Saturday, March 15, 2014

the dreamer and the devil quickens


I have, at long last, indulged in this tale of two men, both in Chicago in 1893 at the Columbian Exposition.
It had actually arrived at the tail end of November last year - a time of year extraordinarily busy for those of us who grade papers and write tests and coax students for that one last push before semester's end. Then the holidays arrived and piles of received mail and graded papers and unopened magazines all found their way into a different room... and were promptly forgotten until just recently.
Seriously. That is my excuse for not diving into this kickstarter-born fruit prior to now. I have had the disk by the computer, patiently waiting to regale me with the tale woven by Jenny Seidelman and Jonathan Wagner.
The wait ended today!
While I listened to the soaring music, the emotional lyrics, the fabulous vocabulary, I was struck by one thought: I know a theaterical troupe here, right here in my Hostess City of the South, who could bring to life this chiaroscuro musical set in the history of Chicago. Oh, if only they could!!
In my town of ghosts, this cast of characters could truly be released from the page and live once more! The beleaguered, but charming, architect, whose creative partner dies, leaving him the monumental task of creating the White City to celebrate Christopher Columbus' voyage to this country. The psychopathic, but charming, doctor, hellbent on creating his own monstrous monument of gas chambers and murderous chutes, which would pose as a hotel for those coming to the Fair. Add a desperate man who helps the mayor get elected, dreaming a job in his own future, instead becoming a devil and killing the very man he put in office.
Oh, my, yes! Can't you just see it? Can't you hear it?


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

2:46 pm, 18 March 2014:
Jenny Seidelman and Jonathan Wagner says:

Wow! We're thrilled to hear that you are still enjoying your "The Dreamer and the Devil" cd. Hopefully lots of other people will feel the same as we continue to send it off to theater companies and potential producers around the country.

Thank you for sharing your blog as well. Any amount of support is greatly appreciated!

- Jenny, Jon and Richard