Nero

Book and Lyrics by Greg Edwards, Music by John Hansen-Brevetti

A musical biopic of Rome's infamous emperor, Nero tracks the boy's ascension to power, his gradual corruption at the hands of his mother and his mistress, and his role in Rome's fatal conflagration.

Characters

• NERO, the new emperor of Rome
• AGRIPPINA, Nero's mother, Claudius' second wife
• SENECA, Nero's tutor
• POPPAEA, a noblewoman, Nero's mistress
• OCTAVIA, Nero's wife, Claudius' daughter
• BRITANNICUS, Claudius' son

Productions

• Yale Undergraduate Musical Theatre Company (New Haven, December 2004)
• Yale Undergraduate Musical Theatre Company (New Haven, February 2005)

Backstory

Nero is a comedy, often unintentionally.

This was my senior project in Theatre Studies and the first full-length musical I ever collaborated on. In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good artistic decision to make Nero sung-through just so I wouldn't have to write dialogue.