Julia and I are thrilled that our wonderful friends at Flint Repertory Theatre have commissioned us to write our next musical, These Familiar Spirits!
The musical imagines a reunion of the “afflicted girls of Salem” twenty-three years after the end of the witch trials as they return to Salem Village for the funeral of one of their own. (We like to say that the elevator pitch would be “The Crucible meets The Big Chill.“) The women have to face each other and their shared past and the harms they felt and caused… and probably encounter (or participate in?) some magic along the way!
We’ve been talking about the story and doing research and writing some exploratory songs for the last few years – you may have already heard “I Remember Summer” or “Scar” (starting around 26:30) – but we are so excited to get to work on writing the show itself and digging into a brand new world fully. And we’re even more excited to be doing so with everyone at Flint Rep… It’s an honor to get our first full commission from one of our favorite places!
We’ll be working on the piece over the course of the year with a few developmental steps in Flint and beyond, so keep an eye out for more information soon!