If you stare at an old house long enough, it casts a spell, and the walls begin to talk to you. Through the cracks and broken glass, the secrets silenced long ago whisper to be remembered.
In this chapter of our larger story, I learned about Woogie Harris, his Duesenberg car, and how he helped opera icon Mary Cardwell Dawson, along with many others, achieve their dreams by opening the doors of his beautiful mansion.
How do you bring a 1940s story into 2024? How do you make more people care about the importance of saving this old house?
My imagination kicked into high gear, and I needed to weave Snoop Dogg and Formula 1’s Lewis Hamilton into this section of my musical about restoring this old house and salvaging its stunning history.
My historical reunion, inspired by our soundtrack “Songs For Mary”, needed modern-day celebrities. I playfully added many celebrity “shout-outs,” creating a platform of powerful people, and we knew we had a story that would pull heartstrings. I could easily see Alicia Keys, Patti Austin, Beyoncé, and Michelle Obama hammering some nails to save this amazing house.
This house contains so many surprises, but when a car called a Duesenberg popped onto the pages, my eyes widened; I had never heard of this car before.
Nothing revs my engine like fast, loud, dangerous cars. Toss in spicy, macho personalities overflowing with horsepower, and my pulse races.
“Songs For Mary” gave me two victory laps with hot rods.
Before I learned about the Duesenberg, I had already incorporated F1 racer Lewis Hamilton into the song “RISE”.
Halfway through the album’s creation, my co-writer Jon Butcher played me his idea for a song that made me jump up and do a “boogie” for Woogie.
“Big Ole Daddy” became the anchor for the main part of my play, fusing sexy bad-boy charm with racing fuel; it captured the essence of the man.
Imagining Woogie honkin his heavenly horn, seeking to dominate a little of the spotlight for this project, isn’t hard. He was a self-made millionaire at a time when all odds were against him, and Mystery Manor was his house.
Woogie was successful, proud, and nicknamed “The Bank.”
Pittsburgh was known as both the steel city and the numbers city, and Woogie was made of steel and had the numbers.
Memories fade. History is lost and important stories are forgotten. Woogie wouldn’t even have a job today now that gambling is legal.
Snoop Dogg happened to be on TV while I was studying Woogie (or maybe it was the spirit of Woogie aligning perfectly). I wondered: had Woogie been reincarnated as Snoop?
Snoop had to play the role of Woogie in my play, and this fantasy helped shape the dialogue. (So if you know Snoop, please tell him to call me!)
My entire project flirted with a single question: if we woke up Woogie and the others from the dead, how would they react to what they saw? What questions would they have?
What would make them smile, and what would break their hearts?
Are they aware of current events, or do we need to explain? How would they react to learning they had been forgotten?
How would Woogie react knowing his house was in shambles and his car, known as J-209, was gone?
I decided we needed to catch them up on the past, and that became our song “Dearly Departed”.
Woogie was a big character and had to have been one of the proudest men of his time— a millionaire in 1940 who owned a prestigious Duesenberg car.
I googled the series number J-209 and searched for the car. I had to find something from the past that belonged to this story and feel its antique energy.
Early in my search, I was told that the car no longer existed, but the J-209 engine did—it was in a private collection. It seemed like a dead end until I decided to let the Duesenberg community know I was determined to find J-209.
The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum shared my curiosity and joined the search. The irresistible story of Woogie had cast its spell, and they had the horsepower to fine-tune my search.
They found it! Then, the museum decided to tell the story about Woogie, Mystery Manor, and include my project in a fascinating lecture happening on February 8th.
Then … the magic happened. It seems J-209 has found its way to the Stahls Museum, and if, once again, the stars align for our magical project, J-209 WILL BE on display during the lecture.
@dawnmichellecarroll and Jonnet Solomon nationaloperahousepgh have been invited to be part of this. We hope you can join us too!
