Svengali is a gothic musical which tells a tale of music, art, love and hypnotism in turn-of-the-century Paris. It is set in the Latin Quarter, where Trilby (a good-hearted girl who sells milk and poses for sculptors) comes into the lives of several artists. One, the shy Little Billie, falls in love with her. The title character, Svengali, is a penniless and devious vocal teacher, who travels with his faithful assistant, Gecko. Svengali steals Trilby away for himself, and uses hypnotic powers to turn the tone-deaf beauty into a singer beyond compare. This new Trilby becomes a famous singer, but has no memory of her former life. As the tale of mysticism and romance unfolds, Trilby begins to recall her past, and tries to break free from Svengali to return to Billie.

To date, the show has been presented on stage twice. It premiered at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas in April and May of 1991, under the direction of Gregoy Boyd. There it won the Alton Jones Foundation Award for New American Musicals. The show moved on to the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, also in 1991. Leading the cast for both productions were Chuck Wagner as Svengali, Linda Eder as Trilby, and Philip Hoffman as Gecko. Dave Clemmons was Billie in Houston and Jason Workman was Billie in Sarasota.

No full recording of the show has been released, but several of the songs have become available: "Slowly" (credited as "So Slowly") was recorded by the Dutch singer Danny de Munk and Vera Mann, on the album "Danny". The song can be ordered as a single from Sound Of Music. More recently, a pop version of "If He Never Said Hello" and the non-traditional French aria "Vole Mon Ange" were released on Linda Eder's album, Storybook. This album can be purchased at Amazon.com or iTunes.

A few additional sound clips can be heard on the Romantics Page and on Chuck Wagner's Website.