Dreamtime (musical) - Production Origins

Production Origins

Dreamtime is an adaptation of several of Cerrone’s earlier works. Cerrone was invited to perform several outdoor concerts with laser lights, synchronized water fountains and fireworks commemorating national celebrations before audience of hundreds of thousands. The first, in 1978 was a show inside a plexiglass pyramid on the Pavilion for 1200 people. Over the next ten years the concerts developed more of a theme and narrative storyline.

In 1988 at the request of Paris’ Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, Cerrone conceived the mystical rock opera, The Collector. The Collector, featured musicians Mary Hopkins, Steve Overland and rock bands YES, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Art of Noise and The Paris Opera Choir and was performed on the Trocadero in Paris. The show was revised for the 1989 celebration of the Bicentenary of the French Revolution on the edges of the Seine for an audience of over 600,000. This show called Evolution featured musicians Laura Branigan and Steve Overland with a cast of 30 in the ensemble and choir.

In 1991, another version of the show, now called Harmony, was performed before an 800,000 member audience over the port of Tokyo. Harmony was produced to celebrate the launch of a new Japanese television satellite channel in high definition. Broadway director, David Niles and Cerrone had to rework these huge, spectacular outdoor concerts into a show that would fit into a 1200 seat theater – the result was the Broadway musical experience Dreamtime.