The beginning of a project ultimately to be a Book musical, but for now a group of songs telling the magnificent story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge – an icon of American architecture.
At its heart, it's a story about a family. First, a father - John Roebling, a genius German engineer who emigrates to America. Second, his son Washington Roebling (named patriotically after the President) who graduates from West Point but soon abandons whatever dreams he has had, in order to complete the construction of the bridge after John tragically dies. And most movingly, Washington's wife Emily Roebling who learns engineering and tirelessly shuttles back and forth for years carrying instructions from her husband to the Chief Engineer after a devastating accident has confined Washington permanently to a wheelchair.
Fittingly, the plaque on the Bridge today bears all three names.
Click below to hear “For My Father” sung by young Washington Roebling at the moment he has chosen to sacrifice his own ambitions for the sake of completing his father's.