They’re singing arms and the man — no, seriously: singing — in a new musical rendition of Vergil’s “Aeneid” written in part by sophomore Nate Shackelford.
Shackelford never thought that he would wind up writing an adaptation of one of the greatest epics ever penned for his senior musical because he wasn’t supposed to have another performance. Shackelford’s school, Westside Christian Academy, only performed musicals every two years.
“We thought that was going to be our last musical,” Shackelford said. “And they announced that night that we were going to do two musicals in a row, and we thought, ‘You know what? This is our chance.’”
Rather than choosing to put on a previously written musical, Shackelford, his friend Casey Calderhead, and a group of their high school classmates decided to write their own magnum opus: a two-hour musical version of the “Aeneid.”
“Our senior thesis teacher had decided that she would let us count that as our thesis project,” Shackelford said. “And the director of the theater program said that if we got her the script by the time auditions needed to happen, which was going to be about five months from when we had that conversation then, she’d decide then. So we had a chance, and we took it.”
According to Shackelford, Calderhead, who is now attending Capital University’s Conservatory of Music, wrote all of the music for the musical. Shackelford was a driving force in the script’s writing and revision. Around five people were involved in writing lyrics while approximately 15 helped in writing dialogue, including freshman Alceo Pierre, who led the team working on the original draft of act two.
The original script contained eight songs and has since been expanded to 16. It was originally performed in three sold-out performances at Shackelford’s high school, Westside Christian Academy, in Westlake, Ohio.
“Before the ‘Aeneid,’ I had been regularly experimenting with electronic composition for about a year leading up to it,” Calderhead wrote in an email. “I would even post my compositions on Youtube. Besides that, however, I had been composing very sparsely since my first piece composed at the age of 10. I love the golden era style of musical theater, so I think some of that shows through in the soundtrack.”
Jim Whiteman, headmaster emeritus of Westside Christian Academy, said in an interview with Shackelford that he had immediately liked the proposal of an “Aeneid” musical.
“This adaptation of ‘Aeneid’ was brilliantly done, elements of drama, of conflict, humor thrown in, well choreographed. It was entertaining and yet meaningful — it had depth to it,”
Whiteman said. “It’s perfect for a classical school who’s always asking when it comes to theater, ‘What’s appropriate for us?’ And so it was perfect in the sense of using ancient literature, but bringing it to a modern-day stage in such a way that it makes it relevant.”
Karen Pattee, theater director of Open Door, said in an interview with Shackelford that she, like the rest of the audience, was moved by the musical.
“The staff and the students were singing the songs in the halls weeks leading up to the show,” Pattee said. “And then weeks after, they were still singing. It was so wonderful to see how all of the students that participated embraced the show, embraced their characters, fell in love with the story, the whole experience, and there was such camaraderie that developed in the process.”
According to Whiteman, a self-described “avid theater-goer,” the musical “Aeneid” has elements that could render it a professional success later.
“I think it has the potential to be on Broadway someday and to be nationally recognized as many other plays are,” Whiteman said. “It’s got that much potential to it.”
Since its premiere, however, the musical has not been performed again. According to Shackelford, the high cost and the initial commitment required for producing “Aeneid: The Musical” present barriers to further performances of the musical, though some schools have told him that they would like to put it on. Additionally, Calderhead and Shackelford continue to revise and improve their creation.
“We’ve been in this constant state of wanting to improve the script and rewriting and reworking,” Shackelford said. “And it’s hard to say, ‘We’re ready to hand this off to a school.’”
“Our primary objective is to license our show out to primarily classical high schools like the very one we attended,” Calderhead wrote in an email. “Despite that, we would love to put on collegiate performances as well; really, wherever there is interest and willingness.”
The pair is currently in the process of raising funds for a professional recording of the musical, which should help music directors better understand what exactly they would be committing to in producing the musical, according to Shackelford.
“We’re trying to raise $3,000 and we’re already 40% of the way there, which is really cool,” Shackelford said. “But what it means is, once we hit that goal, if we hit that goal, we’ll start holding auditions and hiring out vocalists to actually sing the parts and be the characters, and hopefully we’ll have a soundtrack that will be hitting Spotify or Apple Music within the next year.”
More information on the musical can be found at its official website aeneidthemusical.com.