A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTORS
This performance tells the story of the fool as she journeys through life and its many twists and turns represented in the 22 major arcana tarot cards. The Fool’s Journey follows the naive character as she encounters people, challenges, and revelations represented by each card.
This capstone recital project is a love letter to female artists and creators. Women composers and lyricists represent a significantly small percentage of the songwriters in the vast musical theater canon. Since female songwriting is underrepresented on musical theater stages, we are proud to be honoring the voices of women in our performance.
All of the lyrics and most of the music you will hear this evening has been composed by female songwriters and lyricists. To learn more about how to support female writers and musicians, we recommend visiting maestra.com.
The origin of tarot cards is definitively unknown, however the artwork in the commonly used Rider-Waite-Smith deck was illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. She was originally snubbed of credit for her contribution, but she made certain to embed her initials on all 78 cards secretly.
The deck used in this telling of The Fool’s Journey is the The Light Seer’s Tarot, illustrated by Chris-Anne. You can find your own copy at chris-anne.com.
PERFORMERS
STORYTELLER – Madeline McCord
STORYTELLER – Kristina Newman
ENSEMBLE – April Ball, Sarah DeYong, Alice Kim, Elza Manoj, Haley Wawro
COLLABORATIVE PIANO – Bethany Aiken
SONGS
THE FOOL:
“Morning Person” from Shrek The Musical
Music and lyrics by Jeanine Tesori
THE MAGICIAN:
“Beautiful”
Music and lyrics by Carole King
THE HIGH PRIESTESS / THE EMPRESS:
“Some Things Are Meant to Be” from Little Women
Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein
THE EMPEROR:
“It’s Not Where You Start” from Seesaw
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
THE HIEROPHANT:
“Forgiven”
Music and lyrics by Alanis Morisette
THE LOVERS:
“All I’ve Ever Known” from Hadestown
Music and Lyrics by Anaïs Mitchell
THE CHARIOT:
“A Thousand Miles”
Music and Lyrics by Vanessa Carlton
STRENGTH:
“Face Your Fears” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Music and Lyrics by Rachel Bloom and Sono Patel
THE HERMIT:
“Stop”
Music and Lyrics by Georgia Stitt
THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE:
“How Lucky You Are” from Seussical: the Musical
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
JUSTICE:
“Out of Sight, Out of Mind” from Tale of Two Cities
Music and lyrics by Jill Santoriello
THE HANGED MAN:
“Everywhere”
Music and lyrics by Michelle Branch
DEATH:
“Freedom” from The Mad Ones
Music and lyrics by Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk
THE DEVIL:
“When the Music Played” from Doctor Zhivago
Music and lyrics by Lucy Simon and Amy Powers
THE TOWER
THE STAR:
“My Star”
Music and lyrics by Amy Beach
THE MOON:
“Lies of Handsome Men”
Music and lyrics by Francesca Blumenthal
THE SUN / JUDGEMENT / THE WORLD:
“Shine Like the Sun” from 9 to 5: the Musical
Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Lighting Supervisor – Yian Shen
