The work features songs and monologues inspired by the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology.

It was subsequently produced off-off Broadway in 1990 by TWEED's artistic director Kevin Malony and Justin Ross at RAPP Arts Center in Manhattan's East Village.

[1] The London cast included Miquel Brown, Kim Criswell, Kwame Kwei-Armah, James Dreyfus, Simon Fanshawe and legendary drag queen Regina Fong.

On November 3, 2004, Minneapolis Musical Theater, directed by Steven Meerdink and Kevin Hansen, premiered a One-Night-Only Benefit Performance of "Elegies" in collaboration with the Minnesota Aids Project.

The cast in included Prudence Johnson, Mary Jane Alm, Dennis Spears, Christopher Hopkins, Esera Tuaolo, and Cookie Coleman among others with special guest appearance by Bill Russell.

On December 1, 2008, there was a West End Gala performance of the show at Soho Revue Bar, produced by Oliver Wood and directed by Simon Pollard.

After auditions were held and the piece was cast, it was announced that students would be able to earn credit towards their degrees provided they followed the course outline in the syllabus, which included daily reflections in the form of journals, analysis of poetry from Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology, extensive research on differing topics pertaining to HIV/AIDS, and a small, formal writing assignment at the end of the production process.