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Music by Marisa Michelson
Lyrics by Joshua H. Cohen
Book by Michelson and Cohen
Tamar and the River was written with support from the American Musical Voices Project: The Next Generation at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia.
Traveling/I Float Away
Lead Vocals: Margo Seibert
Vocals: Jake Odmark, Rachel Zampelli, Margot Bassett, Evan Casey, Erika Rose , Lindsay Roberts, Matt Pearson, Jesse Carey-Beaver, Nikolas Vaughn, Amy McWilliams Piano: Gabe Mangiante
Percussion: Alvaro Perdomo
Building My House
Lead Vocals: Evan Casey
Vocals: Margo Seibert, Jake Odmark, Rachel Zampelli, Margot Bassett, Erika Rose , Lindsay Roberts, Matt Pearson, Jesse Carey-Beaver, Nikolas Vaughn, Amy McWilliams
Percussion: Alvaro Perdomo
Finale
Vocals: Margo Seibert, Jake Odmark, Rachel Zampelli, Margot Bassett, Evan Casey, Erika Rose, Lindsay Roberts, Matt Pearson, Jesse Carey-Beaver, Nikolas Vaughn, Amy McWilliams, Craig Wallace
Piano: Gabe Mangiante
Percussion: Alvaro Perdomo
Tamar and the River is a fairy tale for adults inspired by the biblical story of Tamar, daughter-in-law of Judah. Set in a fictitious world where fighting is constant and war is imminent, a young Tamar believes she has been chosen by God (the River) to bring peace between the lands of the East and the West. Single-mindedly pursuing this end, Tamar makes decisions she later struggles to justify and accept.
The music has been partly inspired by influences of Middle Eastern, Jewish, Asian music and pre-Western chanting, even while the score as a whole lives primarily in the world of modern musical theatre. The texture of the score is enlivened by the use of multiple voices that weave in and out of the action, creating a bridge between singing and speaking that is meant to bring to life the easeful flow between reality and imagination that exists for the characters in this world. The River (made up of ten voices) embodies this transparency most fully, singing sometimes in canon, sometimes in close harmonies, and often with extended musical sounds using words we have taken from various world languages. This is a world where the River communicates to everyone through wordless singing, but only a chosen few can understand the words. We hope that the music of the river will draw out of the audience a kind of listening that is deeper and more attentive than that of the everyday.
For Tamar, music is a bridge to a world she experiences but can not name. In singing itself, Tamar finds a way to unite herself with the River. But Tamar´s journey is not a linear one; at other times her intense personal struggles are overpowering and in these cases, music becomes an expression of what is raw and primal within her. In fact, the tone of this piece lives between the extremes of what is primal vs. what is transcendent, and the human journey to integrate both polarities into a complete experience of the world.
Tamar´s story is a dynamic, muscular one. She is always in motion, moving forward, pursuing her goal. When walls erect front of her, she knocks them down or goes around them. Along the way she meets other powerful people whose purposes are different from hers, and it is these interactions that propel the piece forward. Again working with polarities, we hope the audience will experience moments of excitement and suspense, alongside those of contemplation and silence.
Tamar and the River was written with support from the American Musical Voices Project: The Next Generation at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia.
First workshop with the Signature Theatre, July 9-10, 2010
