FIND MY WAY HOME is a re-telling of the classic Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus was the great musician of antiquity; it was said that when he sang the rocks would weep. When he loses his wife Eurydice he is anguished by loss, and resolves to venture into the Underworld (Hell) and retrieve her. Eurydice is returned to Orpheus, yet their union is prescribed by the proviso that he not look at her until they have reached the Earth’s surface.

The setting for the work is a Metropolis during the Great Depression, with the set, costumes and film realized in shades of black, white and grey. Orfeo is a famous radio crooner who meets Eurydice, a lowly parlour maid, at a gathering. They are married; she is killed in an automobile crash. Grief stricken, he loses his sight. After a suicide attempt, he ventures into the Underworld with the aid of a walking stick where he is confronted by the Furies – dancers in the midst of a Depression era Dance Marathon. Charmed by his voice, they drop to the floor, allowing him to pass. The Underworld, is a 1920’s Speakeasy, with the design elements realized in vivid color. Orfeo regains his sight when he is hit over the head with a wine bottle, and finds his wife. The action reaches a climax during their exodus in a conga line as she screams for attention; Orfeo gives in, looks at her, loses her once again, and sings the famous lament Che Faro Senza Eurydice in a sober white light.

Story, choreography, direction by John Kelly
music by Alban Berg, Noel Coward, Claude Debussy, George Gershwin, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Modest Mussorgsky, Guiseppi Verdi and Marek Weber
musical direction by Jeff Halpern
set design by Huck Snyder (1998 version Scott Pask after Huck’s original design)
film sections by Anthony Chase
lighting design by Stan Pressner
costume design by Gary Lisz
hair/makeup design by Bobby Miller
costume mistress: Hebe Joy

Premiere: Dance Theatre Workshop, NY, April 1988.

Revivals:
Music direction by Roberto Pace, Colony Theater, Miami Beach, FL
May 1998: music direction by Alan Johnson

workshop production developed at Mass MoCA, MA, performed at New York Live Arts, NY, 2012.

WITH: John Beal/Gregory Purnhagen/Robert Osborne (Mr. Stone); Kyle de Camp (Eurydice); Steven Craig/Daniel Squire (Cerberus); Katie Geissinger/Marion Capriotti (Elena Main); Terry Hollis/Aaron Mattocks (Amore); John Kelly (Orfeo); Marleen Menard (La Morte); Byron Suber/Tony Boutte (Truman Lowe); Vivan Trimble/Dina Emerson (Mrs. Gray); and Melissa Wynn/Ramona Morgan/Cecelia Jones (Lea St. Louis). Singers: Amanda Boyd, Barbara Rearick, Gregory Purnhagen, Philip Anderson