30 Days of NYMF: Day 11 The Great Unknown

The Great Unknown
Book by William Hauptam
Music and Lyrics by Jim Wann

The idea for The Great Unknown began when I stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon on a cold full moon night and imagined the men of the Powell Expedition of 1869 down there in the depths, singing to keep their spirits up. Later I took a raft trip through the canyon, and still later proposed the idea of making it a musical to Jim Wann (composer of Pump Boys and Dinettes) who went on to write a wonderful score.

It seemed to both of us that after the Civil War, this country found its soul again in the exploration of the West, and this is what the story is all about. Jim and I have both written successful musicals with "country" scores, and knew there might be a prejudice against this one because it takes place more than a hundred years ago, and is not about contemporary urban issues.

But the NYMF has chosen our show for production, we've got a great director, a wonderful cast, and we're very excited about our prospects. We're confident that this show will prove the men and women of 1869 had concerns very much like ours and their adventure goes on today in the American search for the self. As a noted American historian has said, "What they lived, we dream...what they dreamed, we live."

William Hauptman, book author, The Great Unknown.