Follow on Google News News By Tag Industry News News By Place Country(s) Industry News
Follow on Google News |  50th Anniversary of March on Washington Event "Prelude to a Dream"THE MARCH Civil Rights Opera Project presents a new mass meeting performance called "Prelude to a Dream: The Volatile Eve of the 1963 March on Washington" on August 27, 2013 at Metropolitan A.M.E. Church in Washington, D.C.
By: THE MARCH Civil Rights Opera Project On August 27, 2013, at the historic Metropolitan A.M.E. Church in Washington, D.C. , THE MARCH Civil Rights Opera Project will stage a free mass meeting performance called Prelude to a Dream to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. Prelude to a Dream is a dramatization of the tension and uncertainty during the final preparations for the march and the stories of ordinary Americans who planned to attend the march. THE MARCH: A Civil Rights Opera is a new American opera project exploring the personal and political circumstances surrounding the 1963 March on Washington. THE MARCH is being developed in Chicago and will premiere there in the fall of 2014, followed by performances in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. While the opera is developed, creator and librettist Alan Marshall has been producing theatrical based "mass meetings" which dramatize various episodes of civil rights movement during the long, hot summer of 1963. These performances include freedom songs (solos & audience participation) “You cannot fully appreciate the March on Washington without an understanding of what happened in the summer leading up to it,” said Marshall. “Prelude to a Dream will also reveal conflicts and tensions surrounding the organizing of the March on Washington that were mostly unknown to the public during its planning.” Prelude to a Dream offers a diverse cast of characters: Bayard Rustin, A. Philip Randolph, Courland Cox (SNCC), Joyce Ladner (SNCC), Clarence Mitchell (NAACP), Gloria Richardson, Andrew Young (SCLC), Anna Hedgeman, a Justice Department official, an aide to Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle, an aide to Senator Strom Thurmond, a captain in the American Nazi Party and a host of other civil rights figures and individual marchers. After the mass meeting performance, librettist Alan Marshall and composer D.S. Jones will give a preview of the grand finale of THE MARCH: A Civil Rights Opera. This scene at the Lincoln Memorial will include several opera singers portraying characters who delivered speeches at the 1963 march including A. Philip Randolph, John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr. and Roy Wilkins. It will also feature a large chorus comprised of voices from Metropolitan A.M.E. Church choirs. “We are humbled by the legacy that has been entrusted to us,” said composer Jones. “We continue to work tirelessly to bring to the operatic stage a creation that will serve art, history and humanity” This performance will be held in one of Washington, D.C.’s most prominent churches. Metropolitan A.M.E. Church is celebrating its 175th Anniversary. It has long been in the forefront of the civil, cultural and intellectual life of African Americans, hosting speakers including Frederick Douglass, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt, Hubert Humphrey and others. It also hosted the funeral services for Frederick Douglass and A. Philip Randolph, the National Memorial Service for Rosa Parks and the commemoration service for the 20th anniversary of the March on Washington. (www.metropolitaname.org) “There are few congregations in this country with more storied histories than Metropolitan A.M.E.,” said Alan Marshall. “We are honored they have opened their doors and hearts to THE MARCH.” This event on the eve of the 50th Anniversary will be a tribute to those who planned and participated in the March on Washington. The first part of the evening’s program will feature speakers from the civil rights organizations who planned the march and a tribute to all those in attendance who were a part of the civil rights movement. Alan Marshall has made finding veterans of the civil rights movement a top priority in the communities where THE MARCH is performed. "We must honor these brave and beautiful souls while we still have a chance," Marshall continued. Marshall is working to reunite the coalition that planned the 1963 march. He is grateful that the D.C. Branch of the NAACP and the SNCC Legacy Project have already confirmed their participation and extended their support for this event. The SNCC Legacy Project is an organization of activists who were a part of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. It was founded to preserve and extend the legacy of SNCC. “The Movement continues and the legacies of SNCC and the other civil rights organizations need to be brought forward in ways that inform the struggle for freedom, justice and liberty. We believe that THE MARCH Civil Rights Opera Project can educate and inspire the next generation about our work in the civil rights movement,” said Courtland Cox, president of the SNCC Legacy Project. Mr. Marshall hopes that other members of the 1963 coalition, including the Urban League and SCLC, will join SNCC and the DC NAACP at this commemorative event. “The SNCC Legacy Project encourages the development of books and other media by Movement veterans," added Julian Bond, vice president of SLP. "We support projects like THE MARCH that reflect the spirit of 1960's civil rights movement.” Alan Marshall created THE MARCH to call attention to a pivotal period in this nation’s history when Americans of different, races, genders and classes helped to produce the landmark civil rights legislation that brought full citizenship to all Americans. “It is extremely important to this project to have the support of civil rights movement veterans,” said Librettist Alan Marshall. “Our mission is to honor those who participated in the civil rights movement and to inspire new generations to face the social challenges of today.” EVENT DETAILS What: PRELUDE TO A DREAM Mass Meeting Performance & Concert – Free Admission When: Tuesday August 27, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. Where: METROPOLITAN A.M.E. CHURCH - 1518 M Street NW Washington, D.C. 20005 TO COVER THIS EVENT PLEASE CONTACT: 224.202.0417 publicity@ http://youtu.be/ http://youtu.be/ http://youtu.be/ For more info about THE MARCH: www.CivilRIghtsOpera.com www.Facebook.com/ End
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Account Phone Number