Miss Major
a historical musical
First draft finished!
Major Pauline Cushman
Famous Actress and Union Spy
Famous Actress and Union Spy
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Found facts flow with enduring fiction in swirling landscapes of shadow and light in this stylized overlay of dance, sass and song exploring the bold duality of Pauline Cushman, famous actress and Civil War spy.
Spanning thirty years across the great divide of young America, the music of Miss Major reflects a cultural soundscape of Bluegrass Gospel, Irish Chantey, Indigenous Chant, Patriotic Theme, Popular Standard and Turn of the Century Jazz. Modern parallels bubble underneath the whiskey brash of Brevit-Major Pauline Cushman as she performs period songs like Trust To Luck, Cabbage Head and What I Suffered Nobody Knows along with original pieces like Despite Myself, I Been Chasing A Dream (And It's Been Making Me Wait) and the title song, That's Miss Major (To You). |
ACT ONE - SCENE 4
WOOD’S THEATER. LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY. APRIL 4, 1863
PAULINE
Ladies and Gentlemen. Louisville, Kentucky 1863. A time of brother against brother and Louisville sits right on the border. Neutral in state, Union in fate but still the rebels lay in wait. Saloons are full. Concert halls packed. Lectures, dances. Welcome to The Wood's Theater.
(Dancers enter in flowing yellow, pink and aqua organdie costumes. Pauline sings.)
HELLO OLD ROAD! I'M IN A REVUE
WITH MY TRUNK IN TOW AS IF ON CUE
IMMORAL FOPS MY FRIENDS SO TRUE
A TOAST ALL YOU PRETTY INGENUES.
I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKIN’,
WHAT'S THIS LADY BEEN DRINKIN?
BUT I'VE GOT THE HONORED DISTINCTION
I WAS MADE MAJOR BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
NAME'S CUSHMAN NO NEED TO SALUTE
JUST DON'T JUDGE ME AND MY PANTSUIT.
A PATRIOT, WITHOUT DISPUTE,
MISS MAJOR IS HERE FOR YOU AND YOU AND YOU.
WOOD’S THEATER. LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY. APRIL 4, 1863
PAULINE
Ladies and Gentlemen. Louisville, Kentucky 1863. A time of brother against brother and Louisville sits right on the border. Neutral in state, Union in fate but still the rebels lay in wait. Saloons are full. Concert halls packed. Lectures, dances. Welcome to The Wood's Theater.
(Dancers enter in flowing yellow, pink and aqua organdie costumes. Pauline sings.)
HELLO OLD ROAD! I'M IN A REVUE
WITH MY TRUNK IN TOW AS IF ON CUE
IMMORAL FOPS MY FRIENDS SO TRUE
A TOAST ALL YOU PRETTY INGENUES.
I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKIN’,
WHAT'S THIS LADY BEEN DRINKIN?
BUT I'VE GOT THE HONORED DISTINCTION
I WAS MADE MAJOR BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
NAME'S CUSHMAN NO NEED TO SALUTE
JUST DON'T JUDGE ME AND MY PANTSUIT.
A PATRIOT, WITHOUT DISPUTE,
MISS MAJOR IS HERE FOR YOU AND YOU AND YOU.
