The New Musical
By Bill Hand & Simon Spalding
Presented in Partnership with Craven Community College
Institute of Aeronautical Technology
July 21, 22, 28, 29 at 7:30pm
July 23 & 30 at 2pm
Orringer Hall at Craven Community College
800 College Court
What inspired the Wright brothers to invent powered flight?
Egged on by their feminist sister, their preacher father, a civil engineer and a black poet who would become Ohio’s poet laureate, driven by a determination softened by self-deprecating humor, they did what no one else had ever done—and did it for about the price of a car.
They were young Dayton men who had never finished school, who made their modest living tinkering with bicycles. They used scraps of metal and wood, employing bicycle spokes and used saw blades in place of intricate diagnostic tools—and they did it all, from their earliest experiments to their first flight, in about five years. What, exactly inspired them?
Are you ready for Flight?
North Carolina History Theater’s Flight is more than a musical play – it’s a biography, a social history, a bright show of comedy and drama, and a turn-of-the-century musical review. The show employs both original tunes and songs set to popular early 20th century music that you’ll both know and hear for the first time, from Scott Joplin sets to “Bicycle Built for Two” (It is the Wright Brothers, you know!).
The Music of Flight
Where did it come from? From the turn of the 20th century and from the creative minds of Bill Hand and Simon Spalding. Here is a list so you can see who gets the nod. You'll see some familiar names, and note Mr. Dunbar is singing his own lyrics.
Act 1
Dayton ..................Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Luther B. Bridges 1910 arr. Simon Spalding
Sweet By and By………………....…….........................................Joseph P. Webster 1868
Got to Be…………......................................……Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Simon Spalding
Dayton Reprise......Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Luther B. Bridges 1910 arr. Simon Spalding
Editor’s Bed………........................Lyrics Paul Laurence Dunbar / Music Simon Spalding
Sympathy……………....................Lyrics Paul Laurence Dunbar / Music Simon Spalding
Loss of a Mother.....Lyrics Simon Spalding / Music J. P. Sousa 1896 arr. Simon Spalding
Safety Bicycle....................Lyrics Bill Hand/ Music Scott Joplin 1905 arr. Simon Spalding
Daisy Bell................................................................Harry Dacres 1892 arr. Simon Spalding
I Am The Man.......................................................Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Simon Spalding
Octave Chanute....................................................Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Simon Spalding
Ahh Angelic Choir.................................................Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Simon Spalding
Blah Blah Song..................Lyrics Bill Hand / Music H. W. Petrie 1894 Arr. Simon Spalding
Birds!......................................................................Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Simon Spalding
Outer Banks Song.....Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Charles K. Harris 1891 arr. Simon Spalding
Act 2
Wilbur’s Recitation.................................................Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Simon Spalding
The Surfman...................................................Lyrics Joe E. Lincoln / Music Simon Spalding
The Sailor’s Way.....................................................................Traditional arr. Simon Spalding
Man Won’t Fly.........................................................Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Simon Spalding
Hi Ho! (Langley).......................................................Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Simon Spalding
Come Take A Trip in My Air Ship.................Lyrics Ren Shields / Music George Evans 1904 arr. Simon Spalding Blah Blah Song Reprise......Lyrics Bill Hand / Music H. W. Petrie 1894 Arr. Simon Spalding
Hi Ho (Langley) Reprise...........................................Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Simon Spalding
Got To Get It Done..................................................Lyrics Bill Hand / Music Simon Spalding
March of the Women.................................Lyrics Cicely Hamilton / Music Ethel Smyth 1910 additional lyrics Bill Hand, arr. Simon Spalding