“No amount of skillful invention can replace the essential element of imagination.” – Edward Hopper

As the quintessential realist painter of twentieth-century America, Edward Hopper’s images have become part of the very grain and texture of American experience. Hopper has inspired countless painters, photographers, filmmakers, set designers, dancers, writers, and musicians. Just like a good film noir, Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks pulls the viewer into the mystery, making us keep watching, waiting to see what happens next. Nighthawks is considered the embodiment of existential art, capturing the alienation and loneliness indicative of modern urban life.

The 2018 Blue Devils present Dreams and Nighthawks with a fantasy of musical and visual hypothesis. In a whirlwind of puzzle pieces, a cast of characters assembles a plot line of timeless speculation. A conversation of where, when, and why unfolds to a contemporary, eclectic soundtrack from John Adams to Carole King to Simon Dobson.

Dreams and Nighthawks brings together the talents and skills of 154 extraordinary performers to travel the United States in a celebration of music and motion. With a palate of imagination and excellence, the field becomes a canvas for the 18-time DCI champion Blue Devils to offer a daring glimpse into an iconic painting. Hopper’s study of time and place brings characters and coincidence out of a shadowy destination into the enigmatic, captivating world of Dreams and Nighthawks.

“If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” – Edward Hopper

• John Adams
• Simon Dobson
• Paul Lovatt-Cooper
• James Newton Howard
• Dave Glyde
• Carole King
• David Raksin
• Earle Hagen