This means ‘War’

Claudia Figueroa

The Civil War was one of the bloodiest, most brutal eras in U.S. history,

so why would anyone want to write a Broadway musical about it?

“It’s not so much the subject matter of a musical, but the way the

material moves people,” said Frank Wildhorn, the composer behind the

musical “The Civil War.”

“There are many subjects that wouldn’t necessarily sound interesting

until you see it in the form of well-written musical production. Look at

‘Evita’; it’s based on the life of an Argentinian dictator’s wife. You

might not say that’s a typical idea for a musical.”

Before writing the score for “The Civil War,” which opens Tuesday at the

Orange County Performing Arts Center, Wildhorn looked to fiction and

narratives such as “Gone With the Wind,” “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and other

writings that were inspired by that era.

Wildhorn said when he writes a musical, he chooses a subject matter that

he can shed new light on.

“The best way to tell a story is to make it personal,” said Wildhorn, who

added that it was his son’s lack of interest in history that inspired him

to write the show. “I never thought the textbooks and lectures inspired

the kind of passion that the subject should have. “

Of the three musicals written by Wildhorn--which also include “Jekyll &

Hyde” and “The Scarlet Pimpernel”--”The Civil War” is the most

controversial.

In it, Wildhorn said his thoughts of patriotism are portrayed by American

icons and tragic moments, such as a scene where a Union soldier holds his

dying brother in his arms on the battlefield or the moment an

African-American man realizes his wife will be sold to a different

landowner.

To bring a deeper sense of reality to his work, Wildhorn toured an

underground railroad in Cincinnati and spent a great deal of time

researching family diaries from that era. He also toured the battlefields

at Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Fredericksburg.

“The Civil War marked the end to more than a presidency; historically

speaking, it took us in a whole new different direction,” said Wildhorn,

41, who earned a degree in history from USC in the 1980s.

The musical’s leading men, country singer Larry Gatlin and gospel singer

BeBe Winans, will perform a variety of pop-oriented tunes that have

country, gospel, folk, rock and soul influences.

Prior to the show’s production, Wildhorn wrote 10 songs, each for a

different character. He then asked a group of recording artists, such as

Patti LaBelle, Hootie and the Blowfish, Trisha Yearwood and Dr. John, to

record the songs on a demo to get a better feel for the final score.

Wildhorn said when he was in his early 20s and breaking into the

publishing business, writing musicals of this caliber was just a passing

thought. At the time, Wildhorn was composing songs for musical

productions at USC. Music publishers, hearing about Wildhorn’s talent

through the grapevine, went to the shows to meet him.

Wildhorn’s first published song, “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” was

recorded in the early 1980s by Whitney Houston. That song led to other

offers from Kenny Rogers and Natalie Cole.

Almost 20 years later, Wildhorn said he isn’t far removed from that era.

“Success doesn’t drive me to write the music I write,” he said. “It’s a

great feeling when you hear people outside the theater singing your

songs.”

And Wildhorn continues mining the vein of unusual musical subjects--he is

working on a project about the legend of Bonnie and Clyde.

FYI

WHAT: “The Civil War,” starring Larry Gatlin and BeBe Winans

WHERE: The Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive,

Costa Mesa

WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; and 2 and

7:30 p.m. Sundays. Through June 11.

HOW MUCH: $18 to $52

TELEPHONE: (714) 556-2787