News
“The Will” at Idlewild: Classical Connections to African American Culture - Friday, May 30 - Sunday, June 1
- May 30, 2008
Media Contact(s)
Sandra Seaton
Program Contact(s)
Sandra Seaton
Tickets for the play are $10.
Admission to the “Conversations”
panels is included with purchase of
play ticket.
Location:
All events take place at the
Idlewild Historic Cultural Center
7025 Broadway Avenue
Idlewild, Michigan 49642
“The Will,” written by Sandra Seaton, emeritus professor of English at Central Michigan University, portrays the life of an African American family in a small town in Tennessee after the Civil War. The play offers both a dramatization of the experience of African Americans during Reconstruction and an interpretation of African American culture that brings out the place of classical music in African American history and life. The story of families like the Websters of “The Will” remains almost entirely untold. The father of the family, Cyrus Webster, is determined to pass on not only his worldly possessions but also his courage and wisdom to his descendants.
The character of Patti was inspired by the life of Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, a renowned African American opera singer of the Civil War and Reconstruction era. For more information, visit www.grad.cmich.edu/seaton.
Additional weekend activities
Conversations on African American Culture and Classical Music
- Saturday, May 31 from 2 to 5 p.m.
- Panel discussions on the African American presence in opera from the late 19 century to the present day
- Organized by Naomi Andre University of Michigan Musicologist
Youth Workshops, Clinics, and Master Classes
- Offered throughout the weekend
Event participants include
Naomi Andre, Aaron Dworkin, Celeste Headlee,
Alexandra Mascolo-David, Erik Santos, Sandra Seaton,
George Shirley, The Harlem Quartet: A Sphinx Ensemble
This project is funded in part by the Michigan Humanities Council, CMU’s Center for Public Service through
Music and the Arts; CMU’s College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences, CMU’s University
Events, Creative Concepts for Arts, Inc., and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance.
