Welcome To Magnolia (Excerpt)
2:41
Music by Anthony Johnson
Lyrics by Brooke Sanders
Music by Anthony Johnson
Lyrics by Alyssa Payne
Performers: Alyssa Payne ("Catherine"), Anthony Johnson ("Hal")
DRAMATIC CONTEXT
The 2000 play, Proof, written by David Auburn, is a story about the an enigmatic young woman, Catherine, her manipulative sister, their brilliant father (who recently died), and an unexpected suitor. They are all pieces of a puzzle in the search for the truth behind a mysterious mathematical proof. In the process, Catherine meets Hal, one of her father’s last Ph.D students, and they crush on each other. She holds a party at the house after the funeral, inviting her father’s students and Hal. Adapting a scene from the play into a musical number, this song takes place the morning after they make love for the first time.
Pieces On A Chessboard
4:59
Music by Anthony Johnson
Lyrics by Sabrina Gamboa
Performers: Robert Ellis Knight ("Frederick Douglass"), Kody Bennet ("Lincoln"), Piccolo played by Sarah Katz.
Big Apple Life (Excerpt)
1:25
Music by Anthony Johnson
Lyrics by Brooke Sanders
Music by Anthony Johnson
Lyrics by Sabrina Gamboa
Performers: Olivia Barron,
Music by Anthony Johnson
Lyrics by Sabrina Gamboa
Avery Schmalz ("Hariett Tubman")
Grand Entrance (Instrumental)
1:06
This music is meant to occur as an opening scene when the storyline is unfolding. There is a lot of hurried action happening on stage without dialogue.
The General's Election
4:24
Music by Anthony Johnson
Lyrics by Zachary Alfred-Levow
Lead Performer: Conner Rieck ("General McClellan"). The piccolo, clarinet, viola, cello, base, and piano were played by live musicians.
DRAMATIC CONTEXT
General McClellan is campaigning for the 1864 presidential election (against Abraham Lincoln) with several sycophantic soldiers. His lackeys frequently attempt to hype up the audience, like cheerleaders at a pep rally, with the ridiculous choreography routines. McClellan addresses the audience as the “citizens”.
Music by Anthony Johnson
Lyrics by Nikki Yeracaris
Clark is an intelligent and studious high school sophomore who has always been a bit of a social outcast. Longing to be admired by his classmates, he resolves to start working out to get strong, hoping that a new body will give him a fresh start at school. Too self-conscious to go to the gym, he turns to the one place he feels at home: the library.
Music by Anthony Johnson
Lyrics by Sabrina Gamboa
Performer: Robert McFletcher-Jones ("Frederick Douglass")
DRAMATIC CONTEXT
The character singing the song is Frederick Douglass. It takes place after the revealing of the controversial Lincoln statue that is currently in Washington DC Park. It depicts Lincoln holding the emancipation proclamation in one hand and a former slave kneeling at his feet. Douglass was bothered by it at the time, just as a lot of people are today. He gave a speech at the unveiling and this song represents that.
Music by Anthony Johnson
Lyrics by Nicole Dobberpuhl
Performers: Katelyn Rose ("Mary Todd Lincoln"), Robert Ellis Knight ("Frederick Douglass")
DRAMATIC CONTEXT
Mary Todd Lincoln confides in her best friend and dressmaker, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Keckley, about what her husband, Abraham Lincoln, does not understand. Simultaneously, Frederick Douglass speaks to his wife, Anna Murray Douglass, and engages in a critique of Lincoln’s actions and policy, judging his regard to humanity and what he does not understand.
"Try Me" Arrangement
3:07
Arrangement and vocal performance by Anthony Johnson
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
This work was written as part of a musical theater orchestration and arrangement class. Required instrumentation: 2 reed doublers, 2 strings players, 1 brass player, piano, drums, and bass. Reeds, strings, and brass are live.