The musical follows Arnold from reckless heroism early in the war through the treacherous acts for which he is remembered to bitter exile in England. And it begs the question: are Arnold and his loyalist wife, Peggy Shippan, America’s answer to the Macbeths? To help us decide, the three witches from Shakespeare’s tragedy lead the couple through the pinnacle of their lives together: Arnold’s betrayal of the rebel cause and his mentor George Washington. And woven into the tale are Peggy Shippan’s conflicted feelings for John Andre, the martyred British spy whose execution by hanging brought him the admiration that Arnold craved. Benedict’s original book, music and lyrics were commissioned by the Spirit of Broadway Theater for a premiere production, that the regional theater intends to revive as an annual event.
Richard Vetere wrote the novel The Third Miracle (Simon & Schuster) and co-authored the screenplay adaptation starring Ed Harris, Anne Heche, directed by Agnieszka Holland, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and distributed by Sony Picture Classics. His stage plays include Caravaggio (Silk Road Theater, Chicago), Machiavelli (Off-Broadway at the Archlight Theater NYC) and One Shot, One Kill at Primary Stages. Other plays published by Dramatic Publishing are Gangster Apparel, First Love, The Vows of Penelope Corelli, Bird Brain. He wrote The Marriage Fool for CBS Films, an adaptation of the stage play, which starred Walter Matthau and Carol Brunet and John Stamos. He also wrote the film adaptation of his stage play How to Go Out On a Date in Queens starring Jason Alexander and the original screenplay to Vigilante called a “cult classic” by the NY Times. His play Pages aka This Living Hand was recently read at The New Group and he was artist-in-residence at Culture Project as part of Impact 2012. He was elected to the Writers Guild of America East Council for a two year term and made a Lifetime Member in 2010. His books of poetry include Memories of Human Hands, A Dream of Angels and the recently The Other Colors in a Snow Storm. His novel The Writers Afterlife will be published by Three Rooms Press in early 2014. He has a master’s degree in Comparative English Literature from Columbia University. Vetrich88@aol.com.
Posted in Shows on June, 2022
