Conceived by HAROLD THAU

Orchestrations, vocal arrangements, and music supervision by JEFF WAXMAN

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CAST

3m 3f (Flexible casting)

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ORCHESTRA

Percussion, Electric Bass, Guitar, Strings, Keyboard

SETTING

Exterior

SYNOPSIS

Almost Heaven weaves together the songs of John Denver to create a uniquely theatrical narrative that reflects upon the country during the years in which he wrote them.

Twenty-nine of Denver's songs – including “Rocky Mountain High,” “Sunshine on My Shoulders,” “Annie’s Song,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” “Calypso” and more – are rediscovered and reinvented, performed against a backdrop of stunning visual images of America in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s,a time of social unrest and political protest.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

 

HAROLD THAU (Conceiver) During his four years as a business manager to Jazz musicians, stand-up comedians, and other performing artists, Harold Thau worked with a wide variety of talent, but the person who impressed him the most was John Denver. As an aspiring folk musician during the late 60's, Denver took it upon himself to pay off a large debt incurred by a group he had just joined: the Mitchell Trio. Hal never forgot Denver's generosity and ten years later he took a big risk by taking Denver on as his sole client. Hal was a founding partner in all of Denver's business pursuits; more than just a traditional manager, he was essentially a CO and owner of J.D. Enterprises. Denver and Thau stayed partners and friends until 1997, when the singer died in a tragic plane crash. Since them, Thau has continued to honor his friend's legacy, managing Denver's intellectual property and producing stage shows based around Denver's music.

 

PETER GLAZER (Adapter) Peter Glazer, an Associate Professor at UC Berkeley, is a professional director and playwright whose plays, adaptations, collaborations and directing projects include Woody Guthrie’s American Song (Bay Area Drama Critics award winner at Berkeley Rep and San Jose Rep; Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations Off-Broadway at Melting Pot Theater Co.; Joseph Jefferson Award winner at Northlight Theater in Chicago), O’Carolan’s Farewell to Music (Delaware Theater Co.), Michael, Margaret, Pat & Kate (Marin Theater Co., Victory Gardens Theater), Foe, Measure for Measure, Seven Lears, and Marisol (UC Berkeley), Heart of Spain and Foe (Northwestern University), My Fair Lady (American Musical Theater of San Jose), Unidentified Human Remains and The True Nature of Love (Industrial Strength Co. at the Magic Theater). He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, member and past Executive Board member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and sits on the Executive Committee of the Governing Board of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. Publications: Radical Nostalgia: Spanish Civil War Commemoration in America (2005) and co-editor of a lost memoir, War is Beautiful: An American Ambulance Driver in the Spanish Civil War (2008).

 

JOHN DENVER (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter, actor, activist and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singer, starting in the 1970s. He was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists. By 1974, he was firmly established as America's best-selling performer, and AllMusic has described Denver as "among the most beloved entertainers of his era". After traveling and living in numerous locations while growing up in his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. Throughout his life, Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed, with total sales of over 33 million. He recorded and performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, his enthusiasm for music, and his relationship trials. Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts, including country and western, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, in all earning him twelve gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Annie's Song", "Rocky Mountain High", and "Sunshine on My Shoulders".