The creation of the Spirit Warrior's Dream has been a journey of discovery for the authors. It began, as all Pitts-Wiley/Schleeter projects do, with a gleam in Ricardo's eye and fire in his belly, along with a desire to examine and celebrate the value of music and dreams in the human experience. As the project evolved, the creators strived to balance the study of real and mythical American values with hard looks at the various types of war and warriors, while at the same time telling a poignant love story. They also glowed at the prospect of using the rich variety of American music styles to tell this story.

Hardly conventional partners, Ricardo Pitts-Wiley (an African-American actor) and Robert Schleeter (a White guitarist) often find themselves coming from different points of view. For Schleeter, it's about a love of music and a need to create. For Pitts- Wiley, a man who thinks of himself as being not in the theatre business, but in the 'life-saving business, it's that and more. Says Ricardo, 'The Spirit Warrior's Dream process forced us and freed us to argue our personal and cultural points of view and how the idea or dream of America had shaped us. In my case, I couldn't get far away from the disquieting acknowledgement of 'the American lie' the effects of racism on an every day basis and the deep anger it's left in me and so many of my contemporaries.

With this emotional engine driving the story of Spirit Warriors and Dreamkillers, the idea of America as a place of freedom and opportunity would be constantly challenged, and the authors knew from the beginning that the traditional musical theatre formula would not work. The lack of a map was not a problem. Since all of the songs began with lyrics that Ricardo had written, the story contained in the songs always preceded the melody or style. Pitts-Wiley uses these questions to create his own map: "It was important to always ask, 'What character is singing this song? Why are they singing? What is the context for the song? What is new information for the audience?'" Once these questions had been asked some songs seemed to write themselves, while others had to be dragged into being and another few were re-written too many times to count. The song-writing team of Pitts-Wiley/Schleeter has written over 150 songs.

Pitts-Wiley hears a hard-to-explain consonant and vowel relationship that suggests a song's melody, mood and tempo. Schleeter takes those elements and adds a groove, chord changes, musical order and structure. Together they decide what to keep and what to toss. The song's style and arrangement emerges, often influenced by Gospel, Blues, Rock, Soul or Folk. The challenge is not to adhere to any particular form, but to use the best form at any time to express the song's message.

In the Spirit Warrior's Dream, the American cultural melting pot has finally "melted" and the music of the people is not bounded by racial, geographical or class issues. The authors have endeavored to create a musical score that reflects that reality. From the excitement of 'Fire Eyes' to the sadness of 'A River', to the hope of 'Look Into the Future', you'll find the story not only in the words but also in the melodies and instruments. As Makeda says, "Listen."