Welcome to “The Road of Life”
“’The Road of Life’ is a marvelously uplifting tale…and the songs are beautiful. This is a musical that should be produced on Broadway.”
— Tony Award-Winning Producer/Director David Black
Thank you for joining us on our exciting journey to bring “The Road of Life” to the next step.
Mark and Jay with the director and cast of the MTS production of “The Road of Life”
Photograph: © Robert Chimsky
We are thrilled that the Musical Theatre Society (MTS) of Emerson College produced the first full production of “The Road of Life” as their annual New Work musical on Friday, February 26th and Sunday, February 28th at the Bill Bordy Theater in Boston. It was great to see show finally come to life onstage. A heartfelt thanks to our wonderful director Rachel Salzman and the talented MTS creative team, cast, and crew! A special note of gratitude to MTS president Jordan Gross for his belief in the musical!
We’re also delighted that last summer we had a recording session for our demo CD with three enormously talented Broadway performers — all of them cast mates in “Mamma Mia!” —Jenn Hemphill, her husband John Hemphill (who opened in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit new musical “The School of Rock” on November 9th), and their dear friend Robert Townsend.
We want to thank Jenn, John, and Robert for their warmth, creative energy, and glorious voices!
A Story That Must Be Told
“The Road of Life” is a love story set against the epic sweep of the siege of Leningrad during WWII, when the Nazis surrounded the city for 900 days and refused to let food or medical supplies in – or people out.
The siege was the deadliest blockade in human history, and though our musical is set in a particular time in history, we feel it speaks on a universal level. (Read more about the siege here.)
There are so many countries in our own time that are torn apart – both by forces from within and without.
The main characters in “The Road of Life” are Sveta, a young female poet; Seroza, the Russian soldier who loves her; and Gunther, the Nazi soldier who is assigned to capture and kill Sveta but instead finds himself falling in love with her.
Olga Berggolts
The lead character of our musical is loosely based on a truly extraordinary historical figure, Olga Berggolts, a poet whose radio broadcasts during the siege inspired an entire city to have the will to survive.
In “The Road of Life,” our character of Sveta finds her own voice to give hope and courage to the people of Leningrad, helping them to live against impossible odds.
For an interview with the creators of “The Road of Life,”
please email Mark Chimsky at
markchimsky[at]yahoo[dot]com or call him at (207) 632-8418.