Frankenstein: The Rock Opera

Soaring guitars, sounding horns, and thundering drums herald the birth of Mary Shelley's gothic masterpiece—brought to life in emotional ballads and driving rock music.

LISTEN NOW THE STORY

The Story

Like Mary Shelley's classic tale, our story begins on the frigid seas of the Arctic Circle, where mountains of ice block Captain Walton and his crew on their voyage to the North Pole. Ignoring the imminent mutiny of his sailors, Captain Walton has locked himself in his cabin and tends to a dying stranger whom he recently dragged aboard.

Amidst ice-locked peril, Walton records the haunting last words of his most-peculiar guest, Victor Frankenstein—a young scientist who claims to have created life out of the dead! Scouring fresh graves, Victor unearths the final body part for his unholy masterpiece.

Back in his lab, Victor's sordid dream becomes a terrifying reality as his hideous creation awakens to a world that would soon reject him. This dark saga of Creator and Creation unravels as both Frankenstein and his Monster are forced to confront the most wicked of human trials…

Drawings by Brendan Wittstruck

Music

Sample songs from the original studio recording

Act I Overture

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Act II Overture

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Should’ve Never Galvanized a Dead Man

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Back In Geneva

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Til Death Do Us Part

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Finale

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Composers

Justin Perkinson

Composer

Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Justin Perkinson discovered his passion for writing music at a very early age. With the piano as his primary instrument, he has explored various styles over the years, but his favorite by far is the unique “traditional musical meets rock-and-roll” sound of Frankenstein: The Rock Opera. An avid theatre-goer and devoted actor, Justin is immensely excited about the prospects for this, his first, musical.

Ty Morse

Composer

Ty Morse was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he grew up listening to the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and rock operas like Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Tommy by The Who. Over the past few years Ty has spent a great deal of time writing and recording his music, including another rock opera, Beowulf: The Rock Opera Part II.

Jon Greenlee

Producer & Additional Composition

Jon Greenlee lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota—home to Jon’s recording studio The Planets, where Frankenstein: The Rock Opera was recorded. This is Jon’s second rock opera following Beowulf: The Rock Opera Part I. Jon continues to produce rock bands and plays guitar in the band Space Camp.

In the Press

“A new kind of theatrical beast… A rock opera of Mary Shelley’s classic novel, “Frankenstein.” The show’s creators describe it as Led Zeppelin meets Andrew Lloyd Webber.”
— NPR — Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins

“Davidson students’ ‘Frankenstein’ rock opera leads charge of Halloween productions…”
— Charlotte Observer — “Monster Hits Creep Onto The Stage”

“Did Mary Shelley envision throbbing bass lines and crying electric guitar riffs when she penned Frankenstein in 1818?”
— Charlotte Magazine — “Best of the Month”

“It’s Alive at Davidson College: Frankenstein plans to rock the opera house.”
— Charlotte Theatre — “Monster Mash”

“For the past two and a half months, three young men have been toiling into the early hours of the morning deep within the cavernous lower depths of the Davidson College Union.”
— Lake Norman Times — “A Monster Undertaking”

Productions

World Premiere — Davidson College

October 22–26, 2003 • Duke Family Performance Hall

A musical project initiated three years earlier as a whimsical classroom exercise by two Davidson College students hit the stage as the world premiere of Frankenstein: The Rock Opera. Musically inclined English majors Justin Perkinson '01 and Ty Morse '04 wrote three songs as an assignment while studying Mary Shelley's 1818 horror novel in a literature class, then recruited Jon Greenlee, a professional musician from Minneapolis, to complete a thirty-five song rock opera absolutely true to Shelley's plot.

Theatre Professor Joe Gardner directed a sixteen-member cast in Davidson's Duke Family Performance Hall. Rick Dior, principal percussionist with the Charlotte Symphony, directed an eight-piece rock orchestra of professional musicians. The three young entrepreneurs—ages 21, 24, and 28—also planned educational assemblies, a DVD, and had visions of taking the show to other campuses, professional theatres, and ultimately Broadway.

Contact

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