A Season in Lights
A Novel in Three Acts
By Gregory Erich Phillips
Passion, ambition and escape in the colorful artistic underworld off-Broadway.
Cammie, a dancer in her 30s, has just landed her first part in a show since coming to New York City. Yet the tug of familial obligations and the guilt of what she sacrificed to be there weigh down her dancing feet. The early narrative follows the cast of the show, with a backstage glimpse into the chaotic and colorful world of struggling performers.
Cammie’s lover, Tom, an older piano player, came to the city as a young man in the 1980s with a story eerily in tune with Cammie’s own.
Through their triumphs and failures, both learn the fleetness of glory, the sweetness of new love, and how a dream come true isn’t cherished until it’s passed. The bright lights of the stage intoxicate, while degradation and despair lurk close behind the curtain. Their stories are marred by two viruses, AIDS in the 1980s and COVID-19 today, both of which ravaged the performing arts community, leaving a permanent scar on those who lived through them.
Cammie thinks she finally has her chance in a major show, until COVID forces the unthinkable—Broadway being shut down. The physical, financial and emotional toll this takes on the dancers and musicians of the story is laid bare. The effort it took to survive even the next day in New York City becomes a stark reality for many of the characters. “It took a lot of lucky breaks to make it here. This pandemic would undo a lot of lucky breaks for a lot of people.”
Genre/category: Literary Fiction/Contemporary Fiction
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021934446
Paperback ISBN 9781950495122
$18.95
Meet The Author
Review Quotes:
“A Season in Lights is an intimate, heartfelt ballad to creativity and the passion of the artist. Phillips’ writing is lyrical as a love song and as uplifting as a dream. It is not only one of my new favorite books, but possibly one of the most important odes to New York City’s artists and the fragility of life since Rent.”
– Nicole Evelina
USA Today bestselling author of
The Guinevere’s Tale Trilogy
“By drawing us into the glitz and glam of New York City’s creative scene, and by examining the gritty reality beneath the shine, Phillips taps all the senses while reminding us that, no matter what happens in life, the show must go on—especially for those who dare to dream. Want a sensual but poignant romp behind the curtain? This book delivers.”
– Julie Cantrell
New York Times and USA TODAY
bestselling author of Perennials
“Written by a true creative, A Season in Lights paints a moving picture of artists, dancers and musicians. Gregory Erich Phillips weaves together the heartaches and lucky breaks of two main characters, Tom and Cammie, and their friends and families. The vignettes culminate with the impact of coronavirus on NYC and ends with a surprisingly tender and uplifting finale.”
– Carole Van Den Hende
award-winning author of Goodbye, Orchid
“Gregory Erich Phillips’ A Season in Lights is a heartfelt and moving love letter to New York City and its artistic community.”
– Geoffrey Owens
actor and director
“Gregory is a force with the written word, a force with his knowledge of the arts and surely a gift to all of us who love the performing arts. As I wait for theaters to open in NYC, A Season in Lights gave me a reprieve from the heartache of it being closed. I was utterly beguiled with Gregory’s story. As he opened the curtain to his story. he had my full attention. As a New Yorker, I say Bravo!”
– Annie McDonnell
The Write Review
“Here in a two-fold unveiling, the story comes to life from the first-person perspective of Cammie, a starry-eyed aspiring dancer from Lancaster, PA, and the third-person reveal of Tom, a more seasoned black pianist. He longs for a classical career but is too often labeled a jazz musician. Cammie first encounters Tom in a studio dance class where he’s taken a job as the musical accompanist. Befriended by the gay dance instructor, Tom heeds the worldly advice offered about surviving in the Big Apple. “All you’ve got to do is convince people that you belong. You’ve got to tell them who you are before they tell you.””
– Chanticleer Review Board
“A unique, well-crafted tale adds to the lore and lure of life as an artist braving the challenges of the big city. The pursuit of the performing arts and romance are set against the looming specter of today’s COVID-19 pandemic and the 1980s AIDS crisis. The author offers profound insights into the unpleasant realities of chasing a dream and wraps with an exquisite, soul-stirring conclusion.”
– Lafayette Summers
pianist, composer and singer
“A Season in Lights taps into the core of the soul of the New York City theatre community family—from the stage managers to the musicians and dancers, to the actors whose every heartbeat is dedicated to the performance of their art. Having myself been involved in local theatre and experiencing this thrill, not only upon the stage, but in the hectic confines of the green room behind it, and, sadly, witnessing the devastating impact of the Covid epidemic on theatre, I bow to Phillips’ perfectly captured portrayal of it. Break a leg, Gregory Phillips!”
– Joe Palmer author of A Mariner’s Tale
“Music and dance thrum in this poignant story about aspiring artists struggling to survive as part of New York’s subway class. Two would-be lovers at opposite ends of their dreams of making it on the big stage share a memorable but fleeting season filled with passion, love, friends, and family. Bursting with charm, this beautiful tale is chock-full of powerful subjects: depression, racism, HIV in the ‘80s, and the current Covid pandemic. It will touch your heart, make you want to dance, sing, and cry all at the same time.”
– R. Scott Boyer,
award-winning author of Bobby Ether and
the Jade Academy and Temple of Eternity
WHERE TO BUY:
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021934446
Paperback ISBN: 978-1950495122
e-book ISBN: 978-1950495146
Print and epub available worldwide to booksellers via Ingram Wholesale
Independent Bookstores
Audiobook is available via Blackstone Distribution ISBN: 9781950495146
B092B2VJNJ (Amazon ASIN)