Newswise — An 8,000-mile voyage through uncharted territory. Two years, four months and nine days of exploration with beautiful vistas, bone-chilling winters and wondrous plants and animals.
The epic journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark comes alive in a grand, original musical produced by three Creighton University professors.
The musical, Lewis and Clark Part One: Manifest Destiny, debuts on the main stage of Creighton's Lied Education Center for the Arts Nov. 13 and runs through Nov. 16. The musical comes to the stage just as the nation prepares to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Lewis and Clark's historic 1804 Voyage of Discovery.
The musical was the idea of Creighton's Alan Klem, assistant professor of theatre. A first-time playwright, Klem's script is written from the perspective of York, Clark's personal servant and the only African-American on the expedition.
"I'm very interested in York ," Klem said in the cover story of the August issue of Creighton University Magazine. "He could read and write, and he could shoot a gun. And this is in a day and age when it was against the law for black people to do any of that."
Fred Hanna, assistant professor and coordinator of music at Creighton, and renowned photographer and Creighton Jesuit the Rev. Don Doll, S.J., joined Klem in developing the musical.
Hanna collaborated with Klem to write the music and the lyrics, arranging 14 original songs for the production. The music will be brought to life by a full-piece orchestra.
"He wanted an All-American musical, a majestic orchestration with a contemporary feel," Hanna said. "He was looking for a big sound."
Klem also was looking for a big backdrop. For that, he enlisted the help of Doll, who photographed scenes from Lewis and Clark's route across the American West -- from the beginnings in St. Louis to the shores of the Pacific Ocean off the Oregon coast.
"This is a purely enjoyable project for me to go out, explore and have fun making pictures," Doll said. "It's the grandeur of God's creation."Doll's photographs will be projected onto an 18-by-35 foot screen to create the backdrop.
"It's going to be big," Klem said, "fully orchestrated."The climax of the production centers on when the expedition finally reached the Pacific Ocean in November 1805.
"Lewis and Clark allowed each member of the expedition to vote on where to spend the winter, including York and Sacagawea," Klem said. "It was the first time in recorded American history that a black man and an Indian got to vote."
Creighton is an independent, comprehensive university operated by the Jesuits. Creighton has been ranked at or near the top of Midwestern universities in the U.S. News & World Report magazine's "America's Best Colleges" edition for more than a decade.
RSS