World Premier Edgar Allan Poe Musical in Berlin

E D G A R   A L L A N   P O E

the new musical by Eric Woolfson
has its World Premier in Berlin on

March 27th, 2009

The year 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, one of the world’s most influential writers and author of “The Raven” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”. Poe is the inventor of the Detective Novel and the Father of Science Fiction. Sherlock Holmes was based on a character Poe wrote 60 years before Conan Doyle and he is universally acknowledged as the inspiration of writers such as H G Wells (War of the Worlds), Jules Verne (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) and as George Bernard Shaw said, “We others simply take off our hats and let Mr Poe go first”.

Eric Woolfson is the creator and writer of the “The Alan Parsons Project” and writer of the musicals Freudiana, Gaudi, Gambler and Dancing Shadows. In writing this new musical, Woolfson has returned to his greatest inspiration, Edgar Allan Poe, 30 years after the great success of the first APP-Album “Tales of Mystery and Imagination” which was based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe and has sold over 8 million copies worldwide.

“When I wrote and recorded Tales of Mystery and Imagination over 30 years ago. I was aware that there was more to the subject than I had explored at that stage. Many years later, I now feel that the time is right for me to revisit my hero, Edgar Allan Poe”, Eric Woolfson describes what motivated him to write his latest work.

In his latest musical, Woolfson presents an intoxicating view of the intriguing details of Poe’s remarkable life, which inspired his works: His mother dying in his arms when he was three years old, being forcefully separated from his first love, the tragic death of his young wife and his misplaced trust in Rufus Griswold, a rival poet motivated by jealousy and hatred. Even Poe’s death is shrouded in the mystery he became so famous for creating. These real events from Poe’s bizarre life intertwined with some of his greatest works, form the basis of the story of this new musical.

Based on the highly acclaimed showcase at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in November 2003, Eric Woolfson has developed an outstanding musical, which has taken his whole career to bring to fruition. A new album ‘Edgar Allan Poe’ containing all 17 songs from the musical will be released in January 2009. Woolfson also sings two song from the Edgar Allan Poe musical on his new album ‘Eric Woolfson sings The Alan Parsons Project That Never Was’ which will be released in January 2009 (www.the-alan-parsons-project-that-never-was.com).

EDGAR ALLAN POE – the Musical by Eric Woolfson will have it´s world premier on March 27th at the 1,700 seat Admiralspalast Theatre, Berlin.

The Musical will be directed by Frank Alva Buecheler, Setdesign & costumes by Christoph Weyers, Musical Director: Volker Plangg, Choreographer: Jaroslaw Staniek

Website Eric Woolfson

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