The Civil War is a musical written by Gregory Boyd and Frank Wildhorn, with lyrics by Jack Murphy and music by Wildhorn. The musical centers on the American Civil War, with the musical numbers portraying the war through Union, Confederate, and slave viewpoints. The musical was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical. Its styles include Gospel, Folk, Country, Rock, and Rhythm and Blues.
The Civil War was one of the productions produced at the newly-renovated Ford's Theatre (Washington, DC), running from March 27, 2009 through May 24. Directed by Jeff Calhoun, the 16-member cast featured Jarrod Emick, Eleasha Gamble, Michael Lanning, and Timothy Shew, with the recorded voice of Hal Holbrook as Lincoln. The production is conceived in a concert setting.[5]
The Variety review of the Alley Theatre production noted that the show was not a traditional musical as a revue-style presentation of a song cycle. Wildhorn and co-creators Jack Murphy and Gregory Boyd impose precious little narrative structure on The Civil War, preferring instead to integrate individual, self-contained vignettes as elements in a thematically consistent but essentially bookless concert. The production uses Rear-screen projections of photos, paintings and letters evoke the period setting .[3]
The Civil War is a touching and moving musical about one of the darkest moments in American history. Independent Musical Production has done a professional job of presenting this show with a talented cast of 35 with beautiful voices, creative lighting, historical costumes, dramatic set and flawless directing. The actors do an excellent job of protraying how tragic and horrible this event was and making it realistic for today's audience. This is sure to become one of Huntsville's favorite shows of all time--I know it will be mine!
