The Kentucky Foundation for Women has awarded Flashback Theater a grant for the development of Mary: The Musical. I conceived of this musical and wrote an outline for it, when Jesus Christ Superstar was at its Zenith. At the time, my thoughts were, why not tell Mary’s story? The story of a modest, unmarried Jewish girl that becomes pregnant. The story of what it must have been like to raise the son of God. The story of what it was like to hear a conversation between Joseph and Mary behind closed doors. And, how their family and ultimately the world came to terms with this extraordinary story.
But then, I put the outline away and my life took a completely different path. The Mary outline had been lost and forgotten. Until, January 19, 2018, I was attending a play at Somerset Community College and I ran into my friend, Maria McNeil. She is the founder and CEO of McNeil Music Center and a Berklee Alum. She mentioned that she wanted to be involved in a musical, but she wasn’t keen on writing the book portion. She wanted to write the music.
My initial thought was, I would love to write a musical, but the current play I was working on would not lend itself to a musical. That and the fact that I cannot write music. So, I put the thought out of my mind and enjoyed the play.
On the drive home, I felt this unease I get when something is off balance. I kept thinking…What Amber? If you could write anything in the world and have it put to music, what would it be? What would it be? Think.
Then the epiphany. Mary. Remember, Mary? The musical you outlined a long time ago? The drive was spent in formulating the story and another outline was born before I arrived home.
The story is told through Mary the person, the daughter, the mother and the wife. Mary: The Musical is not a story of the manifestation of the mother of god. It is the human story of a girl that is expected to do an extraordinary thing in everyday circumstances.
Mary: The Musical is scheduled for a work shop at Flashback Theater in July 2019. A staged reading will be presented in August 2019.
Amber Frangos 
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