NEVERMORE Opening May- get your tickets online

Nevermore. Nevermore is a new musical, a Mysterious Musical, based on the loves, life and creative passions of Edgar Allen Poe. The lyrics to the songs and much of the dialogue have been taken from Poe’s poetry and pros. With the splashes of his macabre stories. The show takes us on a journey of Poe, The Man, who is on a path of self-destruction. We see the interaction with the women in his life who were the catalyst for a lot of his writing. The action takes place from age 14 through to when he died at age 40. We see Poe being exposed with raw emotion from the happiest of times with his first love to the darkest times where he struggled with alcoholism leading up to his death. Within this we see Poe’s younger innocent self and his dark side that he struggles to cope with. His term is that he has a ‘Fever in his brain.’ The women form Edgar’s memories and conscience. They are the bases for much of his writing. Poe’s mother died when he was two years old which kicked off his separation anxiety. His feeling of being alone increased as the other women in his life left him. Elmira his first love had her father intervene and his wife Virginia who also died. This doesn’t give away the story as it is history. Poe is both inspired by the women in his life and distracted. There are two other major female influences which are his wife’s mother who he uses as a surrogate mother and a whore who represents all the other women and his immoral side. The music is hauntingly beautiful. From the first moment I listened to the score loved it and couldn’t get it out of my head, but in a good way. And to add to this our cast’s voices spin a mesmerising stories that also blend and merge in what I call goosebump- harmonies. Our excellent performers include Paul Spencer, Vivienne Glance and Gemma Sharpe. Yes, we have a string Quintet with piano and percussion. They are fantastic. They are all accomplished performers who have graduated or are graduating from WAPPA. Our Musical Director Joshua Webb is currently still studying. He is amazing. He was the Musical Director for the 2012 production of Hairspray that won 2nd Best Musical at the Finley awards last year. Many people may not realise that Edgar Allen Poe was the father of the detective/crime/horror story that is so popular today. Poe created and developed this genre that brings us those themes of love, hate, passion and fear. He was part of the Romantic era that was immersed in sensation. The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death. Of his poetry The Raven was his most famous. This has also been made in to several movies including the latest one in 2012 starring John Cusack. It seems that Edgar Allen Poe is on the top of the trends again. There is also a new TV series called The Following staring Kevin Bacon, that is based on a murderous cult that use Edgar Allen Poe’s writing as a catalyst for their killings. Poe also lent his genus to creating a formula for Science Fiction stories and he was a major influence on Jules Verne. The Setting / Style of nevermore. Traditional Victorian or something else? The history of the period lends the perfect backdrop to Poe’s tale. It was a time of revolt against the aristocratic society and political norms. It was a time of Beethoven, Dickens and Darwin. This is when the telegraph and the railway were expanding the world at a very rapid pace. Although we are keeping within the main boundaries of the Victorian era we are staging Nevermore with the spice of SteamPunk essence. SteamPunk style features that rustic almost Jules Verne come Victorian look. People may recognise the SteamPunk Style from movies like Wild Wild West or the latest Sherlock Homes. Although this production is not traditional Setampunk. It also embraces the Romanticism of sensation, the panache of Surrealism with an essence of stylised Steampunk. Within this the cacophony the characters waver between being a real representation and imagined ideal of Edgar Allen Poe The show opens May 3rd and runs through to May 18. On the 12th May a special Mother’s Day 2pm Matinee with High Tea. For further details - www.playlovers.org.au Tickets available on-line: www.playlovers.org.au or bookings@playlovers.org.au or 0415 777 173. Performances will be held Hackett Hall, Draper St, Floreat.