SILVER DOLLAR
 
 
Three 2007/2008 New Jersey Merit Awards (Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score) Newark Star Ledger 'Silver Dollar' has the golden touch (2/W 5/M) Most musicals are lucky if they have one dynamic female lead role. "Silver Dollar," the stunning new show at Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven, has two. Bookwriter and lyricist Mary Bracken Phillips has worked hard -- and succeeded -- in delivering a pair of mesmerizing, fully realized characters. Augusta Pierce Tabor is a fascinating creation, as is Elizabeth "Baby Doe" Bonduell McCourt Tabor. When they're together onstage, matters ignite with the intensity of a steel forge. These two are riveting for 2 1/2 hours, mostly because Phillips won't succumb to the "first wife, good; second wife, bad" platform. She knows that a romantic triangle is more complicated...again, it's Phillips' dialogue and lyrics that are truly the stars. Adding a religious twist deepens a crackling good story. Peter Filichia “…a mother lode of story material” New Haven Register “A thoroughly engaging musical …filled with lovely melodies… however, it is the broader themes of redemption and forgiveness that elevate “SILVER DOLLAR” theatrically… especially in the stunning finale which brought a standing ovation.” - Wichita Eagle “The women were both sides of the same coin…extraordinarily courageous, but also extraordinarily misguided. The best and worst of human-and female-nature.” Theatre Week Book and lyrics by Contact: Mary Bracken Phillips mbp867@optonline.net Music by Jack Murphy
 
 
                                The true story of an infamous  triangle of love and            
                                scandal on the American frontier.  In a cabin above a
                                deserted mine, the ghost of Augusta Tabor and
                                eighty three year old Baby Doe Tabor, are bound together by their sins, courage and passion for silver king Horace Tabor, who's first wife's brain was his fortune and who's second wife's beauty was his downfall.  As Baby Doe's death is imminent, the women realize they must settle their "unfinished business" or be stuck on a
mountaintop forever.  They decide to compare diaries and their story enfolds in a series of flashbacks.   Fortunes lost and dreams that died. The Tabors epitomized the best and worst of human nature, just as the Colorado gold rush epitomized the best and worst of the American dream.  And in this age of greed, political betrayal and disillusionment, their story has a particular  message:  Those who cannot learn from history, are doomed to repeat it. Just as in "Silver Dollar", two women in a lone cabin will either redeem each other or be condemned to relive their mistakes forever.
 
 
Silver Dollar
 
Love Turns
America Calls