Songs
Song summary: “Muse of Fire”
“Muse of Fire” is sung by Will Shakespeare towards the end of “Swagger,” after the first performance of “Hamlet” has received thunderous cheers. Will reflects on the two people who inspired him to write this play: Hamnet, his only son who died at eleven years old, and Alazar Ya’aqob, the Ethiopian Ambassador whom he loved passionately and who is forced to leave London before the opening of “Hamlet” when the Secretary of State becomes aware of their relationship.
One of the mysteries of “Hamlet” is that it contains six hundred words that Shakespeare never used in any other play before, an unprecedented explosion of vocabulary for any author. What created this extraordinary increase in language? “Swagger” speculates that many of these new words were taught to Will by the Ethiopian Ambassador Alazar Ya’aqob, who had prepared for his trip to London by studying the English language with a scholar’s dedication, learning words that may not have been known even by those who had lived in the country all their lives. Alazar Ya’aqob presented these words to Will on small pieces of paper over the many nights they were together.
There’s a moment in “Muse of Fire” that we’d love for you to visualize: Will has just sung the chorus (“Each one’s a muse of fire”) a second time. Suddenly, the music shifts and hundreds of small pages float down from above, each with a word written on it in Alazar Ya’aqob’s hand. The words are projected onto the set too, so the audience can read them. Picture this happening as Will sings, “It’s a way of loving/Every word he gave to me.”
“Muse of Fire” is sung by Joseph Hitchcock, and we are grateful to him for bringing his talent and depth of feeling to the song. We hope you enjoy it!
Click here for a pdf (should automatically open) of the lyrics to follow along with the song.
"Muse of Fire"
“MUSE OF FIRE” lyrics by Mark Evan Chimsky and music by Alexander Zwick
© 2023 Mark Evan Chimsky and Alexander Zwick
Song summary: “Something New”
“Something New” is a big production number in which Shakespeare’s company of actors—the rowdy, fun-loving young men, led by Richard Burbage, who are the rock stars of their time (with egos to go with it!)—try to coax, cajole, and convince Will to write a new play, even though he’s going through a bit of an emotional crisis and is “all out of rhyme.” They know he can fill the Globe and they’re eager for a hit.
Click here for a pdf (should automatically open) of the lyrics to follow along with the song.
"Something New"
“SOMETHING NEW” lyrics by Mark Evan Chimsky and music by Alexander Zwick
© 2023 Mark Evan Chimsky and Alexander Zwick