When my wife and I were asked to direct a play for the Beechmont Players fall 2004 show we were very excited and began pouring over ideas. Of course we wanted something entertaining. This immediately led us to think of musicals, as we both adore musical theater. I myself am a huge fan of Jim Steinman, running one of the top three Jim Steinman fan sites on the Internet, and have long followed his theatrical as well as his rock and roll careers. Unfortunately the rights to most of Jim Steinman's shows are not available for production, however, there was one show he had co-written back in the 70's with Ray Errol Fox based on a lesser known novel by Herman Melville-The Confidence Man. It had only been produced once in the 80's, but had recently had a successful Studio Cast Album released. I made a few calls and Mr. Fox kindly offered to allow me the rights to produce the show onstage.

This led me to my second criteria for a show. While we wanted to do a show that was entertaining we wanted something more than that. We both felt that the best shows are ones that make you feel something, make you think, and linger in your mind when you leave the theater. The show was definitely entertaining, with its mixture of wonderful music, folk dance and ballet, double entendre, and vaudeville; but it had more to it than that.

Herman Melville has often been considered a master of allegory and his novel The Confidence Man was rich in it. On the surface it is a tale of a Confidence Man-a trickster-bilking people out of their money; but dig deeper and you find much more. The character of the Confidence Man isn't really on board the steamship to separate people from their money. He is there to test men's faith in humanity.

Melville wrote The Confidence Man on the eve of The Civil War. He saw the destruction that was tearing apart the country and pitting brother against brother in an effort to free blacks from the evil oppression of slavery.

The character of the Confidence Man disguises himself as a crippled, free black man begging for pennies to elicit reactions from those on board the ship, more than to gain a few coins. He then appears again and again in many different guises-all presumably friends of the poor black beggar-in an attempt to gauge their true goodness and confidence in mankind. His disguises are those of people that society should trust the most, but often trusts the least. He disguises himself as a religious man, a medical man, a businessman, a philanthropist, a charity worker… all in an effort to root out man's true nature.

For The Confidence Man to test humanity's faith in one another he must cross the boundaries of upbringing, class, occupation, creed, and race. He reveals that none of the above attributes have any bearing whatsoever on the trust they have for, or inspire in, their fellow man. The intention is not to mock those member's of the society he represents, but to depict them as historically accurate as they were perceived to be in Melville's contemporary America, even if by today's standards this is stereotypical, uniformed, or completely off the mark. To explore what caused the events of that time one must look at the attitudes of those living in that time.

Upon hearing some characters speak some members of the audience may have a negative reaction. Certain terms and phrases used in the days before the civil war may be uncomfortable to today's ears. But this show asks you to look a little bit deeper and think a little bit harder. It examines the dark days of the deadliest war in our country's history and the attitudes, both good and bad, which were present in the people of that time.

So, we hope you enjoy the music and the laughter as well as go away thinking a little bit about Melville's quest for the nature of man.