A Note from the Creator

The creation of the musical “Unmasked”came forth completely organically. Once again great art triumped in response to a really bad date and hence the song “One Last Epic Bang” was born. That’s when I realized that it was time to begin this creation; now I could see that there were so many more stories and perspectives to explore that focused on this time period of 2020.

The number four really is arbitrary, the fact is there is an infinite number of stories, but four seemed like the ideal number in creating the perfect timed evening of entertainment.

Oftentimes I am questioned how long it took me to write this musical, and I must admit that I become fairly obsessed in all of my endeavors, so with that being said it took about a year and a half. I really didn’t have a rhyme or reason of how to do it, but I was definitely on fire, inspired, and felt a sense of urgency.

It was the quarantine so I didn’t let my lack of experience get in the way one bit. I enlisted the help of my brother to help brainstorm much of my music and these meetings occurred both live and on Zoom.

It wasn’t until I was able to work with Heather Bennett and get my music notated and arranged that I was able to experience some momentum, and in response to that everything started to happen.

So far we have been able to have a table read, a concert, a musicalized reading, and a full developmental production. The truth is this production has just started its journey. I think Quinn says it best in the finale “Let’s continue to tell the stories!”

Michelle Risse

Book Writer, Lyricist, and Composer of “Unmasked”