Event Coverage #2

Slug - Hullo My Name is Lily Foster

Reported by - Jon Tattum

Proposed Headline - Director Hunter Ewen talks about his new show "Hullo My Name is Lily Foster"

Blurb - Ewen's production left one audience member "speechless."

Story - Wild, jubilant jazz music dances in the audience’s ears. Images of faceless musicians swirl on the huge projector screen; colors have replaced their features. Two women gaily begin a synchronized dance on stage. There is no singer alongside them though, and no stylish lyrics to complement the mood. Instead, pounding through the speakers, the audience hears the heavy breathing of Lily Foster as she cries “stop, stop, ow, stop, please stop.” The scene seems to go on forever.

CU music doctoral candidate Hunter Ewen said in a Colorado Daily article that he would be disappointed if his new multi-media production “Hullo, My name is Lily Foster” did not make his audience feel uncomfortable.

“ He definitely accomplished his goal,” said J.D. Drumheller, an 18-year-old high school senior.

Ewen used many art forms to tell his fictional story of an 18-year-old sexual abuse survivor named Lily Foster including music, poetry and film. At one point, he even used a choreographed aerial dance. The show had its only performance on Saturday.

“I’m speechless” Clara Wachtel, 68, said, “It was amazing, it just really takes a while to digest.”

Lily gives her audience a hint of what they will be in for at the beginning of the show: nudity, language, sexual content, the list went on. She advises them to turn off their cell phones, but to her embarrassment, her phone rings off stage. Her abusive father, who is also the conductor of the music, is not amused. He grabs her arm firmly.

“Ungrateful B----, can’t even turn her cell phone off,” he says. This will not be the last time that he treats Lily like trash.

The show required the help of many people said Ewen, including many musicians and stage crew. So when did Ewen realize he could successfully put on the production?

“About 15 minutes ago,” Ewen said shortly after the show ended. He received a Dean Small Grant from the music department and used it to finance his show and he also created all of Lily’s poetry and artwork featured in the production.

Ewen researched sexual abuse survivors so he could better relate to their perspectives. He spoke about the process.

“Go and read as many files as possible and go and interview as many people who were covering abuse victims as possible and try to find out what life from their perspective was like,” Ewen said.

He even created a Facebook profile for Lily. He said that the process of creating the show was somewhat of a methodical composition.

“If I’m doing a really angry scene then I try to get as angry as possible, and if I’m doing a really light scene, I try to do that before I start writing a piece,” Ewen said.

Though the story is fictional, Ewen said that it is based in reality. He said that there are many people who suffer from sexual abuse who don’t want to make their opinions known.

“ It’s like 1 in 4 women suffer from sexual abuse in their lifetime, which is really a scary figure. It happens all the time,” Ewen said.

Ewen wants to become a teacher of composition. He believes that the production of “Hullo My Name is Lily Foster” will help him realize his goal.

“I think this is going to be my breadth piece,” he said.

Word Count - 598

Sources - Hunter Ewen, Composer, CU music doctoral, candidate. J.D. Drumheller, 18, high school senior. Clara Wachtel, 68.