THE BEDFORD FALLS BOYS
HURRICANE BROTHERS
Book, Music and Lyrics by Rob Hartmann and Todd Olson
It was 1900 – the dawn of a new century – and Americans were unshakable with pride. Two brothers, Isaac and Joseph Cline, worked diligently in the Galveston Weather Bureau office in the late summer of 1900…but on September 8, Texas was hit with what is still the deadliest natural disaster in our nation’s history. And while the last known survivor of Galveston only died two years ago, this cataclysmic event is largely forgotten. The Galveston Hurricane killed 16 times more people than the Chicago Fire two years before…six times as many as the Titanic 12 years later…four times as many as in The World Trade Center 101 years later…seven times as many as Hurricane Katrina 105 years later…and more than all of the U.S. fatalities from 300 tropical storms and hurricanes since. Now, through letters, wires and witness accounts, the ghosts of Galveston, as well as the Cline Brothers, come back to tell their story of what really happened that fateful night.
Rob Hartmann is adjunct faculty in the graduate musical theatre writing program at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, and composer of Macabaret, Hereafter, and The Vanashing Point. Todd Olson is producing artistic director at American Stage and creator of My Way, I Left My Heart and Casa Blue.
It was 1900 – the dawn of a new century – and Americans were unshakable with pride. Two brothers, Isaac and Joseph Cline, worked diligently in the Galveston Weather Bureau office in the late summer of 1900…but on September 8, Texas was hit with what is still the deadliest natural disaster in our nation’s history. And while the last known survivor of Galveston only died two years ago, this cataclysmic event is largely forgotten. The Galveston Hurricane killed 16 times more people than the Chicago Fire two years before…six times as many as the Titanic 12 years later…four times as many as in The World Trade Center 101 years later…seven times as many as Hurricane Katrina 105 years later…and more than all of the U.S. fatalities from 300 tropical storms and hurricanes since. Now, through letters, wires and witness accounts, the ghosts of Galveston, as well as the Cline Brothers, come back to tell their story of what really happened that fateful night.
Rob Hartmann is adjunct faculty in the graduate musical theatre writing program at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, and composer of Macabaret, Hereafter, and The Vanashing Point. Todd Olson is producing artistic director at American Stage and creator of My Way, I Left My Heart and Casa Blue.
SECTION 60, a song cycle for heroes
Music by Waldo John Wittenmyer
Lyrics by Waldo John Wittenmyer and Todd Olson
Book by Todd Olson
A new soldier comes to be buried in Section 60, the plot of land in Arlington Cemetery recently dedicated to the incoming dead from Iraq and Afghanistan. But he is not alone. There reside the ghosts of the newly dead, lamenting the freshness of their sacrifice, searching for answers, and reaching out to comfort the mourners who walk among them. Driven almost completely by Waldo’s eclectic rock score, Section 60 is at once a song cycle of protest, and a requiem for heroes.
Waldo John Wittenmyer is an Austin, Texas-based rock musician and leader of the band The Naturals. This is his first work for the theatre. T. Scott Wooten is an actor, director, writer, and sound designer who has worked with American Stage Theatre Company for over seven years. His adaptation of Reefer Madness!!! The Play!!! recently performed at the 2010 Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival and won the "Best Play" Audience Pick Award.
Lyrics by Waldo John Wittenmyer and Todd Olson
Book by Todd Olson
A new soldier comes to be buried in Section 60, the plot of land in Arlington Cemetery recently dedicated to the incoming dead from Iraq and Afghanistan. But he is not alone. There reside the ghosts of the newly dead, lamenting the freshness of their sacrifice, searching for answers, and reaching out to comfort the mourners who walk among them. Driven almost completely by Waldo’s eclectic rock score, Section 60 is at once a song cycle of protest, and a requiem for heroes.
Waldo John Wittenmyer is an Austin, Texas-based rock musician and leader of the band The Naturals. This is his first work for the theatre. T. Scott Wooten is an actor, director, writer, and sound designer who has worked with American Stage Theatre Company for over seven years. His adaptation of Reefer Madness!!! The Play!!! recently performed at the 2010 Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival and won the "Best Play" Audience Pick Award.
