In Act 1’s next production, the dead not only speak, they sing.

DeSales University Division of Performing Arts production of “Spoon River Anthology” streams online March 13 and 14.

Act 1 continues its virtual 2020-’21 season with Charles Aidman’s play with music, adapted from Edgar Lee Masters’ book of prose of the same title.

The production is being filmed for streaming on Vimeo.

Every character in “Spoon River Anthology” is dead. As they lie in their graves, they spill forth secrets that are the hidden things that prick at the hearts of us all.

The production is directed by DeSales Associate Professor of Theater Steven Dennis.

“This play, like the anthology upon which it is adapted, is not about talking dead people, it is about lives lived, and that is what draws me to it,” Dennis says.

“Along the way, there is humor and heartbreak, celebration and grieving.”

“Spoon River Anthology,” originally published as poems in 1914 in a St. Louis, Mo, literary journal, became a literary sensation and huge commercial success. The international best-seller was reported to have sold 80,000 copies in four years and broke the sales record in the United States for a book of prose.

“I originally encountered Mr. Masters’ book while training for character acting in graduate school,” Dennis says.

“It’s a delight to work on this artful Broadway adaptation having had a few decades of life experience to enrich my understanding of these very human stories,” says Dennis.

“Our idea for this production is that by listening to others, we can begin to bridge the gaps that divide us,” Dennis says.

Master’s book was adapted by Charles Aidman into a critically-acclaimed theater production that debuted on Broadway in 1963.

The play has achieved international success and continues to be widely-performed today. Aidman conceived, directed and acted in “Spoon River Anthology,” as well as collaborating on two of its songs.

“I’ve always loved the poetry of Edgar Lee Masters from the time I studied poetry and literature in college,” says Act 1 Artistic Director Dennis Razze.

“It makes for a remarkable piece of theater where we get to wander around a small graveyard in the fictional town of Spoon River, named after the river that ran by Masters’ actual home town of Lewistown, Illinois,” Razze says.

“There, in this small cemetery in the year 1915, we meet the inhabitants of the town and hear their stories and epitaphs where they relate the often-thwarted hopes and dreams of their lives,” says Razze.

“Spoon River Anthology” is a play with music which features original Americana and folk songs. Barrymore Award winner Alex Bechtel is music director. Bechtel composed the music for Act 1’s fall production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.”

The Act 1 production design team is Will Neuert, sets; Rebecca R. Callan, costumes; Eric Haugan, lighting, and DeSales alumni Ian P. Carr, sound.

The “Spoon River Anthology” production was filmed by DeSales’ TV-Film students, working with the production company Digital Feast.

The production is recommended for ages 12 and up.

Tickets: tickets.desales.edu; 610-282-3192. After ordering tickets, an email reminder, with the link, password and viewing instructions, will be sent the day prior to the selected production date.

“Curtain Rises” is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email Paul Willistein, Focus editor, Lehigh Valley Press: pwillistein@tnonline.com