1 minute read
Author’s Note:
The story of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 is one I will never forget. The ghosts and echoes of the men, women, and children altered that day continue to cry out for justice. For remembrance.
Some say that the “time you truly die” is when someone speaks your name for the last time. This has stuck with me, and it is why the names of these people are so important to me. I refuse to let them die and fade into obscurity.
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Every character in this story was either a real person or based on a real person. The names given to each character were their actual names; the names that their loved ones called them, what they scrawled atop schoolwork as children, the names that are forever etched on their tombstones. Their memories live on through me, through this show, and through you. So say their names. Say them out loud. Remember their names and who they were.
It haunts me to know that so many of the flood’s victims were never identified or even found. Often coroners had only an arm or leg to identify. This play is for those we know died, and for those unknown and lost to time.
Remember the Johnstown Flood of 1889.
–Liliana Rossi, Author and Director
SCENES (There will be a 15 minute intermission between acts.)
Location: Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Approx. 60 miles east of Pittsburg.
Act One
November 26, 1880
1. “Introduction/At the Dam”
2. “Ruff and Morrell Didn’t See Eye to Eye”
May 31, 1889
3. “May 31, 1889”
4. “Need Some Help?”
5. “Mr. Quinn is Always So Worried About That Dam”
6. “Quinns”
7. “Day Express”
May 30-31, 1889
8. “Up the Mountain”
May 31, 1889
9. “Do You Recognize That Man?”
10. “...---... (SOS)”
11. “Back Up at the Club”
12. “The Destruction of the Day Express”
Act Two
May 31, 1889
1. “This Is My Last Message”
2. “Climb onto the Roof”
3. “Girl, Run! Now!”
4. “A Night of Ghosts”
5. “Throw That Baby!”
June, 1889
6. “June 1, 1889”
7. “The Beginning of the Rest of Their Lives”
Then, Now, Later
8. “Legends, Stories, and Legacies”
