After conducting interviews with veterans, Eamon Foley discovered parallels between the epic sonic quality and subject matter of Muse’s music and the shared-experience of the men who served in the Vietnam War. He would like to collaborate with Muse to create a stage spectacular that brings the extremes of the war experience to life in an emotionally visceral and visually stunning way by marrying the Muse cannon with aerial-dance story telling.

Hero is a kaleidoscopic journey through a soldier’s war trauma; a memory play in which aerial dance and rock music bring the fragmented pieces of his surreal experience to life. The piece takes place in the dark void of a soldier, Zachary Zane’s, mind as he’s on the verge of ending his own life after being the sole survivor of his squadron. The story is conveyed as non-verbally as possible, letting the music, lyrics, and imagery viscerally communicate the experience. 

The story starts with Zachary Zane falling in slow-motion from the rafters onto his cot as his fallen brothers watch on (Soldier’s Poem). He’s about to take his own life when a specter of his ex-girlfriend, Phoebe, appears, luring him into a memory of the protest he attended before serving (Uprising). He’s arrested at the protest, and given the ultimatum to either serve time or join the war effort. He is sent through a vigorous training that aims to strip him of his identity (Butterflies and Hurricanes). He lands in Vietnam under the command of a brass-hunger, megalomaniac Sergeant obsessed with making his mark on the war (Psycho). After making his first kill, he begins to assimilate into his squadron. He bonds with Eli, a black soldier-photographer through drug exploration (Feeling Good). On a mission, Zach is shot, but Eli risks his life to pull him to safety (Exo-Genesis Symphony pt. 2). In the ICU, we learn of Eli’s secret yearnings to be closer to Zach (Endlessly). When the men return to base, sexual frustration percolates among the men (Supermassive Blackhole). On their next mission, a squadron member is killed by an IED. The men respond by rampaging the village, killing innocent people. Back home, Phoebe is killed by a stray bullet during the lethal Kent State protest (Take a Bow).

Zach is plagued by nightmares of Phoebe as an angel condemning him for his war crimes (Exo-Genesis Symphony pt. 1). He comes to Eli for solace. Their private, sensitive moment turns sexual (Madness). The guilt is building, and he joins his brothers at a brothel on their R&R (Hysteria). In an effort to prove his masculinity, he scorns Eli, sending him off with a prostitute. However, when they detonate an EID, the men are killed and Eli is sent running for his life (Map of the Problematique). After his death, the spirit of Phoebe welcomes Eli to a shame-free after life (Hoodoo). Having been injured twice, Zach is sent home. Stateside, he can’t connect to anyone (Blackout). Drugs and suicidal thoughts creep in. However, in the moments before he takes his life, the memories of Eli, Phoebe, and the men demand that he stay alive to protect their legacy (Exo-Genesis Symphony pt. 3). He decides to admit to his war crimes, incriminating the Sergeant that let the war atrocities unfold (Dig Down) and begins the process of living a life carrying his trauma. 

Eamon Foley began his career performing in six Broadway productions before the age of sixteen. He was a recipient of the Legacy Robe before switching his attention to writing, direction, and choreography. He conceived and mounted HERO as his Senior Thesis at Princeton University, for which the production received the Francis LeMoyne Prize for Excellence in Theater, The Santiago Dumont Award for Innovation, and The Outstanding Senior Thesis Award.

Eamon is the founder and Artistic Director of the award-winning theater company Grind Arts Co., which innovates musical theater for the stage and screen. He choreographed Tony-nominated director Michael Arden’s productions of Merrily We Roll Along (NAACP Theater Award Nomination) and Annie at the Hollywood Bowl, along with Tony-winning director David Cromer’s Next to Normal at Writers’ Theatre. Other choreography credits include Siebert and Lundquist's Swan Lake the Musical, Broadway Bares XXV, YoungArts NYC 2018, Heartbeat Opera Company’s Hot Mama, commercials for Macy’s and Deloitte, commissions for Princeton University Ballet, and the films Small Talk, The Bygone, and BloodVape.

Live directing projects include Nine, Sweeney Todd, The Last Five Years, 13: The Musical, Cyrano (FringeNYC, FringeFave Award), Paradise Lost (Author), Your Favorite Actor Friends, and the upcoming opera Psyche. Film directing projects include Color & Light, Sinnerman (virtual reality), and Brown Rice (Queerty Award Nomination).