LEWIS LOVES CLARK
words by MIKE ROSS, music by DYLAN MARCAURELE
A funny, fast-paced epic musical about the famous Corps of Discovery expedition.
Combining bluegrass, folk, and pop, this tragicomedy charts the uneasy alliance of Meriwether Lewis (a depressed closeted alcoholic), William Clark (just breathtakingly oblivious), Sacagawea (permanently exasperated), and York (would rather be birdwatching) as they grapple with the perils of exploration, infatuation, colonization, the terrible birth of our modern nation, and the not-so-great unknown.
There is also a cute stuffed dog.
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
Lewis Loves Clark was first developed through the 2020-2021 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellows program. Thanks to further funding from DGF, Lewis Loves Clark was developed and revised throughout 2021 and 2022 in collaboration with Cherokee dramaturg & theatremaker DeLanna Studi, culminating in a June 2022 reading. Lewis Loves Clark received the 2023 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater, providing funds for a staged reading at a non-profit theatre—funds which the writers have yet to utilize. In 2024, Lewis Loves Clark was selected for presentation at the NAMT 36th Annual Festival of New Musicals.
PRODUCTION GOALS
• We want to utilize our 2023 Richard Rodgers Staged Reading Award ($62,500) by partnering with any nonprofit theater around the country interested in helping us with a staged reading/workshop/run
• We want to connect with any producers interested in helping with commercial enhancement for any of the above or any further development
• We want to continue the dramaturgical & development process to improve and refine our show for sensitivity, pacing, content, and generally making this the best show it can be
Kiana Kabeary, Danny Kornfeld, Sam Gravitte, and Akron Watson in Lewis Loves Clark at NAMT 2024.
CAST & BAND
CAST SIZE: 12
6 Principals (5M/1W); 6 Ensemble (3M/3W)
Cast size can be smaller or larger depending on doubling.
BAND SIZE: 6
Keys, Bass, Drums, Guitar/Banjo, Fiddle, Guitar 2
CharacTErs
MERIWETHER LEWIS:
Late 20s-early 30s. Depressed, gay, smart, drunk, observant, self-loathing, loyal, loving. Nervously handsome.
WILLIAM CLARK:
Mid 30s. Bright-eyed, oblivious, and capable of horrible hypocrisy. Shades of southern charm. Happily handsome, ginger.
SACAGAWEA:
Late teens-late 40s. Smart, steely, a coiled wire of survival instincts. Permanently exasperated.
YORK:
Mid 30s. Strong, wary, kind (when he can be), intensely observant of others (because he has to be).
THOMAS JEFFERSON / CHARBONNEAU:
Late 50s. Manipulative founding father; manipulative father figure. / Late 30s. Cowardly, impatient, greedy, and grubbily charismatic. French.
TEN BEARS / CAMEAHWAIT:
Mid 20s. A man rubbed raw by hopelessness. / Late 20s. The ultimate older brother. A chief.
FOR INQUIRIES, CONTACT:
mcross42 [at] gmail [dot] com
dylanmarcaurele [at] gmail [dot] com