The Fields of Ambrosia
| The Fields of Ambrosia | |
|---|---|
| Music | Martin Silvestri |
| Lyrics | Joel Higgins |
| Book | Joel Higgins |
| Setting | American South, 1918 |
| Basis | The Traveling Executioner |
| Premiere | 1993: George Street Playhouse |
The Fields of Ambrosia is a musical written by Joel Higgins and Martin Silvestri. It was performed in the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick in 1993 and it was directed by Gregory Hurst, choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, staged by Gregory Hurst, and set design by Deborah Jasien. The cast included Christine Andreas as Gretchen Herzallerliebst, Higgins as Jonas Candide, Peter Samuel as Warden Brodsky, and Eddie Korbich as the mortician.
The 1996 production premiered at the Aldwych Theatre in London and was directed by Hurst again, with Mark Warman as musical director and a cast that included Andreas as Gretchen Herzallerliebst, Higgins as Jonas Candide, Michael Fenton Stevens as Doc, Mark Heenehan as Malcolm Piquant, Marc Joseph as Jimmy Crawford, and Roger Leach as Warden Brodsky. The show closed after only 23 performances.
The musical is based on the 1970 film The Traveling Executioner, The New York Times said The Fields of Ambrosia is a black comedy and contains violence, sex, romance and sentiment. It takes place in a deep rural town in the American South in 1918.
ACT 1
A steamy summer morning in the rural deep South of 1918. A gang of prisoners works along the dusty roadway leading to Fairweather State Prison (""Ball and Chain""). Jonas Candide, an ex-carnival barker and con-man who is now employed as the state's official "travelling executioner" arrives at the prison with his electric chair. He has come to attend to his next "clients" Willie and Gretchen Herzallerliebst, brother and sister German immigrants who have been convicted of murder (""Hubbub"").
Upon arrival, Jonas learns from the warden that the woman has been granted a short stay while her lawyer tries to convince the Governor to commute her sentence. Proceeding with Willie's execution, Jonas demonstrates his unique approach to the job (""The Fields of Ambrosia""). But something goes wrong (""How Could This Happen?""). Happy to put the day's events behind him, Jonas treats Jimmy, the gawky, young town mortician who idolizes him, to a night of debauchery at the local whorehouse (""Nuthin'"").
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