Wade in the Water!

Harriet Tubman sang this spiritual as a warning to runaway slaves. To escaping slaves, the song told them to abandon the path and move into the water. By travelling along the water’s edge or across a body of water, the slaves would throw chasing dogs and their keepers off the scent.

Last night I had the pleasure of being a part of an awesome workshop for the new musical, "Harriet!" It was written by Colette Call and her brother, J. Michael Call. We performed the workshop at the Rose Wagner Theater in downtown SLC in the Black Box, with an audience of about 100 people. It was my first workshop, and what a fantastic process to be a part of! I played the role of John Tubman, a free slave who didn't really share Harriet's dream of running North. She knew she could potentially be sold and her marriage would be split apart. John didn't want her to run, and essentially gave her the ultimatum of "If you run, I'll turn you in!" So what does she do? She runs. Harriet comes back two years later, and finds John has re-married, not sure she would ever be returning. The material was deep, and throughout this process I learned so much about H-Tub, that I'd never learned before. 

For the workshop, we had a cast of about 50 talented performers. It was a pleasure to be able to share the stage with some of my most favorite people such as Josephine Scere and Carleton Bluford. We put the workshop together in only 4 rehearsals. Our original performance date of November 23rd was rescheduled to last night due to a "blizzard" that Utah received that day, canceling most activities in the area. 

The production was received well by the audience, and during Q & A we got some great feedback as to the material, the length and the quality of music. We only performed Act 1 of the musical last night, and the next step for Colette and Michael is to finish Act 2, completing the whole show. 

I look forward to hopefully being a part of this finished product and sharing this amazing story of Harriet Tubman with the world!