The Suitcase

The Suitcase: A new musical
Book & Lyrics by Luscinda L. Dickey
Music & Orchestration by Luscinda L. Dickey
Additional Lyrics & Music by Kira Byler

The Suitcase came to life in 2020. It was intended to be a 15 minute vignette about an inspiration seeking playwright and a mystifying girl with a suitcase. When the play was workshopped in the summer of 2021, it was three acts; quite thick (128 pages); and ran for around three-and-a-half hours! The story explored elements of stage, film, and a “play within the play,” all encompassed in a World War II historical drama. After much careful honing, The Suitcase is in the process of becoming an original musical scheduled to premier Summer of 2026.

Synopsis: After her first play is ill-received, April Ellis longs to prove her abilities and to make a name for herself. She has a single goal: to write and produce a legendary play. But the year is 1944 at the height of the Second World War, and April is struggling to support the Ellis Barony’s estate while under the thumb of her self-absorbed father. It is when she discovers a enthralling old suitcase at an odds-and-ends shop, that the determined playwright becomes both inspired by a captivating young woman and entangled with a brilliant actor trapped in his broken past. But will April pen a thriller always to be remembered, or will her search for a play reveal a true story best left forgotten?

Quick Facts:
• The Suitcase has 17 original songs
• The music is scored for a small pit orchestra of woodwinds, brass, strings, piano, & percussion
• The musical is two acts with one intermission—running time: approximately two hours
• Dancing requirements are light; only a knowledge of, or willingness to learn partner dances—40’s Swing dancing & Waltzing—is needed
• The cast consists of 12 actors: four men, six women, & two children
• There are 20 characters