Prologue from Script
REUNION is an attempt to tell the story of the Civil War through
the eyes of those who took up the Union cause--an intersection of theatre
and history, weaving together songs, visual images and dialogue. It is designed
as a Victorian entertainment--the great American epic as it might have been
told by a 19th-Century Homer and a wandering company of actors.
The songs date from the Civil War or before, and the dialogue is drawn
from or inspired by participants' accounts of actual events. The original
production got a lot of sound out of 6 actor-singers and a 5-piece orchestra--piano/synthesizer,
trumpet, percussion, guitar/banjo, and violin.
Occasionally there are references to “magic lantern”projections
of specific photographs. Ideally, in addition to those mentioned, projections
would appear continuously as a backdrop, drawn from the vast wealth of photographs,
headlines and art that arose from the war.
Harry Hawk was a real actor of the period; the others are invented. He
embodies the virtues and excesses of rip-roaring, Eliza-crossing-the-ice
19th-Century stagecraft, and he's tried to pack it all into this show: popular
music hall, Victorian valentine, minstrel show, florid tragedy and patriotic
pageant.
Hawk is a resourceful survivor, and his production reflects it. Each actor
has a basic costume suggestive of his place in the company hierarchy. Individual
costume pieces are added and subtracted--the changes are usually part of
the action, which should be pretty much nonstop.
As for sets, there are a vacant stage and an upstage wall for projections--and
an act curtain if the physical space suits it. Not much else is absolutely
called for. Practical windows and doors--set in stock Victorian scenic flats--would
be nice. One side of the stage serves as the hallway outside Lincoln's office,
and directly across the stage is General McClellan's tent. Also, some sort
of contraption which allows Hannibal to efficiently unveil a large portrait
of whichever Union general happens to be in command. Platforms and levels
materialize from theatrical trunks, wardrobe hampers and whatever else is
readily at hand. This labor, like the other stagecraft chores, more often
than not falls to Hannibal, Cassie and Trudgett.
Victorian theatre trappings can help establish the style: footlights, thunder
sheets, wind machines--whatever Hawk's wanderers would be likely to find
in place behind the scenes of a 19th Century stage.
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Breakdown for 6-actor version
Six versatile actor-singers (4M, 2F) perform this version, as originally
done at Goodspeed Opera House, Off-Broadway and at Ford's Theatre.
Harry Hawk
Middle-aged, baritone, company leading man and manager, energetic, commanding.
Plays General George McClellan, an over-the-top tragedian, a music hall
comedian & John Wilkes Booth.
Hannibal Drumwright
Middle-aged, African-American, bass-baritone, company stage manager, plays
a fugitive slave, a Washington freedman, a porter, a music hall performer, & a
Union soldier.
Cassie Drumwright
Middle-aged, African-American, contralto, company wardrobe mistress, plays
an Underground Railroad guide, a Washington freedwoman, & a hospital
laundress.
Cordelia Hopewell
Company ingenue, soprano, plays a volunteer nurse, a patriotic girl, a
music hall performer & a temperance lady.
Augustin Lovecraft
Late 20s-early 30s, baritone. Company light comedian, plays Lincoln’s
secretary & an Irish music hall tenor.
Tom Trudgett
Company juvenile, tenor, plays a Union infantryman and a music hall comedian.
All of the actors also play various parts as the need arises and from
time to time serve as narrators.
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Breakdown for "Expanded Cast" Version
This version has been specifically created for amateur and educational
theatres, in order to create opportunities for more actors and to simplify
casting.
8 Principals (4M, 4F)
Harry Hawk
The Secretary
The Nurse
The Soldier
Hannibal Drumwright (bass-baritone)
Cassandra Drumwright
The Dressmaker
The Hometown Girl
4 Music Hall Performers (3M, 1F)
4 Singer-Dancers (may also double as Ensemble)
Ensemble (unlimited)
25 smaller roles cast from Ensemble, who also play townspeople, theatergoers,
soldiers, mourners, etc.
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Orchestrations
Reunion is orchestrated for 6 musicians, as heard on the original cast
CD:
- Keyboards
- Trumpet
- Violin
- Guitar & banjo
- Bass
- Percussionist
The show can also be produced using keyboard only from the piano/vocal
score.
Projections
The projections ("magic lantern slides") referred to in the script
are available for licensing on CD-ROM and are ready for direct projection
from a computerized digital projector or for production as conventional
35-mm slides.
Set
Unit set, with front or rear projections.
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