PL AYBILL SPOON RIVER
SPOON RIVER Adapted by Mike Ross & Albert Schultz Composed by Mike Ross Based on Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters }{
approximate running time: 90 minutes. there will be no intermission
ARTIST NOTE: MIKE ROSS
Getting another crack at doing this show is thrilling. It came and went so fast last year and there was so much great, positive, life-full energy around it and then * poof * just like that it was gone. I was so moved at how people, young and old, responded to the show. The energy of different communities coming together was infectious. Bringing the community of Masters’ vibrant characters to life with the Soulpepper community of gifted actors and musicians was unforgettable. As was having all of that energy connect with in you, the audience - the most important people in this building at any given moment. In this production everyone plays a part: you are cast in the role of “passerby.” And we can’t put on a show until all of the roles are cast. So thank you for being here because we can’t do a thing without you.
TIDBITS • S poon River Antholog y was first
submitted as a few poems to Reedy’s Mirror, a St. Louis magazine, under the pseudonym Webster Ford. Masters did not claim authorship of the book until 1916, after it had become a big hit.
• E dgar Lee Masters liked
pseudonyms. He published newspaper articles and essays under the name Dexter Wallace.
• S poon River has had many
incarnations in different media. In 1956 it was set as a song cycle in German by composer Wolfgang Jacobi.
• I n 1985 British composer
Andrew Downes set five of the poems as a song cycle.
We’re all eternally grateful.
MIKE ROSS, Slaight Family Director of Music, 2015 Resident Artist A n t hon y M ac M a hon , G or d on H e c h t, m i k e ros s & F r a n k C ox- O’C on n e l l p hoto: c y l l a von t i e de m a n n