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Project
Séance on a Wet Afternoon
By Stephen Schwartz
Based on the novel by Mark McShane
And the screenplay by Bryan Forbes
About Séance on a Wet Afternoon
Séance on a Wet Afternoon is the first opera by noted Broadway and film composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz ("Wicked", "Godspell", "Enchanted", etc.) Based on the novel by Mark McShane and the award-winning screen adaptation by Bryan Forbes, Séance is a psychological thriller about a medium, Myra Foster, her doting husband Bill, and the spirit of their deceased eleven-year-old son, Arthur, who speaks to Myra and is her contact for her séances. Because Myra has never received the recognition she feels her gifts merit, they hatch a Plan: They will kidnap the daughter of a local wealthy industrialist, and keep her safe while the media frenzy over her abduction builds. When Myra has a "vision" that leads to the successful recovery of the girl and the ransom, her fame will be assured. As The Plan is put into action, the girl’s presence in the house leads to complex psychological responses from Myra, Bill, and Arthur. The delicate balance of Myra and Bill’s relationship and Myra’s sanity itself begins to fray, as long-buried secrets are revealed. The Plan goes badly awry, and in Myra’s final séance, the drama comes to a devastating conclusion.
About the Creators
 Stephen Schwartz (composer/librettist)
Stephen Schwartz was born in New York City on March 6, 1948. He studied piano and composition at the Juilliard School of Music while in high school and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1968 with a B.F.A. in Drama. His first major credit was the title song for the play Butterflies are Free; the song was eventually used in the movie version as well.
In 1971, he wrote the music and new lyrics for Godspell, for which he won several awards including two Grammys. This was followed by the English texts, in collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, for Bernstein's Mass, which opened the Stephen's headshotKennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The following year, he wrote the music and lyrics for Pippin and two years later, The Magic Show. At one point, Godspell, Pippin, and The Magic Show were all running on Broadway simultaneously.
Other works as a composer and/or librettist include The Baker's Wife, followed by a musical version of Studs Terkel's Working, Captain Louie, Personals, Rags, Children of Eden. Film works include the Disney animated features Pocahontas, for which he received two Academy Awards and another Grammy, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He also provided songs for DreamWorks' first animated feature, The Prince of Egypt, for which he won another Academy Award for the song "When You Believe".
Mr. Schwartz's most recent musical, Wicked, opened in the fall of 2003 and is currently running on Broadway. For more information, visit www.stephenschwartz.com
Media
(Video requires the Quicktime Plug-In)
January 19, 2008
Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Rehearsal Studio
Piano/Vocal Workshop of ACT I (excerpt)
click image to play movie
AOP Presentations
January 18, 2008 - 8 PM, January 19, 2008 - 9:15 PM
South Oxford Space & Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Rehearsal Studio
Piano/Vocal Workshop of ACT I
MUSIC DIRECTION: Steven Osgood
PERFORMANCES BY: Joshua Bouchard, Ory Brown, Grant Clarke, Lauren Flanigan, Daniel Hoy, Michael Wade Lee, Garrett McClenahan, Katie Micha, Jessica Miller, Daniel Neer, Lucas Richter, Jeffrey Tucker, Amy Van Roekel, Caroline Worra, and Michael Zegarski.
PIANO: Charity Wicks
Other Presentations
October 31, 2009 - World Premiere
Granada Theater - Opera Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA
Commissioned by Opera Santa Barbara
www.seancetheopera.com
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