The setting at the end of the second act
of the musical "Journey of Hope...moving from violence to healing" is
a familiar scene: a courtroom. The judge gravely announces the death of an
18-month-old child. The somber group of attorneys, social worker, counselor,
policeman and judge are saddened and frustrated by the announcement. They had
all sincerely tried to do their best for the child, born to a mother addicted to
crack. Custody had been given to the father; it seemed the right thing to do.
But he was an abuser. In a moment of frustration and rage he threw the child
across the room.
After the judge's announcement, one of the attorneys (a soprano) begins a plaintive song:
Such a tiny child, such little fingers. Such a tiny child, now gone.
It's a breathtaking scene, a moment of barely suppressed sobs for a child known only in musical drama, a child never seen by the audience. The chorus of forty people on stage begin to sing: Such a tiny child; we didn't know you.
A procession of characters already introduced in the musical make their way through the crowd: a boy with a gun, an elderly woman clutching her purse as someone tries to wrench it from her, a pregnant teen, a homeless man, a young man in prison fatigues bearing a sign that tells his story. Death Row. As each person is spotlighted, the narrator intones: Such a tiny child.
A candlelit stage ritualized the scene as everyone in the cast lights a candle and joins in a requiem for the lost child: Requiem eterna, pacem, pacem. The words "rest in peace" blend musically with an anguished "such a tiny child" as at the end of Act Two the lights go down on the "children" of our society victimized by violence.
Another courtroom scene in the musical deals with a welfare mother. Mrs. Johnson has turned her life around. Her kids received aid to dependent children with medical benefits and didn't report the sporadic child support payments from an absentee father because her boy had to have hospital care and she needed those benefits. She's being prosecuted for welfare fraud. The judge grows impatient with her interruptions to the stream of testimony against her and threatens to hold her in contempt. Finally, in a no-holds-barred challenge to the judge, the attorneys and the white bailiff, this Black welfare mother takes on the whole "justice" system in a rap called "Righteous Indignation."
Other scenes deal with domestic violence, teen suicide and runaways.
Susan R. Beehler, the United Methodist clergywomen from El Paso TX who created the music and script for this production, describes it as her attempt to illuminate the various issues of violence and how they impact our lives. Looking at violence through the art form of a musical drama, the myriad issues and layers of complexity in our society can be examined in a less threatening way.
Violence, after all, is not simply the daily re-enactment of faraway events played out on a television screen or in our newspapers. It takes place in our own communities--in our homes, schools and streets. There are no easy answers. But the abiding question is "Does anybody care?"
"Journey of Hope" is Dr. Beehler's third musical creation dealing with how we care for one another. The first, titled "Closettes," suggests those places in our lives where secrets are kept, often because of society's judgmental and oppressive behavior. Set in a recovery center, women come to deal with issues that include insecurity, disappointment and addiction, and even competitiveness with other women. Within the women's community, they find open doors to healing.
The second, "The Party's Not Over," is set in a retirement/nursing home. This musical focuses on issues of aging, health care, family transitions, dying and living. Even in the midst of major life changes, the musical invites us to live each precious day to its fullest.
Where is the hope for our lives? Does anyone believe? Does anybody care?
Marcia Gleckler is president of Hacienda Springs, Inc., a women's center for culturing and creativity based in El Paso TX, the umbrella organization for the three musical productions created and produces by the Rev. Dr. Susan R. Beehler. For more information about Hacienda Springs or the three musicals, contact: Susan R. Beehler / 3315 Moonlight / El Paso TX 79904. Marcia Gleckler also headed resource development for the Women's Division, General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church in NYC until her retirement in 1999.
Other articles by Marcia Gleckler
- Who Will Go With My People? - Marcia remembers the first retreat she attended led by Carolyn McDade.
- As We So Love - Carolyn McDade's music is a conversation between land, music, and our souls.
- This Ancient Love - The making of the Carolyn McDade's video conversation between land and music.
- The Children of Africa - Marcia reflects on how experiences 45 years earlier prepared her for "today."
Resources by Carolyn McDade are available through Faith@Work.com.
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