The Deciders is about power — those who have it and those who want it — the power to change their world through their words to match their vision, from the opening song of Iraqi blogger Riverbend thanking Condileeza Rice for making her “Free” to Peace Activist Cindy Sheehan attempting to awaken a nation that has been “Rocked to Sleep” to an imprisoned Saddam singing the “Blues of Babylon,” and providing comic relief in his hopes for a Broadway run. Like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, we mix reality with satire as we stare in the face of propaganda. A rock musical that uses the actual words of Dick and Bush and the others mentioned above, creating lyrics that cut to the core, rock out or make you laugh out loud.
The Deciders is not only for today’s times, it is about today’s times. The Deciders has a title and cast of characters that make headlines, read the headlines or have to live with the daily reality of what those headlines have caused — either the loss of a loved one or a way of life. The Deciders is a fun way to explore through the power of music what brought us to today’s times.
The Deciders is the 3rd part of a trilogy that I began to write in an attempt to find truth in the spin cycle that pervades the media. There is so much information out there when you look past the spin. For a time after 9-11 it was not acceptable to question our government. As if in a trance many ordinarily, rational Americans were made to feel unpatriotic if they so much as dared to question the Bush Administration’s actions. I strongly felt the opposite that the most important time to question is when leaders are making life and death decisions on a grand scale. Especially with the upcoming election, I wanted to create a piece that would reach a wide audience and encourage dialogue and political involvement and reaction.
