“Chryssothemis”
A story taken out of life and given with a song

“Chryssothemis” is a collection of songs which are linked by a story. Although as a whole they are not autobiographical, the songs were inspired by personal experiences which could be those of any woman.

Olga Emmanuel wrote the lyrics, the music or both for most of the songs. A few songs were written on the poetry of Caesar Emmanuel (in 1929!), Kostas Tournas and Jim Young, while melodies were also composed by Dimitri Toufexis and Pavlos Fassianos.

The orchestration was done by Nikos Sanios. The soloists – Rosa Poulimenou, Vangelis Maniatis, Sophia Kapetanakou and Vangelis Angelakis – are experienced singers of the classical repertoire who have also sung in musicals. Myrto Beri, of the Vocal Ensemble “Family Voices”, made a sweet contribution as Chryssothemis at a young age.

“Chryssothemis” was presented as a musical production in Pierce College Theatre on May 23, 2008, and complemented with the participation of students and graduates of Deree College as dancers/actors, and Maria Kokka as a guest soloist. The show was directed and choreographed by Cindi Trent.