Exclusive interview with musician Larry Kirwan, author of “Hard Times”

Larry KirwanHard Times, a musical drama written by Larry Kirwan, explores a particular day in the life of the American composer Stephen Foster and the clientele of a saloon/dance hall that he frequents  The show deals with Foster’s successes and failures, sexuality and broken marriage, and the political and social climate of the times through re-imagining his songs  In July 1863 the Civil War was raging, Gettysburg had just been won, and yet there was major discontent in New York City over the recently enacted draft, particularly among the teeming Irish immigrant population This was compounded by President Lincoln’s perceived change in war policy from defense of the union to emancipation of the slaves, the fear being that thousands of newly freed African-Americans would flood the already saturated labor market Read more