In MILLIONS, Damian copes with the loss of his mother through studying the lives of Saints, starting with his saintly namesake. Damian knows a lot about Saint Damian, patron saint of surgeons, who was a physician that gave free medical treatment with his twin brother – including a miraculous leg transplant. Damian’s brother, Anthony, doesn’t care much about the Saints. Interestingly, he’s named after the patron saint of lost things (like a duffel bag full of cash).
Throughout MILLIONS, Damian is visited by apparitions of Saints. The first is Saint Clare of Assisi. St. Clare founded the Order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano (or, Saint Damian), eventually called the Order of Saint Clare. Near the end of her life, Saint Clare was too ill to attend Christmas Eve Mass which was held several miles away. During the Mass, as she laid in her bedroom, she had a vision of the Mass displayed on the wall of her room. This vision led the Church to call her the patron saint of eye disease. In 1958, Pope Pius XII designated her as the patron saint of television, as well, due to the remarkable similarity of her vision back in 1252 to this new technology.
The next Saint to visit is Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order and longtime mentor to Saint Clare. Despite his father’s efforts to grow him into a successful merchant, Francis wanted to live a life of profound poverty. One day, while praying in the ancient church of San Damiano, God told him, “Francis, repair my Church.” Initially, Francis thought God wanted him to repair the crumbling building, but later realized that God was calling him to repair the spiritual Church. Francis began preaching to all sorts of peoples—and animals. There’s a story of St. Francis preaching to birds who stayed to listen throughout his sermon, and only flew away when Francis ordered them. As a result, Saint Francis is known as the patron of animals and ecology. He is also the patron of merchants—perhaps making his father proud, after all!
The final saint to visit the brothers is Saint Peter. Peter first met Jesus after a long, unproductive night of fishing. Jesus entered his boat and preached to a crowd from there. He then instructed Peter to lower his nets once more. Though doubtful, Peter complied, and the nets filled so abundantly with fish that two boats were required to carry the catch back to shore. For this reason, Saint Peter is the patron of fishermen, net makers, and shipbuilders. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” In Catholic tradition, Saint Peter is believed to stand at the gates of Heaven, welcoming new souls to enter.
Now that you know more about these saints, the next time a million dollars in cash falls in your lap, you’ll know exactly who to call for a little divine guidance!
Dear Community,
In response to the recent upheaval in arts funding both locally and nationally, the Artistic Directors of Atlanta’s not-for-profit theatres are gathering together to share a message of support and solidarity with all of the amazing artists that call Atlanta home.
In the next few months we will continue to fight for new resources to fund our work and imagine creative new ways to achieve our missions. But through it all, we are united in our shared love for this art form and our deep admiration for our creative community. Since the beginning of human civilization, theatre and live storytelling have formed a vital part of our culture. Sharing stories helps us make meaning from a chaotic world; to share moments of extraordinary joy; and to connect with one another as a community. Our theaters teach the next generation of artists, inspire hope in audiences of all ages, and enrich the lives of Atlantans. We help foster more inspired and creative neighborhoods, and our work helps bring business to our district and is a vital part of the economy of our city.
We lift up the brilliant work happening on stages all across Atlanta, both under the lights and behind the scenes. We celebrate the amazing staff and Board members who work tirelessly to solve problems, large and small. We cherish every one of our dearest patrons and subscribers who share in the joy of our work and who support us directly. And we especially celebrate all of our tireless advocates, like our brilliant partners at Arts Capital|Atlanta, who are seeking to transform our region’s historic under-investment in the arts. (more information on their great work here)
Atlanta is one of the most vibrant and creative cities in this country, and regardless of the challenges the future holds, we honor the beautiful artistic heart of our home, and commit to doing all we can to keep it beating.
We hope to see you there!
SHOWS HAPPENING THIS SPRING/SUMMER IN ATLANTA
7 STAGES
- Youth Creates summer teen training program June 23 – July 27 (Performances July 25 & 26)
- F. Punk Junkies created by Teo Castellanos (September 3-14)
THE ACADEMY THEATRE
- Events all summer!
ACTOR’S EXPRESS
- Doubt (May 22 – June 22)
- A Strange Loop (July 24 – August 31)
ALLIANCE THEATRE
- Millions (May 9 – June 15)
- Milo Imagines the World (June 25 – July 27)
- Rhythm & Thread (June 22 – July 12)
THE ATLANTA OPERA
- Semele (June 7, 10, 13, 15)
- The Atlanta Opera: 96-hour Opera Festival (June 21-22)
ATLANTA SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
- Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare (June 5-29)
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare (July 3-27)
- William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (Abridged) by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor (July 31 – August 17)
- The Venetians by Matt Barbot (August 21 – September 7)
- Save the Date! The Atlanta Shakespeare Company presents the Muse of Fire Playwriting Festival (August 29-31)
AURORA THEATRE
- Waitress (May 22 – June 15)
- The Wiz (August 14 – September 7)
- Aurora Theatre Summer Camp – SpongeBob Youth Edition starring our Teen Ensemble (Performances June 20 at 5:30pm, June 21 at 2:00pm)
- Aurora Theatre Summer Camp – Madagascar Jr starring our Youth Ensemble (Performances June 20 & 21 at 4:00pm)
- Drag Cabaret: Pride Celebration (June 14)
- Way Down Yonder: Country Music Band & Line Dancing (June 27)
- Sweet Baby James (July 18)
- We Are the Champions: A Celebration of Queen (July 26)
DAD’S GARAGE THEATER
- Murder on Vavianna Island (June 6-28)
CENTER FOR PUPPETRY ARTS
- Harold and the Purple Crayon (June 24 – August 3)
- The Ninja Puppet Shenaniganza (June 5-15)
- Puppet Camp (Various dates, June and July)
GEORGIA ENSEMBLE THEATRE
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare – Directed by Mary Saville, Movement Directed by Caleb Clark (June 13-29)
- Season Reveal Brunch Cabaret (June 14)
HORIZON THEATRE COMPANY
- LAUGHS IN SPANISH by Alexis Scheer directed by Erik Miranda (in English!) (May 22 – June 22)
- New South Young Playwrights Short Play Festival (Saturday, June 7, 2:00pm)
- Camp Stardust with Partner Atlanta Children’s Theatre – musical theatre camps (June and July, 1st-6th grade)
- Adult acting and directing classes with Thomas W. Jones II (June – July)
OUT FRONT THEATRE COMPANY
- Ginger Minj in The Broad’s Way (June 19-29)
- Angeria’s Big Break with Angeria Paris VanMichaels (July 12)
- Roz Hernandez Does Comedy in a Gay Bar?! (August 14)
OUT OF HAND THEATER
- How to Make A Home by Amina S. McIntyre (through June 1)
SYNCHRONICITY THEATRE
- The Dark Lady by Jessica B. Hill (June 13-29)
- Playmaking for Girls summer performance (June 14 at 6:30pm)
THEATRICAL OUTFIT
- Young John Lewis (June 3-29)
TRUE COLORS THEATRE
- Ain’t No Mo’ (July 29 – August 24)
Whether in casual dinner conversation or at one’s wit’s end, there come moments in life where we, as a society, ponder on a million-dollar question:
“What would I do with a million dollars?”
If it landed on your doorstep or fell from the sky, what would you do with it? How would you feel about it?
Playwright Bob Martin and musical composer Adam Guettel demand that we honestly sit with those questions. Based on the novel and film by Frank Cottrell Boyce, Millions tells the story of family, finances, and fate when 8-year-old Damian and his older brother Anthony shockingly uncover what seems to be “a gazillion” dollars after their mother passes away. From piercing ballads of grief to uplifting motifs of the perseverance it births, Adam Guettel demonstrates a relentless dedication to raw honesty.
In a 2001 interview for an autobiography about his grandfather, Richard Rodgers, Guettel expressed how significant composition is to carrying an emotional message by saying, “Music is coming at us in waves that we cannot quantify or parse out or understand or relegate to some previous experience. It’s new. It’s a universal and always fresh language.” Over two decades later, this sentiment beautifully bleeds through the score of Millions, song after song. Guettel’s colorful composition takes the listeners on an honest journey through the minds and hearts of Damian, Anthony, and their father Ron; he invites the audience to put themselves in the shoes of the Monarch Mesa Residents to really get a feel for this truth.
“Music is coming at us in waves that we cannot quantify or parse out or understand or relegate to some previous experience. It’s new. It’s a universal and always fresh language.”
The show opens on a heartfelt up-tempo overture that features operatic vocal scales. As he played a lot with contrast, this syncopation in the song paints the picture of what an average morning trying to get two young boys ready for school looks like – uniquely organized chaos. The underscoring beat itself even resembles a human heartbeat, rising and falling in intensity with every melodic shift. This heartbeat pumping blood through the body of the show belongs to Ron, who is constantly flipping the double-sided coin of grieving your wife while learning how to raise your children alone. In his earnest solo, “Feel For This,” the tense staccato phrases paired with the intentionally strained belts display how tightly he contained his grief – or tried to.
In Damian and Anthony’s grief, however, they each explore their own varying relationships with faith and nearly opposing views on whether a duffel bag full of mysterious money is truly a gift or a curse. Nevertheless, they manage to harmonize – both literally and figuratively – and agree on the only sentiment they can: “Our Mom Is Dead.” The title’s candor is as purposeful as the coy and jazzy tone the children take on to justify using their grief as “get out of jail free” cards. Guettel manages to always find places to breathe laughter into the thread of the story, as the dichotomy of life and death itself create an absurd comedic edge.
Guettel beckons authenticity of the world of the show and the audience alike, wielding each character’s vulnerability as they are met with that million-dollar question. What would I do with a million dollars? Do I deserve such a blessing? Is this blessing a curse? The music of Millions encourages us to embrace the dichotomy of faith and logic-the organized chaos of life. In that loving embrace, each jagged edge and rounded corner of the Cunninghams’ story – and all just like it – are honored.
Lyricist Christian Albright and Composer Christian Magby
Adapting a children’s picture book into a full-fledged musical may seem slightly intimidating. But, luckily for Christian Magby and Christian Albright, they are always up to the task, with two prior book-to-stage adaptations already under their belts.
“My first experience with [Milo Imagines the World] was met with a feeling of wonder, surprise, and melancholy,” says lyricist Christian Albright. “[It’s] a simple but effective and beautiful story with a tear-dropping and monumental ending. It makes you reevaluate how you look at the book from the beginning and how you look at others moving forward.”
Albright and his counterpart, composer Christian Magby, were first approached by the artistic directors at Children’s Theatre Company, Chicago Children’s Theatre, and Rose Theatre about turning Matt de la Peña’s children’s book into a musical. “Immediately I went to the first YouTube read along I could find,” Magby says, “and instantly fell in love with the story.”
Milo Imagines the World follows the journey of Milo, a curious boy with a vivid imagination and a sketchpad full of dreams. As he travels on the subway with his sister, he draws in his sketchbook as he imagines why the other passengers are on the subway and where they’re going.
“Honestly, I feel like we kind of let the story and the illustrations speak to us,” Magby says. “Milo’s imagination is so vast, so it allows us to go so many different places, musically. Christian Albright’s lyrics also have a way of jumping off the page. We usually see the same thing when it comes to narrative, so it’s always fun to see how our ideas align.”
When asked about favorite lyrics from the show, Albright says that his favorite lyric is “I got my hat and my bag / and my pencil and my book / I feel so nervous / like a soda that’s shook.” This line comes directly from the book and incorporating them into the musical was important to Albright because “[the feelings were] so prevalent in our titular character.”
Magby’s favorite lyric is when subway riders ask Milo, “Or do you see what you only draw inside your sketchbook?” He says, “I love this lyric and this moment, because Milo actually learns from his own imagination. In all that he has drawn, has he missed a bigger picture?”
The story contains a twist ending that takes audiences by surprise and, hopefully, will be the catalyst for many discussions about family, imagination, and going a little deeper beyond what we can see on the surface.
“I think it’s easy to say, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’” says Magby. “But I challenge us to go a step further by opening the books that we judge. You might learn something – even about yourself.”
“I hope kids learn that imagination is a beautiful thing to hold onto and use,” Albright adds. “Also, be curious, but never assume you know someone until they’ve told you their story.”
Although Milo originally premiered in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Children’s Theatre Company, Magby and Albright are no stranger to the Atlanta arts scene, having previously debuted their musical, Mother of God, at Atlanta’s Southwest Performing Arts Center in 2022. The Alliance has also produced two other world premieres by the duo: Into the Burrow: A Peter Rabbit™ Tale and The Incredible Book Eating Boy.
“To be working on this show in our hometown, at Alliance Theatre, with our friends and for our friends,” Magby says, “is truly a remarkable experience. We’ve been very passionate about telling this story, and it’s a dream come true to bring it home. It feels especially special for me, because this is also my first time music directing it! So it’s a lot of fun to be able to come to work and play with this story every day.”
Although this production is geared toward younger audiences, Albright clarifies that the musical “isn’t simply a show for young audiences. It’s a show for everyone and I guarantee there is something for everyone to take away from.”
“I think we are all alike in more ways than we think,” Magby adds. “In the opening, everyone has several places they need to be but, for a moment, they all share the same train.”
Find more information about Milo Imagines the World here.