From the Director
Welcome to the world premiere of The Weaver of Raveloe! I am thrilled that you are able to join us tonight to witness what we hope will be the first of many productions of this spectacular new musical. When I first received Erica Glenn and Melissa Leilani Larson’s script, I was struck by the beauty of the music and the way that they have distilled George Eliot’s novel down to its essential themes. In many ways, this story is a fairy tale, a fable. Silas Marner’s life becomes a frame story as well as a story in and of itself. In the village of Raveloe, a transitional space on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution, many lives intersect and change each other.
The Weaver of Raveloe is a story about the courage it takes to choose love, in spite of the risks. Many of the characters are on a journey to this place of courage - they must live through failures and act out of fear many times before they gain the courage to open themselves to the awesome risks and rewards of love. When fear drives our choices, the pain we can inflict on ourselves and others is boundless, and the reward is nothing but status quo. When we overcome our fear and choose love, the gains are far greater. The risks inherent in opening yourself to others and becoming vulnerable to their choices are very real, as are the victories. Courageous love can create a family where there was only loneliness and misery before. It is nothing short of miraculous.
Our journey to this premiere has been an incredible one. The amazingly talented, brave cast and the endlessly giving and hardworking creative team have built a production that tells this timeless story in a dynamic, intimate way. I am so grateful for their gifts, passion, and dedication. I look forward to the future of The Weaver of Raveloe, wherever it may be. Thank you for joining us for this stop along the way.
Jess Ernst
From the Composer, Lyricist, and Book co-Writer
I fell in love with George Eliot's Silas Marner the first time I read it as a teenager. Primarily a multi-layered love story, Silas Marner is also a parable of industrialization, a morality tale, and a good, old-fashioned drama. It combines the sweeping themes of a story like Les Miserables with the psychological depth of one like The Secret Garden. It's a saga of epic proportions that somehow never loses its intimacy and humanity—a musical just waiting to be written.
In 2010, the first incarnation of this script (The Weaver of Raveloe) was workshopped at Brigham Young University, and the following year, the Salty Cricket Composers Collective performed excerpts from the show at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. In 2012, The Weaver of Raveloe played at the New York Musical Theatre Festival as a developmental reading, and last year, award-winning playwright Melissa Leilani Larson joined the project as a book co-writer. Soon afterward, the show was slated for its world premiere at OBERON.
The journey to our first fully-staged production has been formative not only for the show itself but for the many people along the way who have given generously of their time and talents. As a playwright and composer, there is nothing more gratifying than watching actors testing their own artistic limits while breathing life into your material. The Weaver of Raveloe has attracted an astonishing array of talented and devoted individuals who have made the seemingly impossible possible. I am profoundly grateful to our producers, our creative team, our crew, and our orchestrators (among others) for their vision, their belief in this project, and their tireless giving. They inspire me.
As Silas and Eppie discover over the course of the show, the term “family” stretches far beyond genetic ties to encompass the network of relationships that we choose to actively cultivate throughout our lives. I am thankful for the “family” that this particular show has created and for the road that we have traveled together. We are thrilled that you have chosen to celebrate this journey with us.
Erica Glenn
