FVSO and Local Composer Alex Drossart to Honor Houdini

Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926),
known professionally as Harry Houdini

As Appleton celebrates a year of Harry Houdini to mark the100th anniversary of his death, FVSO kicks off their 60th anniversary season with a tribute to one of our most notable citizens. The orchestra is working with local composer Alex Drossart on a new piece commissioned by Stephanie Long and Andrew Hetzel. It will be the first piece performed on FVSO's Opening Night, September 19, at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, accompanied by an animation by Frank Anderson and Oliver Anderson. 

Notes from our Composer, Alex Drossart:

When I started writing Rosabelle Believe, I knew I wanted to write something about Harry Houdini, but I didn't really want to write a straightforward piece about his life or his career. What interested me more was the story of Houdini and his wife, Bess, and the promise they made to each other about communicating after his death.

Houdini was deeply skeptical of claims about communication with the dead. In the later part of his life, he spent a great deal of time exposing fraudulent mediums and séances. But his skepticism didn't stop him from being curious about the possibility. He and Bess agreed that if communication after death really was possible, they would find a way to test it. They created a secret code that Houdini could use to identify himself to Bess if he ever managed to contact her from beyond the grave.

Alex Drossart, composer

The code was “Rosabelle Believe,” based on a song Bess had performed during their early years together in vaudeville. They turned the phrase into a code based on an old vaudeville mentalism system, where specific words stood for different letters. The code reads: Rosabelle, Answer, Tell, Pray, Look, Tell, Answer, Answer, Tell.

That idea immediately gave me a way into the piece. Instead of simply trying to write “Houdini music,” I decided to make the code itself the structure of the composition. Each word is associated with a musical idea, and those ideas are introduced, developed, and combined throughout the piece.

The Rosabelle melody is especially important to me. I adapted the original tune and used it to frame the entire piece. It appears at the beginning and returns at the end, giving the music a sense of coming full circle. Everything in between grows out of that initial idea.

The first statement of the Rosabelle theme is a conversation between oboe and flute. The oboe is meant to represent Harry's voice, while the flute represents Bess's. The final statement of the theme starts with solo flute and eventually grows into a full orchestral statement of the melody.

The story also has a particularly fitting connection to Halloween. Houdini died on October 31, 1926, and after his death Bess continued the attempts they had made to test whether communication with the dead was possible. For ten years, she held séances and made a special effort to contact Houdini on Halloween, hoping that he would appear and give her the secret code they had agreed upon.

He never did.

In some ways, that ending is particularly poignant because of Houdini's skepticism. After years of trying, Bess was never able to receive the message they had planned. There was no secret code waiting for her, and no definitive answer about whether Houdini had found a way to communicate from beyond the grave.

For me, that makes the story more complicated than simply being a story about belief in the afterlife. Bess's attempts were an expression of love and hope, but her failure to receive the code also seems to validate the skepticism Houdini had held during his lifetime. The mystery remains, but there is no secret message waiting at the end to resolve it.

That's really the part of the story that stayed with me while I was writing the piece. Beneath all of Houdini's fame, escapes, and larger-than-life persona, this is ultimately a story about two people who loved each other and wanted to find a way to stay connected after one of them was gone.

I tried to let the music reflect that uncertainty. There are moments that feel mysterious and theatrical, but there are also quieter and more intimate sections. I didn't want the piece to be a musical reenactment of Houdini's life. Instead, I wanted it to feel like a conversation between memory, hope, mysticism, and skepticism.

Rosabelle Believe is my interpretation of that story: part puzzle, part tribute, and ultimately a piece about the very human desire to believe that the people we love don't completely disappear when they're gone—and the equally human challenge of accepting when they don't come back.

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About Alex Drossart:

Alex Drossart is a composer, keyboardist, and record producer based in Appleton, Wisconsin. His work spans film, television, and live performance, with a focus on strong thematic writing, clear musical structure, and practical orchestration.

Drossart has composed scores for several films and television productions, including GOLD (dir. Paige McKenna Grube) and Chasing Rabbits (dir. Michael Farris Smith, PBS Mississippi). He has also contributed music to the Apple TV+ series Central Park and the Hulu feature Carved (dir. Justin Harding).

He holds a certification from Berklee College of Music in Composing and Orchestrating for Film and Television. Alongside his work for screen, Drossart maintains an active career as a keyboardist and touring musician, performing with artists including Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons, Traveller, Hang Ten, Big Mouth and the Power Tool Horns, J Council, and The Know-It-All Boyfriends.

He has also served as Music Director for the Madison-based charity concert Joey’s Song, organized with producer Butch Vig.

Drossart’s music reflects influences ranging from late-Romantic orchestral composers to contemporary film and minimalist traditions, shaped equally by classical training and years of performing and producing across genres.