Eastland: A Musical Event

Eastland is based on the real events of this great forgotten tragedy. It is equally about the fierce yearnings of three main characters: Bobbie, a 14-year-old girl trapped within the hull; Ilse, a woman at a tipping point in her life even before the Eastland starts to tip; and Reggie, who dives into the river repeatedly to recover bodies, all the while haunted by the specter of America’s most famous escape artist. With its potent combination of poetry from American folk roots, Eastland is a plaintive musical about longing and love, mortality and memory, hope and loss, and all the things that make us human.

Inspired in part by Jay Bonansinga’s The Sinking of the Eastland: America’s Forgotten Tragedy.

Eastland is the recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award.
Roles
5F, 7M
Musicians
7 (double as members of the cast)
Acts
1
Duration
1 hour 30 minutes

Music

Samples of the soundtrack are available on BandCamp. (The tracks are from the original cast album from the 2012 world premiere at the Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago.)

Creators

Andrew White

BOOK AND LYRICS
Andrew White (he/him) is a founding Ensemble Member of Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago. He has participated as an actor ...

Ben Collins-Sussman

MUSIC
Ben Sussman's work has appeared on most of the city’s stages, including Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Lookingglass ...

Andre Pluess

MUSIC
Andre Pluess (he/him/his) is a composer/ sound designer based in Chicago. His credits include composition and sound design for numerous ...

Videos

Orchestrations

7 Musicians

Violin
Ukulele
Acoustic guitar
Banjo
Accordion
Upright Bass
Piano

The original cast was an ensemble of 12 actors and musicians
-- 5 women, 7 men -- who performed the roles and played
the instruments: guitars, banjo, piano, accordion, violin,
and upright bass. However, the production could also be
performed by a cast of 12 supported by a small band.

Production Materials

20 Cast Script/Vocal Books

A combination of the show’s full script and the full vocal book. All dialogue within each song is printed in the score to prevent flipping back and forth during rehearsals. All books are spiral-bound and double-sided.

2 Director’s Scripts

A single-sided, spiral-bound script designed with plenty of space for the director to take notes and add blocking during the rehearsal process.

2 Piano/Conductor Scores

A keyboard score that is a key part of the show’s actual orchestration. This score contains both vocal parts and a cue staff, which guides the conductor through the full orchestration by informing them when instruments enter the song, as well as providing specific part lines when necessary.

Promotional Materials

Official Logo Pack

Included with license
Includes color and black and white high-resolution logo files in JPG, PNG, and EPS formats.

Official Show Artwork

$175
Creating artwork for your performance has never been easier – customize online in minutes, download a print-ready PDF, order printed posters, access layered files. We've partnered with Subplot Studio to bring their powerful and easy-to-use online poster customization tool and downloadable artwork to Eastland.

Social Media Marketing Kit

$250
Includes everything you need to plan and implement the promotion of your show – 50+ graphics for social media, original show specific content, social media guide, promotion calendar and press release template.

Cast & Crew T-Shirts

As low as $14 each
We have partnered with Subplot Studio to offer premium-quality Cast & Crew T-Shirts! You can add your theatre name, show dates, and even your cast & crew names on the back.

Original Soundtrack

$15 each (retail $20)
This is the original cast album from the 2012 world premiere at the Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago. Available formats include CD and download.

The Sinking Of The Eastland: America's Forgotten Tragedy

$17.50 each (retail $25)
The musical was inspired in part by Jay Bonansinga’s non-fiction novel, The Sinking of the Eastland: America’s Forgotten Tragedy.