ABET News

posted by Guest Artist

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Inspiration

by Frances Rae Key, playwright and composer of AUSSIE SONG

I’m often asked where the songs and ideas came from for the show Aussie Song. While the inspiration to write this musical seemed to come in a hypnotic rush in 2005, in retrospect, it was clearly the result of a slow-growing, subconcious assemblage of childhood memories and family tales passed through the ages. The stories my mother told me of her growing-up years in Australia led me to revere my happy-go-lucky grandfather, Frank Trager as a hero, and to perceive her immigration to America as a grand adventure.

Raymond Key and Teddy Trager on their wedding day | Perth, Australia | 1943

Once the vision of a stage show came to me, I was truly swept along by the magic and the mystery of their lives and that segment of history, and within just six weeks I’d structured the script and most of the songs. Numerous edits have occurred of course – the most recent under the tutelege of Caryl Butterley, our director – in an effort to condense a lifetime of information into a manageable and understandable presentation.

To think that many of my family members who are portrayed in this story will be able to witness my rendition of their lives is both a joy and a responsibility. I hope I have captured the essence of their experiences – the charm, difficulties, heartaches, humor and joys – somewhat adequately. I hope audiences will feel a connection with the characters, who made their life journey in a different time under very different circumstances, but in the big picture, a journey perhaps not so different from our own.

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Most of all, I hope that those who see the show will be touched by the legacy of music, love, wisdom and forgiveness that these characters have passed along to so many others. For what is Life but a collection of memories that bring us to dwell in the ever-new, yet ever-changing, “eternal now”? Aussie Song is for me the revealing of my own personal collection of such memories, and in that sense, the revealing of the forces that have shaped my life. My deepest thanks to all those who have teamed together to help me share “the song that opened the door to a magical place in my heart….”
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