Singer songwriter Chris Vallillo presents his latest project, a theatrical, multi-media show titled Forgottonia, an intimate portrait of rural Illinois. Vallillo draws on 35 years of original material to create a show that tells the story of West Central Illinois, an area that, for years, its inhabitants have lovingly referred to with that very name.
The name “Forgottonia” first came to Western Illinois in 1972 when sixteen counties declared the creation of the independent nation of Forgottonia in protest of the lack of tax dollars returning to the region. “The plan was to secede from the Union, declare war on the United States, immediately surrender, and then apply for foreign aid. It was nothing but political theater, but to everyone’s surprise, the story was picked up by the national media and to everyone’s surprise, it worked!” said Vallillo. “I first came to this region in 1976 as an archaeologist on the first wave of funding to come from that action and was like stepping back in time 40 years. I was just enchanted by the region and it would become the focus of my music for the next 40 years”
