I just finished scoring a documentary for the filmmaker Cara Biasucci of the University of Texas on the ethical dangers of artificial intelligence. As I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, the dangers are plenty. Setting this story to music was a sobering experience. It’s work I enjoy, but I had to wonder: How long before this kind of job is taken over by A.I.?
“It’s Flat,” wherein the ensemble encounters an obstacle, sung by Nova Payton as Dawn; Theodore Sapp as Terrance; Sandy Bainum as Rose; and Millicent Scarlett as Mary
“Hurt,” Dawn’s song after being injured in a melee, sung by Nova Payton as Dawn and Millicent Scarlett as Mary
“I Miss You Being Alive,” Rose’s song to her late husband, sung by Sandy Bainum
“Family,” an ensemble number, sung by Nova Payton as Dawn; Theodore Sapp as Terrance; Sandy Bainum as Rose; and Millicent Scarlett as Mary
Video medley from HB Studio Theatre staged reading, June 2022 featuring Shaakirah Nazim-Harris as Dawn, Nik Whitcomb as Terrance, Amy Gaither Hayes as Rose, and Q. Smith as Mary: Stream here or click the image below.
Shaakirah Nazim-Harris as Dawn and Nik Whitcomb as Terrance
Staged Reading: October 7 – 15, 2023
Dawn: Ashley LaLonde
Mary: Cicily Daniels
Terrance: Julius Thomas III
Rose: Lori Wilner
Lawrence: Cal Mitchell
Darryl: Michael D. Turner
Director: Janeece Freeman Clark
Music Director: Dionne McClain-Freeney
Location: The York Theatre Company, Musicals in Mufti
29-Hour Reading: June 27 and 28, 2022
Dawn: Shaakirah Nazim-Harris
Mary: Q. Smith
Terrance: Raphael Peacock
Rose: Amy Gaither Hayes
Lawrence: Bryce Valle
Darryl: Michael D. Turner
Terrance Understudy: Nik Whitcomb
Director: Pat Golden
Music Director: Mary Ann Ivan
Drums: Mark Katsounis
Stage Manager: Sarah Chiriboga
Casting: Sarah Chiriboga & Moshe Henderson
Producer: Ghost Light Ventures LLC
Casting: HB Casting
Publicity: Off Off PR
Location: HB Studio, New York, New York
Demo Recordings: Spring, 2021
Dawn: Awa Sal Secka
Mary: Millicent Scarlett
Terrance: Keenan McCarter
Rose: Sandy Bainum
Recorded at Cue Recording Studios, Falls Church, Virginia
Engineer: Ken Schubert
Piano: Charlie Barnett
Bass: Greg Watkins
Drums: Mark Carson
Guitar: Gerry Kunkel
Table Read: October 10, 2020
Dawn: Syndee Winters
Mary: Millicent Scarlett
Terence: Theodore Sapp
Rose: Sandy Bainum
Dramaturg: Cheyenne Barboza
Stage Manager: Miranda Campbell
Demo Recordings: August, 2020
Dawn: Nova Payton
Mary: Millicent Scarlett
Terrance: Theodore Sapp
Rose: Sandy Bainum
Recorded at Cue Recording Studios, Falls Church, Virginia
Engineer: Ken Schubert
Piano: Charlie Barnett
Bass: Greg Watkins
Drums: Mark Carson
Guitar: Gerry Kunkel
Table Read: July 24, 2020
Dawn: Safiya Harris
Mary: Q. Smith
Terence: Erick Pinnick
Rose: Allison Briner-Dardenne
All others: Kevin McAllister
Stage Manager: Miranda Campbell
Book by Robert P. Young III and Richard Lasser
Music and Lyrics by Charlie Barnett
Synopsis
Dawn Jacks — an idealistic African-American teenager — convinces her mother, Mary Jacks; her uncle Terrance Witt; and their employer, Rose Shapiro, to drive to Selma, Alabama. The reason? To join Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s march from the Edmund Pettus Bridge to Montgomery, the state capital, to demand voting rights for Negroes from Gov. George Wallace himself.
Rose’s husband, Nathan, a diamond merchant and racketeer, has passed on, but his employee Terrance, a WWII Army vet, remains loyal to Rose as her chauffeur/handyman. So does his sister Mary, who works as Rose’s maid in a home located in the solidly white, middle-class town of Ridgewood, New Jersey.
Gassed up, sandwiches and drinks packed, Green Book at the ready, and hearts full of hope, the foursome heads South, even as America, particularly the South, remains hostile to its Black and Jewish citizens.
Excited, Dawn encourages optimism, and Mary sings to cover her trepidation. Encounters with racists — a white gas station attendant and a state trooper — reveal the dangers of “traveling-while-Black-with-a- Jewish-woman-in-the-back-seat.” Arriving in Selma, the four join hands and head into the march.
Multiple tear gas bombs explode. Stench and smoke fill the stage. Sounds of police dogs attacking, billy clubs smashing heads, screams and chant-like prayers are heard. Injured, the four run for their lives. This day will live in infamy as Bloody Sunday.
Act II opens as the four — injuries oozing blood, dazed, disoriented — stumble back to the car and make their way back north, only to deal with the revelations that Nathan once raped Mary and that Dawn is their daughter. The show ends with a new, if fragile, understanding of what a family — and just maybe what a country — can be.
My roots and folk music band, Barnstorm, is hitting the road. I’m finding that the band feels most at home in small listening venues, where we can really connect with an audience — and, hopefully, get them to sing along with us. We’ve got two such gigs coming up. If you’re near one of them, I hope you’ll consider joining us.
We will be playing in Northeast Baltimore on May 16th at The Four-Hour Day lutherie, an instrument-making shop and music studio located at 4305 Harford Rd., in the Arcadia neighborhood. The gig starts at 7:30pm, and tickets cost $20. For information, email [email protected].
Then on May 24th, we’ll be in Staunton, Virginia, at Queen City Music Studios at 16 W. Beverly Street (second floor). It’s a 7pm show, and tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. For information or tickets, visit queencitymusicstudios.com.