Projects

Douglas’ unique approach to writing and composition is full of innovation and authenticity, arising from his inquiring, analytical mind, literary background and gifted musicianship. He is a sought-after speaker and consultant, and his Radio, Television, Press and Event engagements nationally, since about 2010, include presenting at Toledo’s TEDx.

Learn more about: I Dream, The Musical and Other Works

I Dream, The Musical

Douglas Tappin is the writer and composer of I Dream, a musical drama — with a book co-written by Jonathan Payne — that chronicles the final thirty-six hours of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life through the eyes of his closest friend, Ralph Abernathy. As Ralph approaches the end of his own life, he is drawn back into memories of Martin’s final days — revisiting the dreams, premonitions, and inner struggles that shaped a pivotal moment in history. This intimate and powerful work offers a deeply human portrait of friendship, justice, and love triumphing over conflict.

I Dream has been performed to sold-out houses on Atlanta’s Alliance Stage, at New York’s Apollo Theater, In Concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and by Opera Carolina and Toledo Opera; with additional private performances in Los Angeles at an event hosted by Chaka Khan, and to a select audience that included Malia and Sasha Obama. In its development and staged presentations, the work has featured, in the lead role, Broadway actors Quentin Darrington (MJ the Musical, Once On This Island, Ragtime, Cats), Derrick Davies (The Phantom of the Opera), and Joshua Henry (Hamilton, Violet, Carousel). Creative teams have included Director Daniel Goldstein (Godspell, Come From Away) and Dramaturg Allison Horsley (Jersey Boys).

I Dream is heading to London. In April 2026, showcase performances will mark a landmark step in the show’s development, building towards a full West End production.

Other Works

Douglas is currently developing several new musical/dramatic works that build on his lifelong exploration of purpose, justice, and the human spirit. These projects reflect an ongoing commitment to storytelling that challenges, inspires, and invites deeper reflection.

"Diva" a theatre production in development by Douglas Tappin

In a haunted dressing room where legends never leave, fame demands a sacrifice: for one star to rise, another must fall. When an outsider disrupts the ritual, rival icons confront the seductive force that binds them, and dare to challenge the cost of glory.

To Be Moor a production by Douglas Tappin

As Paul Robeson rehearses Othello in 1930 London, the role begins to seep beyond the stage. Backroom ambitions, loyalties, and buried tensions blur performance and reality, as those around him struggle to hold the man intact while the tragedy tightens its grip.

"We the People" a theatre production in development by Douglas Tappin

After a teenage coder hijacks a presidential debate, a viral civic ritual spreads beyond control. As a generation begins exposing truths the powerful would bury, the movement’s elusive architect faces a rising force determined to shape reality itself.

In the carnival-state of Rookhaven, where politics is pageantry and power thrives on spectacle, a circus ape electrifies a faltering campaign and becomes a national obsession. As performance eclipses authority and the myth grows larger than the legend, the crowd must confront its hunger to be dazzled.

The Ballad of Mary Jones by Douglas Tappin

In the shadowed streets of 1830s New York, a shape-shifting survivor moves between identities while a notorious murder grips the city. As secrets surface, the search for truth threatens to expose what society most needs hidden.

A rising London musician begins receiving fragments of music that seem to arrive from nowhere, each note echoing a past he was never meant to repeat. As temptation and memory converge, the composition he assembles may determine whether a legacy of betrayal ends or begins again.

In the American South, an underestimated enslaved man vanishes into the wilderness and returns changed. As whispers of visions and impossible signs spread, belief ignites among the enslaved, and a legend begins to rise that power cannot easily contain.