Blood and Fire
Book and Lyrics by Jeffrey Couchman. Music by Lisa Heffter
Music
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Script
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Score
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SYNOPSIS
BLOOD AND FIRE is a through-composed musical that draws on the historical antagonism toward the newly formed Salvation Army in 1890’s London. The Army’s larger-than-life founder, General William Booth himself, marches across the stage alongside an array of Dickensian characters.
The central conflict is between Michael Remsen, an irreligious young doctor from the West End, and Amelia Walters, a woman of faith from the East End. Despite their differences, they fall in love. Ultimately, Amelia must choose between Michael and a life in the Salvation Army.
Arcing over the entire show is the growth of a so-called Skeleton Army—a mob of ruffians intent on destroying the Salvationists. Rich, poor, reformers, and thugs collide in a musical tale at once intimate and epic.
Notes
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Development Notes
Sold-out staged reading at York Theatre, NYC, Spring 2001 Won presentation at ASCAP/Disney Musical Theater Workshop Showcase, NYC, Spring 2002 — panel praised: ‘Each song is a hit out of the ballpark…way out of the ballpark!’ Theater Resources Unlimited New Musicals Reading Series, NYC Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival, Auburn, NY Set in Victorian London about the founding of the Salvation Army Jeffrey Couchman also wrote Battleship Potemkin (produced Off-Broadway at York Theatre and multiple other venues)