ɪ’liʒən: the process of joining together or merging things, especially abstract ideas
If the Spirit Moves
Book and Lyrics by Germaine Shames; Music by Erin Murray Quinlan
A disillusioned expat Dadaist artist returns after World War I. Needing to earn a living, she sets out to impersonate a spirit medium—only to discover that she is the real deal. A war hero, a charity matron mourning her daughter, and a young widow flock to the reluctant medium and are spontaneously healed. A wealthy male client falls in love with her. When her former love comes courting in the form of a directionless Dada poet, she must choose, not only between two men, but two radically different outlooks on life. If the Spirit Moves is a tender tale of recovery and healing in which rich and poor, living and dead, transcend their differences through laughter, tears, and hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Reviews
Cherry and Spoon " . . . lovely songs and great performances by the cast."
Twin Cities Stages " . . . a beautiful show that continues in Theatre Elision's tradition of producing new or rarely seen musicals, usually around 90 minutes in length, that center around the stories of women."
Minnesota Playlist " . . . if you are a music fanatic, this cabaret-style evening will have you on the edge of your seat. All of the performers, but particularly the female performers, are unbelievably talented."
Gallery
Gallery
CCX News previews "If the Spirit Moves"
Cast & Creative
Germaine Shames (Book and Lyrics), winner of her state’s Literary Fellowship in Fiction, is author of the award-winning novels, Between Two Deserts and You, Fascinating You. Writing under the pen name Casper Silk (Hotel Noir, Echo Year), she has been compared to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Graham Greene and P.D. James “on steroids”. A returning playwright, Shames majored in Theatre as an under-graduate. In 2017-18, the playwright celebrated the New York City premiere of her musical comedy, Anna Karenina Lives!, the selection of her drama-thriller, The Degenerates, for Williams Street Rep’s LAB New Play Series, her adaptation,The Virgin and the Gypsy, for the Festival of New American Theatre, and her musical, The Manifesto, for the Art of Adaptation Festival. Her bio-drama, The Higher Love, recently won three national workshop competitions. Her adaptation, The Lost Girl, won Starlight Theater’s 2019 Playwriting Award. Her opera, Last American Dream, will premiere at the University of Costa Rica later this year.
Erin Murray Quinlan (Music) is an NYC and London based writer of book, music and lyrics. Her latest Off-Broadway production, God Save Queen Pam, was published by Stage Rights in early 2019. In addition, her work has been produced around NYC, Boston, LA, London, and beyond. She is an alum of the prestigious BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Advanced Workshop, Berklee College of Music, and the EAMA-Nadia Boulanger Institute in Paris. She is currently working on an investigative piece about a small-town English vicarage that harbored a war criminal during World War II.
Serena Brook* as Daphne
Abilene Olson as Mrs. Barnes
Christine Wade* as Desiree
Ben Heer as Edward
Janet Trow* as Lady Aspen
Kyler Chase as Kurt
* Members of Actors Equity Association
Musicians
Piano: Harrison Wade
Production Team
Director: Lindsay Fitzgerald
Stage Manager: Z Makila
Music Director: Harrison Wade
Vocal Director: Christine Wade