THE SPELL OF RED RIVER is an intergenerational-witch-story about family, grief, and finding your magic.  Stylistically, it’s Fried Green Tomatoes meets The Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood meets Practical Magic. It has a contemporary musical theatre/pop-country score with artistic influences such as Taylor Swift, The Chicks, and Tammy Wynette. 

 

We start with a bit of magic ("Opening - Red River Runs Down"). When Vel inherits a mysterious school building in her recently deceased mother’s hometown of Canonsboro, TN, she goes searching for the answers to questions about her family history that her mother took to the grave ("Home I've Never Known"). Vel is a witch who has an unique aptitude for psychometry - the ability to conjure memories of a person by touching inanimate objects associated with them. 

 

Vel is aided by a plucky Technocoven of college students, who use a mix of “tech and spells” to research magical phenomena in the area. They have a mystery of their own - what is The Spell of Red River? The Technocoven helps Vel hone her powers to dig deeper into her family’s history, learning about people from the past she has never met ("Forever With Me"). She starts to become obsessed - something her “theyfriend” Foster has seen before ("Now Another Mountain"). The more she learns, the more Vel feels betrayed by what her mother kept from her ("The More You Feel").

 

Vel, Foster and the Technocoven uncover the secrets of The Spell of Red River and Vel’s family history in a spooky, magical, time-traveling, extended musical sequence - they learn the spell of Red River is a reanimation spell (!!) that Vel’s grandmother and great-grandmother have both done when their husband’s unexpectedly died. But, they both disappeared in the process of doing it. This is what Vel’s mother was keeping her safe from. 

 

Digging deeper into her family archive, Vel discovers that she is the legendary “Swan Child” and has special powers ("Children of Lir"). She decides that this means she must do the Spell of Red River. In a magical sequence, Vel connects with her Redriver ancestors and learns about her power ("Wildfire"). Foster hopes they can leave the past behind them and build their life together ("Greatest Adventure"), but ultimately Vel is steadfast that she must do the spell. Foster and the Technocoven refuse to watch her disappear herself, causing the Technocoven to have their first fight ("Disappear"). Vel knows doing the spell is her destiny, especially when she finds a letter left to her by her mother ("What I Meant For You.")

 

Ultimately, the gang reunites and Vel does the spell - successfully. Because her intention is not to reanimate the dead, but just to say goodbye one last time, she gets to do that. In the emotional climax, Vel learns that her ancestors are always with her and she has a strong living family in Foster and the Technocoven ("Finale").