prodigals: a new musical
In the summer of 1950, shared tragedy reunites an estranged West Virginia family against their will. As their secrets, lies, loves, and resentments are revealed, will the choices they make bring them closer together or tear them apart forever?
show synopsis
Inspired by the story of the prodigal son, PRODIGALS explores the humanity behind our collective need for connection, forgiveness, belonging, and a place to call home.
the writers
The Lubben Brothers & Bruce Linser
Prodigals was born out of two previous collaborations between The Lubben Brothers and writer/director Bruce Linser.
In 2018, Bruce hired our group to play the onstage band and background characters for his production of Woody Guthrie’s American Song at Palm Beach Dramaworks. After “corrupting” our band by having us drink, smoke, and gamble onstage, a lasting friendship was formed! A year later, when Bruce directed The Spitfire Grill, also at Dramaworks, he invited Joshua to music direct while Michael, Tom, and Joshua’s wife Katie joined him as the pit band. Both shows were critical and popular successes, so when we decided to try our hand at writing a song cycle during the summer of the 2020 pandemic shutdown, we turned to Bruce for input. Happily for us, he was captured by our songwriting and storytelling, and asked to hear all our original songs. One month later, after many hours immersed in our music and lyrics, Bruce proposed the story of Prodigals.
In March of 2021, after a virtual “first look” event of the opening three scenes of Prodigals, our newly-formed writing team received a generous grant from the Hagen Family Foundation to further develop the piece. Intense writing and rewriting sessions were followed by a brainstorming road trip to Lubben Bros. gigs in Pensacola and Tallahassee in July, where we were happy to “corrupt” Bruce right back by giving him his first experience as a roadie! The resulting draft led to a preliminary table reading with actors in September, along with more notes and edits, all of which brought Prodigals to a pivotal staged concert showing of the full show.
In January 2022, joined by an all-star cast from around the country, we presented the full script and songs of Prodigals to three ecstatic audiences at PBAU’s Helen K. Person Hall. Now, armed with more local support and rich feedback, we are fine-tuning the latest draft of the show and actively looking for the right opportunity for a full-scale production.
next steps
In the opening number, the character of Musician sings, “So I spread my wings and fly.” It is a moment of hope, courage, and anticipation.
Like him, we’re wildly excited to see what’s next for this powerful story, and we’d be honored if you joined us! Don’t hesitate to contact us with your ideas, support, or feedback of any kind!
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