In the fall of 1998, shortly after the release of my 1997 Homegrown Music CD, Dr. Schrum approached me about supplying music for a play (again.) Referring to several songs on the Homegrown CD (which would later become the majority of the tracks on MANDALA) he said "Did you know I was writing the script for Peer Gynt when you wrote these songs?!!?"

Of course the answer was "no," but apparently the subjects of my songs fell directly in line with Peer Gynt, and thus another collaboration was born. Considering the songs were written over a period of several years, and that I didn't even know about Peer Gynt then, I was amused by this.

Recording MANDALA took on another dimension when Steve and I realized the direct tie-in with the play for potential CD sales. I suppose this supplied the impetus to really push the envelope. My songs were going to be performed by a live band in a state I never visited (except very briefly on the way to Vegas) by people I didn't know, in a play I never read! How insane!

Even the album art seemed oddly familiar to Steve who said he had a similar concept in mind for Peer Gynt.Originally a play by Henrik Ibsen, UC theatre director Stephen A. Schrum adapted the script and added original songs. Actors and musicians for the production included UC students and local high school students.

In this adaptation, which is both a love story and a spiritual journey, Peer is a young man struggling with both his impulses as a creative artist and his physical desires that distract and threaten to destroy him. He falls in love with a young woman named Solveig, but his unthinking forays into the pleasures of the world steer him away from happiness. He also travels abroad, becomes a successful businessman, passes himself off as a prophet, and escapes a mental institution run by the inmates. Still, it is clear throughout the tale that he has the ability to positively effect those around him, and to create-eventually-a contented life for himself.