For The Glory began life as Frank Wildhorn's The Civil War: Our Story in Song, with a book by Gregory Boyd and Wildhorn, and lyrics by Jack Murphy, which debuted at Houston's Alley Theatre in 1998, played Broadway for a few months in 1999, was nominated for a Tony Award for best musical, and toured the U.S. in 2000. The new adaptation was made to offer tourists to the infamous Civil War battleground of Gettysburg a more personal view of the conflict, with its North/South dynamic deemphasized. Indeed, the world premiere was held in Gettysburg, Penn.
Marini stresses that the historical setting of For The Glory is less important than the human panorama provided by drawing, with emotional honesty, on the letters and speeches of actual people, using their own words. More an oratorio than a musical, Marini describes the show as a "powerful musical tapestry using all genres of American music" and urges anyone thinking of giving the new Flat Rock Playhouse a chance to see it.
"Anybody from Asheville who sees For The Glory will walk away excited," Marini says and must hope, because he understands that there's a large theatre constituency in Asheville that hasn't been out to Flat Rock in a long time. He needs over the next few years to expand Asheville's representation in the Playhouse audience to 10 percent, and eventually to 25 percent. "This is the time to come back," he suggests, and "become a part of what we're doing here."
But For The Glory isn't the only way Marini plans to entice Ashevillians. He dreams of mounting Playhouse shows in Asheville proper, and knows how he'd like to begin: with a revised version of Waiting for the Moon — the story of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald set where much of it played out, in Asheville — to be retitled Zelda.
” . . .The new adaptation was made to offer tourists to the infamous Civil War battleground of Gettysburg a more personal view of the conflict . . .”
in?fa?mous
-adjective
1.
having an extremely bad reputation: an infamous city.
2.
deserving of or causing an evil reputation; shamefully malign; detestable: an infamous deed.
Mr. Samuels should know the meaning of “infamous” and so should his editors.
Here’s a link that might be of interest, about Frank Wildhorn:
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/06/theater/broadway-s-critic-proof-composer-says-this-still-his-moment-like-his-scarlet.html.
I would submit that the battle with the most casualties in the Civil War earns the the word infamous.
I question why any artistic director would put a musical in their season that has so obviously failed in every venue it has played. While it is true that a number of Frank Wildhorn shows have been fantastically successful “The Civil War” or “For the Glory” or whatever it will be titled next is not one of them. If you’re going to go out on a limb why not actually do something new instead of flogging a dead horse?
Avid Dramatist asks why “any artistic director would put a musical in their season that has so obviously failed in every venue it has played.” It appears Mr. Marini may have judged the tastes of his traditional Flat Rock audiences well with his selection. Perhaps his connection with Frank Wildhorn was one of the reasons he was hired. Even the MountainX critic, the knowledgeable John Crutchfeild, liked the production. Musical historical pageants, as with “outdoor drama,” North Carolina’s contribution to world theatre, have always been popular in tourist areas.
Dear Theatre Goer,
Apparently you didn’t pay $90 to see this drivel on Broadway.