The Birth of a Lovecraftian Rock Opera
How the dream of “Dreams in the Witch House” became reality
It was on a transatlantic flight to Stockholm on September 1st, 2011 when I discovered H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Dreams in the Witch House.” My trip was to be a mixture of business and pleasure, and my colleague, Andrew Leman had recommended I read the story just prior to my departure. A few days later in Stockholm I was to have a meeting with my long-time music co-writer, Chris Laney, who would eventually provide Industrial Metal tracks for a short film I was working on, using deleted Black Pharaoh footage from the HPLHS Motion Picture, “The Whisperer in Darkness” (directed by Sean Branney). Andrew suggested I read “The Dreams in the Witch House” to gain more insight into the Black Pharaoh, a mighty Lovecraft character who appears as different forms, identified by a variety of ominous names – Nyarlathotep, The Crawling Chaos, and The Black Man of the Witch-Cult.
As the flight continued, “The Dreams in the Witch House” quickly left an impression on me and I began to envision the story on a theatrical stage. It was when I read the following passage that I visualized the Broadway stage ---
And now, too, there was a growing feeling that somebody was constantly persuading him to do something terrible which he could not do. How about the somnambulism? Where did he go sometimes in the night? And what was that faint suggestion of sound which once in a while seemed to trickle through the maddening confusion of identifiable sounds even in broad daylight and full wakefulness? Its rhythm did not correspond to anything on earth, unless perhaps to the cadence of one or two unmentionable Sabbat-chants, and sometimes he feared it corresponded to certain attributes of the vague shrieking or roaring in those wholly alien abysses of dream.
In this one passage Lovecraft made numerous references to sound; faint suggestions pertaining to rhythm and cadence, vaguely shrieking or roaring. I immediately heard a Heavy Metal soundtrack in my mind and the seeds of a Lovecraftian Rock Opera were planted.
During my Black Pharaoh meeting with Chris Laney in Stockholm, I pitched the idea of producing a “Dreams in the Witch House” Rock Opera concept album. Chris had just finished reading Dan Brown’s “Angels & Demons”, and was craving to compose a Gothic Heavy Metal Musical with religious, end-of-the-world undertones. On September 5th, we decided to join forces to produce “Dreams in the Witch House – A Lovecraftian Rock Opera.” Studio production began in February of 2012, and nearly 20 months later, with the added fire-power of producers Lennart Östlund, RingMan, Sean Branney and Andrew Leman, we present the results of an epic project of passion which features 17 dynamic singers, 14 awesome musicians and a lifetime of infinite Lovecraftian dreams. Rock on!
Mike Dalager
Executive Producer
Platform Studios, Polar Studios and the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society present
Dreams in the Witch House - A Lovecraftian Rock Opera
Music by
Chris Laney Anders Ringman Lennart Östlund
Lyrics by
Mike Dalager Andrew Leman
Book by
Sean Branney Andrew Leman
Executive Producer
Mike Dalager
A concept album based on “The Dreams in the Witch House” (1933) by H.P. Lovecraft
ACT ONE
The Confession / Arkham Overture
Dreams in the Witch House
High Fire / Breaking me Down
Bridge to the Stars
The Nightmare
No Turning Back
Signum Crucis
Nothing I Can Do
ACT TWO
Legends and Lore
The Sleepwalker
Blessed are the Faithful
Crawling Chaos
Azathoth
The Sacrifice / No Turning Back (reprise)
Between Reality and Dreaming
Madness is my Destiny
Cast of characters (in order of appearance)
Frank Elwood
Father Iwanicki
Walter Gilman
Keziah Mason
Joe Mazurewicz
Professor Upham
Brown Jenkin
Mister Desrochers
Judge Hathorne
Landlord Dombrowski
The Crawling Chaos
Choirs & cultists
Andrew Leman
Sean Branney
Mike Dalager
Alaine Kashian
Stuart Ambrose
Jesse Merlin
Chris Laney
Seth Ayott
Ray Rochelle
Anders Ringman
Jody Ashworth
Mike Brown, Ulf Larsson, Conny Laxéll, Lisa McClenahan, Marc Thomas, Liny Wood
BRAIN FEVER – The Witch House Band
Johan Koleberg
Chris Laney
Conny Laxéll
Nalle Påhlsson
Anders Ringman
Lennart Östlund
Additional musicians -
Soma Allpass
Daniel Arévalo
Masato Baba
Patrik Bonnet
Bruce Kulick
Ulf Larsson
Douglas Blair Lucek
Peer Stappe
Drums
Guitar
Percussion
Bass
Guitar and keyboards
Guitar
Cello on “Nothing I Can Do” and “The Sleepwalker”
Additional drums on “Madness is my Destiny”
Shinobue on “No Turning Back”, “Nothing I Can Do”
and “Legends and Lore”
Oud on “Blessed are the Faithful”
Guitar on “Signum Crucis” and “Nothing I Can Do”
Grand piano on “Legends and Lore”
Guitar on “The Nightmare” and “Between Reality and Dreaming”
Drums on “No Turning Back”, “Blessed are the Faithful” and “The Sacrifice”
Homepage art by Carlos Garcia Rivera (Mutated Trinity)
Webpage art by Keith Thompson (Dreamscape); entire composition available on LP
Social Media Management: Melissa Salpietra
PR Scandinavia: Ira Keelyn of Triada Communication
Manager: Katrina Bleckley for Siren Management
Website design: DKNG Studios
Legal: Vaquerano Law, P.C.