Canticle of The Plains

Canticle of the Plains is a musical written by songwriters Rich Mullins, Mitch McVicker, and Beaker which is based on the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

The story centers on a character named Frank, a nineteenth century cowboy, and his travels through the Midwest after returning home from fighting in the Civil War. Frank then meets Buzz, a former slave, in a burned out church in Lawrence, Kansas and Ivory, in a saloon. Frank also runs into a childhood friend in the saloon, named Clare. Frank, Buzz and Ivory set out in search of the imaginary land of Dineh Bekeya.

In 1996, a soundtrack album was recorded, featuring Mitch McVicker as Frank, Leigh Bingham Nash from Sixpence None the Richer as Clare, Kevin Max as Ivory and Michael Tait as Buzz.

By 1997, the musical had been performed in its draft form at a variety of locations including The Cornerstone Festival.

At the time of his death, Mullins was in production for the official world première. He had asked Kevin Brocksieck and Nicole Capri (of Tapestry Performing Arts) to rewrite the script and produce the show, set to première October 11 with McVicker in the leading role of Frank. After his death, Mullins' board and family asked that the première go on as planned with Brocksieck moving into the leading role (due to McVicker's extensive injuries from the September 19 crash). The première was directed by Nicole Capri with musical direction by Kevin Brocksieck.