The musical-The Independent Man
W. O. (William Oscar) Saunders was newspaper editor of The Independent in Elizabeth City, NC from 1908 – 1937. He was an outspoken progressive liberal who tackled hot issues such as birth control, women’s rights, civil rights, fundamentalism, creationism versus evolution, and racism. He was also credited with the idea of creating the Wright Memorial in Kill Devil Hills and the symphonic drama, The Lost Colony, on Roanoke Island; two causes that he was heavily involved in. In the 1920s he was a regular contributor to well-known magazines The American and Colliers. According to his own accounts he was sued for libel more than 50 times, was beaten up more times than he could remember, threatened with tarring and feathering and shot at.
I got the idea of doing a musical based on this man’s life and his newspaper from my friends, Tom & Mary Cherry. I actually started researching his life and putting ideas together last year. This spring and summer, thanks to the help of people like Bud Wright, Chris Meekins, Brian Edwards, Tom Cherry and others, I have just finished my first draft. I hope to have a rough version of the score ready in the next week or so.
Here is a synopsis of the show:
An old magazine cover with an article written by W.O.
Later on I’ll be posting more information about this fascinating man along with excerpts from the show. If anyone else out there is interested in this project and has photos, original newspapers or magazine articles I’d love to hear from you.
Please contact me at: brian@brianhobbsmusic.com
