Steven Fisher Presents
ELYSIAN FIELDS: a new musical
John Cullum Stage
Previews Oct 13th-16th, 2026
Opening: Oct 17th, 2026
Closing: Nov 1, 2026
Written by Steven Fisher & Marc Fliedner
Directed by Andrew Coopman
PSM: Tama-Rose Bazzle
Scene Designer: Emily Mustillo
Lighting Designer: Ziggy Bornas
Logline: A time travel musical centering around two couples in love and in trouble: 19th Century Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed and 21st century Abe Kaplan and Josh Reddy. The eclectic score for this very fun and very poignant show is a mash-up of Bluegrass, Club, and Broadway fare.
Synopsis: It’s President’s Day Weekend 2016 at The Blue Moon of Kentucky Club and the place is packed for its annual P.I.L.F. Party. Abe and Josh, winners of the event’s Honeymoon Giveaway Contest, have agreed to tie the knot on the dance floor to honor the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on gay marriage. The trouble starts when Abe’s secretly homophobic mom Judy shows up aiming to dissuade her liberal New York son from marrying the more conservative Josh. Sparks fly when Josh’s big-haired, big-mouthed, big-hearted mama Brenda confronts Judy. But when the big moment of the evening finally arrives, Abe gets cold feet, leaving Josh at the altar.
Throughout the roller-coaster of a night, we travel back to the 19th Century to spend time with another couple in love and in trouble: Abraham Lincoln and his four-year-long bedmate Joshua Speed. Our drag queen hostess and cosmic tour guide, Black-eyed Suzie, shuttles us between time periods and shows us that commitment struggles and relationship challenges are universal across time and space. We know Lincoln and Speed’s story ends in heartbreak. But will Abe come around or will Judy get her way? This musical is both fun and poignant, and celebrates the millions of shoulders the LGBTQIA+ community stands on today.
Run time: 2:45 including a 15 minute intermission