[1] The title character in this Gothic tale is a vocal coach who uses hypnotism to transform the tone-deaf Trilby into an acclaimed singer and steals her away from Little Billie, a sculptor for whom she has posed.

At first the girl can remember nothing about her past, but as her memory slowly returns, she attempts to break free from her possessive mentor.

The musical has been staged twice, both times with Chuck Wagner as Svengali and Linda Eder (Wildhorn's then future, now ex-wife) as Trilby.

It premiered at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas, in April 1991 and won the Alton Jones Foundation Award for New American Musicals.

The scenic design by Jerome Sirlin used a bank of slide projectors, creating "enigmatic images against the backdrop of the stage: the pensive face of a young woman, gargoyles, a cafe scene, brilliant color fields of red, blue, green and gold."