown engagement for the Memphis community.
The production is based on the award‑winning children’s book “Stand Straight, Ella Kate” by Missouri author Kate Klise, with music by Ruell Chappell of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and arrangements by composer Katie Kring. The opera which blends storytelling and original music was made possible by a Semiquincentennial grant from the Missouri Humanities Council.
Ella Ewing was a towering 8-foot 4-inch woman who grew up in the small village of Gorin in northeast Missouri and traveled the country thanks to her fame. “Miss Ella” was portrayed by Allegra Schaeffer, who achieved the towering height by learning to perform on stilts.
Seventeen-year-old Natalie Hakala starred as Ella’s best friend Pearl. Relatives of the real Pearl were in attendance at the Memphis performance. Pearl Boyer Huckey’s granddaughter Sherry (Findley) McMillan traveled from St. Charles County to see the show, along with local residents, Pearl’s great-granddaughters Teresa Creek and Tammy Dale, and Teresa’s daughter Ashley (Pearl’s great-great granddaughter). There were also several relatives, cousins “removed” (which refers to a difference in generations between relatives) of Ella Ewing who attended.
Other Opera performers included Jason Geer (Ella’s father Benjamin), Elizabeth Dary (Ella’s mother Anna), S. Jeff Dary (doctor/ museum owner), Kids – Kelton Bailey, Liam Smalley, Elliot Spyres, and Elijah Wise, and Townspeople and Circus Performers – Zaryana Sharashkina, Sean Spyres, and Sarina Textor. Band members were Santiago Posada Marin (violin/ percussion/conductor) and Melinda Jones (piano). Ann Marie Daehn was stage director for the production, and Loren McNeal was the tour coordinator.
On Friday, June 5, over 350 students and sponsors from the Clark, Knox, Schuyler, and Scotland County School Districts, and home school programs, attended special school performances of “Dream Big: The True Tall Tale”, toured the Downing House Museum Complex, and had lunch at the park. Rhonda McBee, Museum Curator, coordinated the school tours with district administrators and engaged a host of local volunteers to narrate at each station and guide the students. Narrators included Jeff Behrens, Melissa Berhens, Emaline Behrens, Andrea Davis, Lynnette Dyer, Wendy Eckman, Lynn Fincher, Angie Hamlin, Holly Harris, Rhonda McBee, Tacey Monroe. Sara Jo Phillips, and Brooke Wineinger. Event guides were Tania Bashkirova, Deb Gaj, Jane Gordiichuk, Brock Meeks, Christine Musgrove, Rebecca Osborn, Janie Parton, Robert Phillips, Beverly Shelley, and Ciara Smith.
The Memphis Community Players, the Downing House Museum Complex, and the Scotland County Historical Society partnered with Ozark Lyric Opera for the performance “Dream Big: The True Tall Tale”. Efforts to bring the opera to Memphis began in early 2025 with calls and zoom meetings with Susan Belcher, Director of Development, and Sean Spyres, Administrative Director of the Ozarks Lyric Opera. Local participants helping to coordinate initial steps for the event included Sheila Berkowitz, Julie Clapp, Teresa Cotton, Joe Fulk, and Rhonda McBee. In later organizational meetings, MCP members Jeff and Lynnette Dyer, Tom Cotton, Scott Hathaway, JoAnn Peters, and Frank and Brooke Wineinger also helped plan for the event. Larry Riney was part of the lighting crew for the production.
Memphis Community Players member Teresa Cotton portrayed Ella Ewing at promotional activities for Ozark Lyric Opera’s World Premiere of “Dream Big: A True Tall Tale” in Springfield, Missouri on March 26. She also attended a dedication event to honor Ella Ewing at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Marshfield, Missouri, in April. The Missouri Walk of Fame honors six famous Missourians each year with a star that is placed in the sidewalk in the historic downtown district.
“Ella Kate’s story reminds us that our differences can become our greatest strengths,” said Sean Spyres, General Manager of Ozarks Lyric Opera. “We hope families and students will come together to celebrate a remarkable Missouri story right here in the community where it all began.”
The Ozark Lyric Opera gave “Special Thanks to our Memphis partners”: Rhonda McBee and the Downing House Museum Complex, Sheila Berkowitz and the Memphis Community Players, Inc. the Scotland County Historical Society, KMEM-FM radio, Memphis Democrat, M’s Corner Perk Coffee Shop, the Clark, Knox, Schuyler, and Scotland County School Districts, third grade curriculum authors Rachel Duzan and Christina Myers, and all volunteers who helped make this event possible.
