History is full of great writers, artists, composers and brilliant creators who poured their superb talent into their work only to find the public did not discover their genius or the splendor of what they produced. Many died without due recognition only to have their works hailed by following generations. Heres hoping Eugene D. Andersons work, The Wager gains the acknowledgement that this original musical is due.The Apache Junction composers nine years of sweat and passion were eminently showcased in the two-act musical on the Book of Job, told in a modern setting and given its world premier on Saturday. The final of six shows in three days is this Monday night (Feb. 19) at 7 p.m. at the Ikeda Theater at the Mesa Arts Center. Anderson, 63, put nine years into writing the music and arrangements, as well as the contemporary story of the Old Testament character whose prosperity was turned into overwhelming suffering. When I interviewed Anderson Feb. 2 for an article in the Tribunes Spiritual Life section, he exultingly hailed his work, The Wager as the first musical ever done on Job. He agonized that its premier was so near, so few tickets were sold and this monumental moment of his musical life would take place before limited audiences. He likened that to Jobs own suffering.Alas, scarcely 300 of the 1,600 seats of Ikeda were taken Saturday night, with still fewer folks at other performances. It is disappointing we didnt get the attendance that we expected, said marketing coach Mike Shubic, who handled the shows public relations. Terrible was his one-word description for the crowds. Though Anderson has spent a half century in music, with 150 compositions published and university training in writing and arranging music, the former Apache Junction High School band director is a veritable neophyte and unknown in live musical theater. Shubics press kit cites Anderson as responsible for bringing the story to the stage. Single-handedly, he developed the script, created the musical composition and score, all dialogue and even background scenery and marketing. Hes also financed the production of the musical himself.Such full ownership of a production carries, perhaps, a one-man show onus — a single persons relentless, uncompromising mission to guarantee success by doing everything himself to ensure exactness and quality. This a very rare event that a musical of this caliber and this size is produced, Shubic said. Originally tickets were set at $55 to $75, but were lowered before the opening to $35 and $55 to spur attendance. Realistically, I dont think the ticket prices had anything to do with the turnout, Shubic said. Folks will pay $95 to $100 per ticket for Les Miserables or The Phantom of the Opera performance, Shubic noted, but obviously potential theater-goers know those are proven and tested classics of modern theater. I know attendance is certainly a disappointment if for nothing else but financially, Shubic said. It’s just a huge hit. I think long-term he is going to be just fine. A performance DVD and recordings will get into the public domain and perhaps lead to the right people discovering and recognizing its considerable merit.From the long, dramatic overture to the finale featuring The Great I Am, Anderson, himself directing the 30-member orchestra, delivered a sweeping production of songs that tend to stay on your mind. The Wager follows the main character, Jonathon Oliver Brytson (J.O.B.), as his Godlike mentor J is forced into a 30-day wager with Lou, a demonic character. Jonathon watches his multi-millionaire life unravel death of his three children and then his wife, the dissolution of his import-export business and disillusion in himself.High marks go to the characters, especially in their singing roles, to the assemblage of lithe and strikingly costumed dancers and to the special effects. The Ikeda Theater proved itself again as a incredible place for stage excellence. Standing out were the saucy performance of Maile Hernandez singing The Losin Blues and the brother-sister act, Kathy Trujillo and Isaac Lundgren, singing Missing You after their younger sister, Rebecca (Kaitlyn Jetz) dies in a horse accident to launch the litany of tragedy for Jonathon. Eugene Anderson has three more musicals in him. Hes calling them Grandpas Greatest Gift, which is a Christmas musical; Saul, a look at Saul who had a radical conversion and became Paul; and Whos Land Is This? Whether his experience with the The Wager will impact his plans to bring those to the stage, as well, remains to be seen.I was taken aback when he told me this two weeks before the opening: If this thing fails, it will cost me everything I have and Ill feel like Job — everything at risk. I am like the Job character God is testing me. Yet he said he didnt believe God would abandon him. A miracle is going to happen. I dont know what it is, he said.This gifted man and his Wager team delivered their best at the Ikeda, and now we wait for Andersons miracle, but that may not come until after we are gone. Art has always been for the ages. But to just have such hard-birthed work out there is anyones envy.

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