Lake Song – Details, episodes & analysis

Make-Believe is proud to present the follow-up to "Lake Song", a revelatory new take on the most famous play ever written.

Our "Hamlet" takes you inside the prince's head, letting you hear the story entirely through his ears.

Featuring an astonishing cast led by Daniel Kyri and binaural sound design by Mikhail Fiksel, "Hamlet" had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival in June 2025.

All six episodes are available at hamlet.fm and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Series finale. After the storm, the city and its people ask: What do we do with our freedom?

LAKE SONG is co-created by Laura Alcalá Baker, Sydney Charles, Mikhail Fiksel, Nate Marshall, Jeremy McCarter, Natalie Moore, and Kristina Valada-Viars.

Starring Sydney Charles as Dee and Marcus D. Moore as Wade

With Ayanna Bria Bakari, Billy Branch, Lorena Diaz, Delia Kropp, Daniel Kyri, Esme Perez, Deanna Reed-Foster, and A.C. Smith

Original score composed by Mikhail Fiksel, featuring Billy Branch

"Chicago Strut"
Written and performed by Giorgio Di Campo
Via Freesound

For full credits and to learn more, visit lakesong.fm.

Please rate/review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Dee discovers there's more to Mira than she realized; Wade copes with new pressures -- and possibilities -- at City Hall.

LAKE SONG is co-created by Laura Alcalá Baker, Sydney Charles, Mikhail Fiksel, Nate Marshall, Jeremy McCarter, Natalie Moore, and Kristina Valada-Viars.

Starring Sydney Charles as Dee and Marcus D. Moore as Wade.

With Ayanna Bria Bakari, Robert Cornelius, Delia Kropp, Daniel Kyri, Eddie Martinez, James Vincent Meredith, and Esme Perez.

Original score composed by Mikhail Fiksel, featuring Billy Branch.

For full credits and to learn more, visit lakesong.fm.

Please rate and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Wade hears an audacious plan that would remake the city; Dee tries to solve the mystery of a strange girl who shouldn't be there.

LAKE SONG is co-created by Laura Alcalá Baker, Sydney Charles, Mikhail Fiksel, Nate Marshall, Jeremy McCarter, Natalie Moore, and Kristina Valada-Viars.

Starring Sydney Charles as Dee and Marcus D. Moore as Wade

With Ayanna Bria Bakari, Lorena Diaz, Daniel Kyri, James Vincent Meredith, Esme Perez, Justin Reed, and Kristina Valada-Viars

Original score composed and produced by Mikhail Fiksel, featuring Billy Branch

"Dee's Shanty"
Written and performed by Sydney Charles

For full credits and to learn more, visit lakesong.fm.

In 2098, a shocking death plunges the Republic of Chicago into crisis, upending life for Wade and his sister Dee.

LAKE SONG is co-created by Laura Alcalá Baker, Sydney Charles, Mikhail Fiksel, Nate Marshall, Jeremy McCarter, Natalie Moore, and Kristina Valada-Viars

Starring Sydney Charles as Dee and Marcus D. Moore as Wade

With Ayanna Bria Bakari, Brenda Barrie, Billy Branch, Rammel Chan, Eduardo Curley-Carrillo, Delia Kropp, Daniel Kyri, Eddie Martinez, James Vincent Meredith, Mia Park, Esme Perez, Deanna Reed-Foster, A.C. Smith, and AnJi White

Original score composed and produced by Mikhail Fiksel, featuring Billy Branch

"Backwater Blues"
Written by Bessie Smith
Performed by Sumito Ariyoshi, Billy Branch, and Sydney Charles
By arrangement with MPL Music Publishing

For full credits and to learn more, visit lakesong.fm.

Lake Song co-creator Nate Marshall talks about what Chicago poets have always done. . . and what they're *going* to do.

Lake Song, the epic new audio-drama series from Make-Believe Association, will debut October 12 as an official selection of Tribeca Audio.

For more, visit lakesong.fm.

It's 2098 and the Republic of Chicago has what the world needs: fresh water. But with new opportunities come new threats, especially for one family on the South Side. Can the people come together to save their city—and each other?

Lake Song is the joint creation of seven multidisciplinary Chicagoans. Combining sci-fi and music, politics and poetry, it's a collective response to our times, and a shared dream of our future. 

The epic audio-drama series will premiere in October, with a new episode each week.

Produced by the acclaimed audio storytelling company Make-Believe Association.

Siren poses a final, deadly challenge for Wade, Dee, and everyone they love.

LAKE SONG is co-created by Laura Alcalá Baker, Sydney Charles, Mikhail Fiksel, Nate Marshall, Jeremy McCarter, Natalie Moore, and Kristina Valada-Viars.

Starring Sydney Charles as Dee and Marcus D. Moore as Wade

With Ayanna Bria Bakari, Billy Branch, Lillian Charles, Eduardo Curley-Carrillo, Lorena Diaz, Delia Kropp, James Vincent Meredith, Esme Perez, Justin Reed, Deanna Reed-Foster, A.C. Smith, and Kristina Valada Viars

Original score composed by Mikhail Fiksel, featuring Billy Branch

"Lake Song Finale"
Written by Sydney Charles, Mikhail Fiksel, and Jeremy McCarter
Performed by Billy Branch, Sydney Charles, and the cast

For full credits and to learn more, visit lakesong.fm.

Please rate/review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Dee and Wade try to repair what's been broken for so long.

LAKE SONG is co-created by Laura Alcalá Baker, Sydney Charles, Mikhail Fiksel, Nate Marshall, Jeremy McCarter, Natalie Moore, and Kristina Valada-Viars.

Starring Sydney Charles as Dee and Marcus D. Moore as Wade

With Ayanna Bria Bakari, Delia Kropp, Daniel Kyri, Al'Jaleel McGhee, James Vincent Meredith, and Mia Park

Original score composed by Mikhail Fiksel, featuring Billy Branch

For full credits and more, visit lakesong.fm.

Please rate/review wherever you listen to podcasts!

As the Siren plan tears the city apart, Wade investigates what's really going on; Dee, alone and grieving, tries to make a fresh start--and tries, and tries. . . .

LAKE SONG is co-created by Laura Alcalá Baker, Sydney Charles, Mikhail Fiksel, Nate Marshall, Jeremy McCarter, Natalie Moore, and Kristina Valada-Viars.

Starring Sydney Charles as Dee and Marcus D. Moore as Wade

With Ayanna Bria Bakari, Brenda Barrie, Rammel Chan, Lillian Charles, Eduardo Curley-Carrillo, Ian Paul Custer, Lorena Diaz, Eddie Martinez, James Vincent Meredith, Al'Jaleel McGhee, Mia Park, Deanna Reed-Foster, A.C. Smith, and Kristina Valada Viars

Original score composed by Mikhail Fiksel, featuring Billy Branch

"Dee's Shanty (Reprise)"
Written and performed by Sydney Charles

For full credits and more, visit lakesong.fm.

Please rate/review wherever you listen to podcasts!