In June of 2003 they invited teacher and director Sue Riedel to help them establish Dubuque’s only dinner theater and community performance venue, Bell Tower Productions. The Kanes’ expertise in real estate development paired with Ms. Riedel’s more than 30 years of experience in directing, teaching and arts administration combined to launch the much needed arts center.

In less than three years Bell Tower Productions has grown into one of the cities most respected producers of live performing arts and a destination for residents and tourists alike. Since our inception more than 50,000 people have attended plays, musicals, classes and special events at the Bell Tower, including sold-out runs of The Sound of Music; Christmas, My Way; and Nunsensations!

In the summer of 2005 Bell Tower Productions expanded to include an important new program. Kids Take the Stage, our children’s theater classes began with six-week sessions for three separate age groups—Kindergarten and First Grade, Second and Third Grades, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Grades. This program proved popular, with 44 kids attending, so it was repeated in the fall as an after-school program. The response was so high that we added an additional section of classes at each grade level. In total 93 children attended. Currently we are in our third session of classes and have 115 children enrolled. In the fall of 2005, thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation, we were also able to add scholarships for children with financial need.

This outstanding program was expanded again in the summer of 2006 with the Bell Tower’s first kids-for-kids production, Honk!, Jr., supported by a program grant from the City of Dubuque. All of the roles, both onstage and backstage, in this musical re-telling of the story of the ugly duckling were performed by children, with more than 85 kids who acted, sang, designed posters, ran lights and learned exactly what it takes to create a musical for an audience.

Our 2007 season includes six outstanding shows, all of which are being presented in Dubuque for the first time and our second kids-for-kids musical, Bugsy Malone, Jr. All of us at the Bell Tower Theater are proud to be an important part of Dubuque’s thriving cultural scene, and we cordially invite you to stop by and visit us soon.