Why is there a stack of The Sacred Harp, 1991 Editions in the toilet? Tup lived and breathed every hymn on every page of her Sacred Harp book. At a mass sing, she couldn’t be outsung. These days, Tup struggles to button up her cardy and put names to faces, she is in constant combat with her daughter Alison and cannot keep up with her grandchild Billie. All Tup knows is… when in doubt, sing loud.
Featuring a live choir and original songs by Ro Bright (Daffodils) and Pat Irwin (SUSS, The B-52’s), this ceremonious story about unconditional love and the power of community features Natasha Herbert (Hamlet), Brooke Lee (Stay Woke), and Emmanuelle Mattana (Trophy Boys), with direction by Kitan Petkovski (The Inheritance).
The project began when Ro first discovered sacred harp music while studying at NYU. “I started going to sacred harp sings and attended a convention with over 400 singers. The roof felt like it was going to blow off,” says Ro, who was so impacted by the sound that they decided to create a theatre work inspired by the indie genre. “I studied film scoring with Pat Irwin (who aside from being a member of groups such as SUSS and the B-52’s, has also composed scores for numerous films and series, including Dexter, Nurse Jackie and But I’m a Cheerleader) and reached out to him to see if he’d be interested in collaborating, and AMAZINGLY, he said yes!”
Ro and Pat, who sang sacred harp in college, then went back and forth writing new songs that a smaller sacred harp choir could sing live in the show. Ro and director Kitan Petkovski will be working with a mix of professional gender-diverse, queer and community singers for this production. “The big thing about sacred harp is that it’s unrehearsed, and while the show will be very much rehearsed, our intention is to capture the immersive feeling of sacred harp within a story about a family’s battle to stay together.”
“fortyfivedownstairs is a space that beautifully holds the warm acoustics of the voice, and has the kind of intimacy that a family story can be told in,” says Petkovski. “We hope that THE HALL is one of those shows that will inspire audiences to reconnect with the music they love. Witnessing the impact Sacred Harp songs can have on Tup in the play, we hope that audiences will be able to mediate on the feeling they get from the songs they love, and the memories they bring back. No matter how life turns out – music is imprinted into our cells.”
November 21 – December 4
