Step Off the Ferry and Into Eigg the Musical

Eigg the Musical - Song: Welcome to the Isle of Eigg | Viewmark (@viewmark)

When we first arrived on the Isle of Eigg, there was something about the experience that stayed with us. You step off the ferry onto this small Hebridean island, surrounded by an extraordinary landscape, and immediately sense that you've arrived somewhere very different. When it came time to create the opening of Eigg the Musical, we wanted the audience to experience a little of what we felt when we first stepped ashore.

That became “Welcome to the Isle of Eigg,” the opening song of the musical. The visitors arrive, the islanders are there to greet them, and almost immediately the stage comes alive with music, song, dance and choreography. We didn't want to begin by telling the audience about Eigg. We wanted them to feel as though they had just stepped off the ferry themselves.

The music and choreography became a huge part of recreating that feeling. Scottish influences, ensemble movement and the communal energy of ceilidh dancing allow the entire company to become part of the welcome. There is a wonderful informality to it—the feeling that you've arrived somewhere and suddenly found yourself in the middle of the music and dance.

That first visit also changed the way we thought about Eigg the Musical as a whole. The more time we spent on the island, the more we understood that we weren't simply creating a piece of musical theatre about a series of historical events. We were telling the story of a place and the generations of people connected to it. The landscape, the history, the music and, especially, the sense of community all became part of the show.

And that is why the musical begins with a welcome. Long before we get to the lairds, land reform, changing generations and the remarkable story of community ownership, we want the audience to meet Eigg in much the same way we did: arriving by ferry, stepping ashore and discovering the island for the first time. Of course, our arrival didn't come with an entire company singing and dancing. That's where musical theatre comes in.

Welcome to the Isle of Eigg.

Music & Lyrics by April Alsup
Book by Mark Sbani
Eigg the Musical licensed through Viewmark.

Unafraid: Where the Absurd Journey Begins

Absurd Hero Musical - Song: Unafraid | Viewmark (@viewmark)

Every musical needs an opening that tells the audience what kind of world they’ve entered. In Absurd Hero the Musical, “Unafraid” does something more, it introduces the philosophical idea underneath everything that follows. This is a world where life can be confusing, unpredictable and downright absurd, but that doesn’t mean we stop living it.

Inspired by Albert Camus and The Myth of Sisyphus, Absurd Hero asks what happens when we stop waiting for life to provide us with a tidy explanation. Camus’ Sisyphus is condemned to push his rock uphill knowing it will inevitably roll back down. In our musical theatre version of that idea, the question becomes wonderfully practical: If the rock is going to roll back down anyway, what are you going to do on the way up?

That is where “Unafraid” begins. Through music, song, dance and choreography, the opening number establishes a company of characters living in a world that doesn’t necessarily play by sensible rules. Rather than beginning with an explanation, the music invites us into the absurdity. The movement and ensemble choreography give that philosophy a physical language; people moving forward, colliding, regrouping and carrying on.

That idea runs through the entire show. Sid will try to change his community. Zeus will attempt to control it. Ari, Darby, Dawn and Tony will each stumble through their own wonderfully complicated versions of love, ambition, identity and purpose. The mythology may be ancient, but the problems are remarkably familiar. Everybody is pushing some kind of rock.

And that is what makes “Unafraid” such an important piece of the musical. It isn't simply an opening song designed to get the show moving. It establishes the argument Absurd Hero will spend the rest of the evening exploring: perhaps meaning isn't something waiting for us to discover. Perhaps we create it ourselves through living, loving, laughing, dancing, making mistakes and continuing forward anyway.

That is also where theatre and choreography become especially powerful. Philosophy can sound terribly serious on the page. Put those same ideas into music and dance, surround them with Greek gods behaving badly, and suddenly Camus becomes something an audience can laugh at, sing along with and perhaps recognize in their own lives.

The rock may roll back down tomorrow.

Today, we push it uphill unafraid.

Music, Lyrics & Libretto by April Alsup

Absurd Hero the Musical Produced by Viewmark.

Harrumph! When Choreography Becomes part of the show in Eigg the Musical

Eigg Musical - Song: Harrumph - Choreography Rehearsal | Viewmark (@viewmark)

There are some musical theatre songs where the choreography supports the music, and then there are songs where the dance becomes part of the character itself. “Harrumph” from Eigg the Musical is very much the latter. From the moment the Laird arrives, the audience needs to understand exactly who he thinks he is: the man in charge, the man who knows best and, most importantly, the man who expects everyone else on Eigg to know it too.

That makes “Harrumph” particularly fun to choreograph. The music has a wonderful sense of pomp and self-importance, and the movement can exaggerate that authority until it becomes comedy. Cliff commands; the islanders respond. He expects order; they give him just enough of it. The choreography becomes a physical conversation between the Laird and the people he believes he controls. Every formation, reaction and bit of dance can reinforce the imbalance while also allowing the audience to see that the islanders have personalities and opinions of their own.

Like much of the movement in Eigg, the goal was never simply to put dance steps behind a song. We wanted the choreography to help tell the story. “Harrumph” gives the ensemble a chance to establish the relationship between landowner and community without stopping to explain it. The Laird can dominate the stage while the islanders create another story around him through their reactions, timing and movement. That is one of the things musical theatre choreography can do particularly well: an audience can understand a relationship before anyone has to put it into words.

And, of course, it has to be fun. Eigg the Musical deals with serious ideas about land, ownership, community and who gets to determine the future of a place, but music, comedy and dance allow us to approach those ideas with a lighter touch. “Harrumph” takes authority and turns it into theatrical swagger. It lets the Laird believe he is magnificently impressive while giving the audience plenty of opportunity to see the absurdity underneath.

That is why the choreography for “Harrumph” remains such an enjoyable part of Eigg. Music, theatre, dance and storytelling are all doing the same job at the same time. It isn't choreography added to a song after the fact—it is another layer of the story, helping introduce the world of Eigg and the conflict between the people who live there and the people who believe they own it.

Music & Lyrics by April Alsup
Book by Mark Sbani

Eigg the Musical Licensed by Viewmark.

We Were Streaming Before Streaming Was Cool

Viewmark has spent decades storing, streaming, organizing and categorizing digital content. So why are we moving our own media assets to YouTube? Long before “streaming” became synonymous with Netflix, Viewmark was already working in the space. Over the years, we’ve hosted streaming content and digital media for a number of large businesses, developing the infrastructure necessary to manage and deliver substantial collections of digital assets.

But hosting the media was only part of the problem.

We learned early that storing content is relatively easy. Organizing it and making it findable is much harder. That took us into data repositories, business intelligence and database architecture. We worked extensively with taxonomies, metadata and database structures designed to establish relationships between enormous amounts of information. What is this asset? Where does it belong? What is it related to? And, perhaps most importantly, how will somebody find it five or ten years from now?

When the Platform Catches Up

For years, there were good reasons for organizations like Viewmark to build and maintain their own streaming infrastructure. We could control how assets were encoded, stored, categorized, presented and delivered. But technology changes. Google has become extraordinarily good at one thing that sits at the heart of everything we've been talking about: finding things. And YouTube has gradually evolved from a website filled with individual video uploads into a sophisticated global media platform. That evolution made us reconsider a fundamental question:

What part of this problem does Viewmark still need to solve itself?

Maintaining our own streaming infrastructure simply isn't where we can add the most value anymore. YouTube already provides the massive delivery infrastructure, device compatibility, search, streaming technology and global accessibility. More importantly for us, it provides an increasingly useful ecosystem for organizing and discovering media. Rather than continuing to devote resources to recreating the delivery layer, we can concentrate on something we've always considered more interesting: the information architecture surrounding the content.

From Streaming Repository to Digital Asset Catalog

So we've been slowly moving Viewmark's own digital streaming assets to YouTube, organizing decades of material into what we're calling the Viewmark Digital Asset Catalog. And this isn't simply dumping old videos onto a YouTube channel. A theatrical video, for example, might simultaneously be part of a production, a particular performance, a scene, an original song, choreography, a cast, a venue, a festival and a particular moment in Viewmark's history. Those relationships can be expressed through consistent titles, descriptions, playlists, keywords and metadata. In other words, we're applying some very old Viewmark thinking to a very modern repository.

Our official identity on youtube is @viewmark, giving our audience a simple and consistent home: youtube.com/@viewmark We secured the word mark "Viemark" well over twenty years and continue to maintain it as a trademark of our brand image. For more information visit the USPTO website at https://www.uspto.gov/

The Address Doesn't Have to Change

There's another lesson we've learned from decades of technology: platforms change. Addresses don't have to. That's why we've retained our own permanent media address: media.viewmark.com We've placed a permanent 301 redirect there pointing to the Viewmark catalog on YouTube. Today YouTube provides the infrastructure behind our streaming collection. Years from now, should the technology change again, the Viewmark address can remain the same. That's an important distinction.

We're not giving YouTube the identity of our archive. We're using YouTube as the infrastructure for it. There is something wonderfully full-circle about the whole thing. We've gone from data repositories and business intelligence structures, to developing taxonomies, to hosting and delivering streaming media for large businesses, to managing an increasingly substantial archive of our own theatrical and creative work. Now one of the world's largest technology companies can handle the streaming infrastructure. That leaves us to concentrate on the part we've always found fascinating: Store it. Describe it. Categorize it. Connect it. Make it findable. We've been doing that for a very long time.We just don't need to own the streaming server anymore.

Eigg: Where Our Fringe Story Began

In 2023, we took Eigg the Musical to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time, and what a whirlwind it was. We had been invited to open the festival for Greenside at their Infirmary location, which was an extraordinary opportunity for our little company. Suddenly, we were arriving in Edinburgh not just with a new musical, but with the responsibility of helping kick off the festival.

Eigg the Musical, Greenside Gala performance at Edinburgh Fringe

The days leading up to opening were a blur of rehearsals, technical preparations, last-minute adjustments, and figuring out how the Fringe worked while we were actually doing it. There was a lot to take in, and more than a few moments when everything seemed to be happening at once. But we got through it, and when the time came, the company was ready to tell the story we had brought all the way from Denver.

Eigg the Musical, cast performs "Reform starts now!" at the Edinburgh Fringe

Our opening audience included The Guardian, The Scotsman, Getty Images, Alamy, and some of the other big names in the press. It was quite a moment to see Eigg, a musical about a small Scottish island and its remarkable community, being introduced to such a wide audience. The response was wonderful. People connected with the music, the humor, and the story, and it was especially meaningful to see how much the show resonated in Scotland.

Cooper Kaminsky as Keith Schellenberg in Eigg the Musical

That first Fringe taught us an enormous amount about producing original work, working together under pressure, and taking a show beyond the place where it was created. We came home with new friendships, unforgettable memories, and a few lessons learned the hard way. Looking back, Eigg was more than our first Edinburgh production. It was the beginning of a journey that would bring us back to the Fringe year after year.

Sometimes the destination explains the journey

Maybe We Were Always Headed Here

The new Viewmark® website is live, and while quite a bit has changed, the story behind it really hasn’t. Founded in 1992, Our little agency has always lived at the intersection of creativity, technology, media, and communication. Over the years, that has meant producing digital experiences, developing marketing strategies, creating content, supporting artists, composing music, producing theatrical work, and finding new ways to connect ideas with audiences. Looking back, those things were never as separate as they might have seemed. The same thinking that goes into building a compelling digital experience goes into producing a theatrical one. Both begin with an idea. Both require an understanding of the audience. Both depend on storytelling, design, technology, collaboration, and a thousand practical decisions that ultimately determine whether the idea connects. Our new website brings those pieces together.

Viewmark Home Page

Today, Viewmark is a media production company with a particular passion for the performing arts. Our work encompasses music composition, theatrical producing, creative development, media production, marketing, licensing & rights, and the methods we've developed through decades of putting ideas into practice. Some of that knowledge comes from behind a computer screen. A great deal of it comes from rehearsal rooms, recording sessions, theatres, festivals, workshops, photo shoots, editing suites, print shops, marketing campaigns, and conversations with audiences. That's the Viewmark story. The new website gives us a better place to tell it.

Viewmark Licensing Options

We've also approached the new site as something more than a collection of finished projects. Throughout Viewmark.com, you'll find the work alongside the thinking behind it: the methods we've developed, lessons we've learned, productions we've created, media we've captured, and projects that have taken us from Denver to New York to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and beyond. You'll also see more of our theatrical work coming together under the Viewmark name. Productions including Eigg the Musical, BANNED, Absurd Hero, Broadside, and earlier projects such as WYSIWYG and SISYPHUS are all part of a much larger creative history. Each represents a different idea, a different group of collaborators, and a different moment in our development. Together, they tell a much more interesting story about what Viewmark has become.

Viewmark YouTube Channel

Where We Were Headed All Along

It's tempting to describe a new website as the beginning of a new chapter. This one feels a little different. It's less about becoming something new and more about finally having a place that reflects what Viewmark has been building toward for years. Creating the work. Developing the work. Producing it. Promoting it. Documenting it. Sharing what we've learned. And finding ways to give good ideas new stages. In that sense, the new Viewmark isn't really new at all. It's where we were headed all along.

Broadside Takes Its Bow in Edinburgh

We just wrapped up our 2026 run of Broadside at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, bringing to a close an extraordinary chapter in the life of this new musical. From the first notes on the page to rehearsals and performances in Denver, and finally taking the company across the Atlantic to Edinburgh, it has been quite a journey.

At its heart, Broadside explores the years leading up to the American Revolution through the words, music, personalities, and printed broadsides that helped shape public opinion long before the first musket was fired. Bringing that story to audiences at the world’s largest performing arts festival gave us the opportunity to see how the show connected with people far beyond where it began.

https://www.youtube.com/@viewmark

Edinburgh was also an important part of the development process. Every performance taught us something about the music, the storytelling, the characters, and where the piece can go next. We came home with wonderful memories, valuable feedback, and an even clearer sense of the future of the show.

Critics agree, Broadside is America's next big Musical

The reviews are now in and audiences agree, Broadside is America's next big musical.

Broadside cast poses at Vintage Theatre before heading to Edinburgh

SPEAK THE SPEECH
(Professional Critic)
Review by Rebecca Mahar

⭐ “The company provide excellent performances that lift the whole piece, fully committed, comically cheeky, and holding beautifully to their harmonies even while dancing and dodging each other…”

⭐ “Live music…is simply arranged and refreshing, recalling the kind of tavern rooms and meeting halls parts of the show take place in.”

And perhaps our favorite thought for the future:

⭐ “With further development, and a longer running time, it has the potential to be the next fascinating musical about early American history.”

AUDIENCE MEMBERS (edfringe):

John (Audience member) 16 Aug 2026
⭐ "We really enjoyed this musical. We’ve been attending the fringe for a long time and this production had some of the most lovely harmonies and singing we’ve heard in recent memory. The group seemed to also really enjoy working with each other. Thank you!"

Declan Farrell (Audience member) 16 Aug 2026
⭐ "This was an excellent show. The performance was full of energy. The songs were really enjoyable and the acting made me feel that i was a witness to the revolution, really great show. I would go see it again. I would give it 5 stars, well done."

Danny Wright (Audience member) 14 Aug 2026
⭐ “Brilliant storytelling! There’s a real heart to this show. The music is cracking, and the harmonies are absolutely gorgeous. You can feel how much the company are enjoying singing together, and it gives the whole thing such warmth and energy.”

Matt (Audience member) 13 Aug 2026
⭐ "Very impressed with the performers and the storytelling!"

Mike (Audience member) 11 Aug 2026
⭐ "A wonderful show with great songs and harmonies, and a large talented cast. They have traveled a long way to tell their story and it's only on for a few more days, so don't miss out."

Marjorie (Audience member) 9 Aug 2026
⭐ "Impressive ensemble of actors (we were shocked how they all fit in the space)! Fantastic singing, amazingly beautiful harmonies and an interesting story I didn’t know much about. Totally worth the affordable ticket. "

Matthijs (Audience member) 8 Aug 2026
⭐ "Great show! Definitely recommend seeing this is if you are looking for a musical with catchy tunes and a powerful message."

History Finds Its Voice in Broadside

Review: Broadside the Musical

One of the most compelling aspects of Broadside is its confidence as a piece of theatrical storytelling. Rather than simply recounting the familiar milestones of the American Revolution, the musical chooses an unexpected guide: Phillis Wheatley. It is a fascinating dramatic choice, giving narrative authority to a woman whose voice was so often questioned during her own lifetime. By allowing Wheatley to frame the story, the production quietly reminds us that history is not only shaped by those in power, but also by those whose words endured despite every obstacle. Shonsharae Tull brings grace, intelligence, and quiet strength to the role. Her portrayal grounds the production, providing a thoughtful perspective that ties together the political upheaval with the deeply human stories unfolding around it. Rather than dominating the stage, she elevates it, making Phillis Wheatley an essential presence throughout the evening.

Sonsharae Tull as Phillis Wheatley

Patrick Brownson delivers a memorable portrayal of Governor Thomas Hutchinson, capturing both the dignity and frustration of a man watching the world shift beneath him. Equally compelling is the nuanced relationship between Margaret and Thomas Gage, whose marriage provides the emotional heart of the production. Their divided loyalties offer a deeply personal perspective on a conflict too often reduced to politics. Meanwhile, the fiery Dr. Joseph Warren and Paul Revere lead the Sons of Liberty with conviction and urgency, balancing idealism with revolutionary zeal.

Patrick Brownson as Governor Thomas Hutchinson

The production is equally successful in its visual world. The period costumes create a convincing eighteenth-century Boston without ever feeling museum-like, while an elegantly simple set makes effective use of colonial barrels, hand-printed broadsides, and even a beautifully incorporated clavichord to establish both time and place. Rather than relying on spectacle, the production favors carefully chosen period details that enrich the storytelling, allowing the characters to inhabit history while keeping the narrative immediate, authentic, and accessible.

Tanner Kelly as Sam Adams with his pseudonyms

Perhaps the evening's most delightful sequence is the play-within-a-play, where the production embraces its theatricality with wit and charm. It pairs beautifully with the Daughters of Liberty, whose spinning circle becomes both a place of resistance and sisterhood as they quietly weave their way through the Revolution. It's a clever reminder that history is often moved forward not only by speeches and battles, but by ordinary people finding extraordinary ways to act.

Gunnar Bettis as Paul Revere acting as the Governor

Like many new musicals, Broadside is not yet a finished work. There are moments where pacing, transitions, and dramatic focus could be sharpened, and a handful of scenes would benefit from further refinement. Yet those are the kinds of challenges that arise from execution rather than conception. The underlying architecture of the piece is remarkably strong, suggesting a work with the potential to grow into something genuinely significant.

Kelly McAllister plays John Adams with passion

At its heart, Broadside is less about celebrating the past than examining the ideals that emerged from it. Liberty, equality, and freedom are presented not as settled achievements, but as aspirations that every generation is challenged to redefine and defend. By the final curtain, the audience is left contemplating the enduring American experiment, not as a completed story, but as one still being written. If Broadside continues to evolve with the same imagination that inspired its foundation, it has every opportunity to become an important new work of American musical theatre.

The cast on set at Vintage Theatre

Verdict: Broadside may still have refinements ahead of it, but its imagination, emotional intelligence, and inventive approach to history make it one of the more promising new musicals to emerge in recent years. It's a production with a solid artistic foundation and the potential to grow into a lasting work of musical theatre.

Recommendation: A must-see for lovers of new musicals, American history, and thoughtful theatre. Whether you're drawn by the Revolutionary story, the soaring period-inspired score, or simply the chance to experience an original work finding its voice, Broadside is well worth your time.