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Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Musical) Demo Song Album

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17 Demo Tracks from Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Musical), Music & Lyrics by Jim Betts

  1. The Songs:
    1. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (OBERON, TITANIA, COMPANY). A “Prologue” ‐ enacted in Elizabethan Pantomime ‐ reminds the audience of the major characters and events of Shakespeare’s original play.
    2. “Anything Is Possible” (PUCK, FAERIES). The barrier between the Faery and Mortal worlds is always thinnest on Midsummer’s Eve. On this Midsummer’s Eve, PUCK longs for OBERON’s return after his 20 year absence. Despite the skepticism of the other FAERIES, PUCK believes that on this particular night, anything is possible.
    3. “Starlight” (OBERON). Confused and frightened, OBERON has in fact found his way back to PUCK and the forest. HE remembers very little of his former life, however, and barely remembers his best friend PUCK, but HE does remember what made him dare to try and live in, and change, the Mortal World.
    4. “Welcome Home” (TITANIA). TITANIA is furious to find that OBERON has returned on this of all nights, the night she has planned to lead the FAERIES into the underworld, and forever away from the dangers of the Mortal World.
    5. “Who?” (PUCK, OBERON). Although PUCK is thrilled to have OBERON home again after so many years, he is puzzled at how much OBERON has aged and changed. PUCK tries to remind OBERON of his own power, and how only he has the strength to stand up to TITANIA and keep the FAERIES from leaving the forest world forever.
    6. “Somewhere Beyond This Tree” (SERENA, HERMIA, HELENA). SERENA is determined to run away from her father and the suffocating atmosphere of his Court. Inspired by what HERMIA and HELENA did 20 years before, SHE intends to find a better life on the other side of the forest.
    7. “The Lovers’ Diatribe” (HERMIA, LYSANDER, HELENA, DEMETRIUS). Returning to the forest after 20 years, regardless of the “magic” they may have experienced “that night”, stirs up unexpected feelings and resentments in all four “Lovers”.
    8. “I Remember” (TITANIA, OBERON). Despite each having threatened to assert their power over the other, they both remember when their feelings were different.
    9. “Bottom’s Dream” (BOTTOM, QUINCE, THE MECHANICALS). Threatened with losing the comfortable position he has had in the Court for the last 20 years, BOTTOM determines to try the same strategy that seemed to work the first time ‐ performing a play. But this time, instead of doing Pyramus and Thisbe, he will finally star in Peter Quince’s dramatization of his own life ‐ “Bottom’s Dream”
    10. “Lullaby Spotted Snakes” (FAERIES). Act 2 begins 1000 years earlier, at the magical moment, in the far more magical world, when OBERON and TITANIA first met. The Faery World sings them a lullaby. (Lyrics by Shakespeare from the original A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
    11. “Never Before” (ROBIN, SERENA). ROBIN (the Changeling Child grown up), and SERENA, as did the four young Lovers 20 years earlier, experience the magic of an enchanted forest, and feel what all young lovers feel.
    12. “One More Night Like Tonight” (MECHANICALS, FAERIES). PETER QUINCE and the MECHANICALS are scared to death. They have not forgotten the harrowing events of 20 years ago, and they are convinced they are once again in a similar nightmare. The FAERIES haven’t had much fun in the last few years and, if this is their last night before leaving the forest forever, they intend to enjoy themselves one last time. Frolic (and knee‐slapping) ensues.
    13. “The Lovers’ Song” (HERMIA, LYSANDER, HELENA, DEMETRIUS). OBERON, his powers gradually returning, again directs PUCK to enchant the LOVERS. This time, the Lovers find themselves 20 years younger again, experience some of what they felt on “that night” so long ago, then eventually come face to face with reality as they are returned to the present.
    14. “In My World” (PUCK). Desperate to help OBERON return to his former strength, and in turn revive the magic of the Faery World, PUCK laments the influence the world of the Mortals has had on the world he loves.
    15. “There Used To Be A Wonder” (THESEUS). Overwhelmed with grief at the death of his wife HIPPOLYTA, and angered by the defiance of his daughter SERENA, THESEUS tries to remember a time when those emotions did not dominate his life. As he tries to remember her, HIPPOLYTA does return to him briefly, reminding him of what should be important.
    16. “You’ll Never Want To Go Away” (TITANIA). To the astonishment of everyone, OBERON recovers his former powers long enough to perform one “miracle”; the effort to do so, however, saps his strength again and he is virtually powerless to battle TITANIA any longer. TITANIA, however, has been reminded of the OBERON she loves, and does not want to lose him again.
    17. “Anything Is Possible (Reprise)” (PUCK, COMPANY). PUCK’s faith in OBERON has been rewarded. Much that was wrong has been set to right again. Perhaps, in fact, maybe, who knows ‐ anything is possible.

Original Music and Lyrics by Jim Betts

Recording Produced by Paul Mills, Jim Betts and Michael Mulrooney Arrangements by Michael Mulrooney
Mixing and Mastering by Paul Mills
Engineered at Canterbury Music Company by Jeremy Darby

The Songs:

    1. A Midsummer Night’s Dream ‐ OBERON, TITANIA, COMPANY
    2. Anything Is Possible ‐ PUCK, FAERIES
    3. Starlight ‐ OBERON
    4. Welcome Home ‐ TITANIA
    5. Who? ‐ PUCK, OBERON
    6. Somewhere Beyond This Tree ‐ SERENA, HERMIA, HELENA
    7. Lovers’ Diatribe ‐ HERMIA, LYSANDER, HELENA, DEMETRIUS
    8. I Remember ‐ TITANIA, OBERON
    9. Bottom’s Dream ‐ BOTTOM, MECHANICALS
    10. Lullaby Spotted Snakes (Shakespeare) ‐ FAERIES
    11. Never Before ‐ SERENA, ROBIN
    12. One More Night Like Tonight ‐ MECHANICALS, FAERIES
    13. The Lovers’ Song ‐ HERMIA, LYSANDER, HELENA, DEMETRIUS
    14. In My World ‐ PUCK
    15. There Used To Be A Wonder ‐ THESEUS
    16. You’ll Never Want To Go Away ‐ TITANIA
    17. Anything Is Possible (Reprise) ‐ PUCK, COMPANY

The Musicians:

Michael Mulrooney (Piano,); Bob Hewus (Bass); Curly Boy Stubbs (Knee‐Slapping)

The Soloists:

Jim Betts

(Starlight, The Lovers’ Song, In My World)

Jonathan Cullen

(Bottom’s Dream)

Linnea Currie‐Roberts

(Somewhere Beyond This Tree)

Sterling Jarvis

(Lovers’ Diatribe, The Lovers’ Song, There Used To Be A Wonder)

Will Lamond

(A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

Janna Polzin

(A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Somewhere Beyond This Tree, Lovers’ Diatribe, Never Before, The Lovers’ Song)

Jeff Madden

(Anything Is Possible, Never Before)

Charlotte Moore

(Welcome Home, Somewhere Beyond This Tree, Lovers’ Diatribe, I Remember, The Lovers’ Song, You’ll Never Want To Go Away)

Courtney Simpson

(Anything Is Possible)

Michael Therriault

(Who?)

Victor A. Young

(Who?, Lovers’ Diatribe, I Remember)

The COMPANY, FAERIES & MECHANICALS

Emily Aver, Josh Bouchard, Wesley Colford, Linnea Currie‐Roberts,
Charles Douglas, Matt Fuller, Nina Hladio, Vaughn Harris, Phoebe Hu, Will Lamond, Nathan Leung, Diane Oliveira, Jordy Rolfe, Claire Rouleau, Courtney Simpson, Emma Smit, Jonathan Tan, Chris Tsujiuchi

Thanks to everyone who has supported this project over the last 40 years!

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