Bjorn Berkhout
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The Hurricane
A New Musical by Bjorn Berkhout; debuted at FringeNYC in 2014

Photos by Lloyd Mulvey
​While watching a theater production in Chicago an idea spontaneously hit me during intermission: ‘I bet The Tempest would work as a musical set on Fire Island’.
 
I instantly wanted a transgendered character in the musical who was in a position of power and influence rather than being on the peripheral edge of society. Thus, the Prospero character was reimagined as Madam Sparrow, the transgendered owner of an inn on Fire Island who has come into possession of a magical monkey paw. Using its power, she brings her enemies to the island and working with her lackey Ariel manipulates them through the power of song to extract her revenge and reestablish her rightful role in society.
 
The musical balances comedy with drama (as does the original Tempest) with Madam Sparrow a potentially dangerous adversary with supernatural powers at her call and Ferdinand and Miranda being the pair of young lovers caught in her game. Ariel and Sebastian are the comic characters while Antonio remains the villain. Both Caliban and Alonso float between the worlds of darkness and humor making the production a cast of eight characters.
 
The musical was staged at the 2014 Fringe Festival to positive reviews.
 
Any party interested in performance and continued development of this musical should feel free to contact me : Contact xxxx

Excerpts from The Hurricane

Plastic
File Size: 4981 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

Time
File Size: 5902 kb
File Type: mp3
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Pink Clouds, Green Skies
File Size: 4171 kb
File Type: mp3
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Adonis
File Size: 3518 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

The Game
File Size: 5037 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

Love's a Bore
File Size: 4699 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

Picture
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