A multi-media love letter to rural America
“Forgottonia blends Chris's masterful musicianship with Tim's evocative photography, bringing to life the stories and memories of a place and time your audiences will want to visit. A moving and lyrical tribute to both the landscape and the people living there.” Anne Lefter, Director, The Goldfarb Center for Performing Arts, Western Illinois University
Forgottonia debuted Saturday, July the 20th to a full house and a hot crowd! We had to delay starting the show because there was still a line out the door at show time.
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After two years of working, it all came together extremely well. Tim's images looked amazing blown up onto the stage and the response from the audience was overwhelming. I'm still in the early stages of post production on the audio and video, but here's a short series of excerpts from the show. ​​
“It felt like he was talking to me”… Unidentified audience member…
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The show is incredible! It felt like being in the audience of Prairie Home Companion as Chris shared stories and music. It is about that region of Illinois, but really is a look at rural America.
Kevin Maynard, Executive Director, Quad Cities Arts Council
Singer songwriter Chris Vallillo presents his latest project, a theatrical, multi-media show titled Forgottonia, an intimate portrait of rural Illinois. Vallillo draws on 35 years of original material to create a show that tells the story of West Central Illinois, an area that, for years, its inhabitants have lovingly referred to with that very name.
The name “Forgottonia” first came to Western Illinois in 1972 when sixteen counties declared the creation of the independent nation of Forgottonia in protest of the lack of tax dollars returning to the region. “The plan was to secede from the Union, declare war on the United States, immediately surrender, and then apply for foreign aid. It was
nothing but political theater, but to everyone’s surprise, the story was picked up by the national media and to everyone’s surprise, it worked!” said Vallillo. “I first came to this region in 1976 as an archaeologist on the first wave of funding to come from that action and was like stepping back in time 40 years. I was just enchanted by the region and it would become the focus of my music for the next 40 years”
A former archaeologist turned musician and folklorist, Vallillo is a multi-instrumentalist who
performs masterful fingerstyle and slide guitar that digs deep into the foundations of rural music with a respect for the tradition that doesn’t feel stuck in the past.
Forgottonia is a musical journey though the people and places of rural Illinois just as the last vestiges of the old “Forgottonia”, slowly eroded away.
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The show combines storytelling and live music with the images of award winning rural photographer Tim Schroll, long known for his striking black and white images of rural Illinois. “Tim is doing visually, what I am trying to do musically” said Vallillo. “It seemed like a perfect combination”. Vallillo shares the history and backstories of these songs that document, reflect, and validate people, places and characters of rural IL, reinforcing these communities’ sense of commitment and worth.
The show premiered on July 20th, at the Hainline Theater, at Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL to a full house and recieved an excellent response. On stage, Vallillo was joined by two outstanding musicians, Don Steirnberg (mandolin) and Marc Edelstein (bass).
The show is now accepting offers to tour and has booked it's first date, at the historic Orpheum Theater in Galesburg, IL on November the 23rd. The show runs 90 minutes with no intermission. I am interested in bringing this to theaters and Performing Arts Centers and am particularly interested in historic performance spaces.​
Show Technical Info:
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Tech Rider ​
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For bookings of Forgottonia, Contact:
Rachel Cohen
Cadence Arts, Inc.
310.701.9191
