Most northern and central Floridians have heard of the St. Johns River. I-95, U.S. 17, and I-4 all cross it, and it has forged a place in trivia books for being one of the slowest rivers on Earth. But one of its tributaries, the Ocklawaha, is not as well known. Neither is the turpentine industry. Both played key roles in Florida’s late-19th– and 20th-century history, and Magnolia Demers (‘27) and Dan Flick (Rollins College artist-in-residence) intend to bring memories of them back into the public eye. Their joint musical, “Rivers Run Wild,” is set to premiere at the Tiedtke Concert Hall at Rollins on Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m., in a performance that is open to students and the public.
Both Demers and Flick are songwriters. Demers is perhaps best known on campus and locally for her Americana music group, Nolia Joy & the Ramblers. Flick is a multi-instrumentalist who has performed at the Bach Festival as a violist and works as an artist-in-residence with the college’s Acoustic Ensemble. Through his songwriting classes and The Show Goes On, a class in which students write a collaborative musical, he has been able to work as an educator and mentor for music students who want to start their careers as independent artists.
As for the idea of collaborating on a musical, Demers recalls that she and Flick “had discussed it during the year prior, and being a senior, this was the last chance to write one. Given the climate of our politics and world right now, we both wanted to write something present to this moment.”
To have the funds to conduct interviews and do historical research, they decided to apply for the Collaborative Research Fellowship, a student-faculty grant at Rollins. The receipt of the grant enabled Demers to travel across the state and particularly the north-central region—through which the Ocklawaha River flows—to interview people knowledgeable about life in Florida at the turn of the 20th century.
The musical, according to Demers, “follows the stories of two girls, one white and one Black, growing up in poverty. They relate their life to nature and navigate their world by forming a friendship and bond that lasts them a lifetime.”…