EVERETT — Bring your teen.
Village Theatre’s world premiere of the new musical “My Heart is the Drum” — opening April 29 in Everett — deals with family dynamics, educational inequality, prostitution, human trafficking, AIDS, mental health and the rights of women and poor people.
It sounds heavy, but the reality is these issues make for good discussions with high school students. The story also is full of light, courage, hope and even comedy; the music is gorgeous and the singing is spot on.
Here’s the set up: It’s the year 2000 in a small village in Ghana on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa.
A young headstrong woman named Efua Kuti is about to graduate and eager to leave her village to move to the coastal city of Accra. There she hopes to study at the university to become a teacher. But when her folks pull her out of school to work on the family cotton farm and make plans for her to marry, Efua and her cousin Balinda defy their parents and take off for the big city.
The big, bad city.
While the first half of the show is somewhat predictable and even a bit slow-moving, the second half takes off with scary energy. The city is more dangerous than Efua imagined and, as the playbill states, she “finds that more than just her dreams are at stake.”
Director Schele Williams says truths about hardship are all around us, right here in Snohomish County.
“When people ask me what the show is about I always say, it’s about consequence,” Williams wrote for the director’s notes. “Every event in our show triggers a consequence, just like in real life, and when the stakes are higher, the domino effect becomes more evident. Every character in the show is trying to do what is right, but despite their good intention, the result is often vastly different from the intent.”
“My Heart Is the Drum”was originally selected for Village Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals in 2014 and was further developed through the Village Originals program.
Composer Phillip Palmer came up with the concept for the musical after visiting Ghana to study traditional music there and volunteer at a HIV/AIDS counseling center. The book is by Jennie Redling and the lyrics by Stacey Luftig. The music, directed by Christopher D. Littlefield, is full of driving rhythms incorporated into lively choreography by Sonia Dawkins.
The Village designers always need to be mentioned because their work is amazing and enchanting. The set is by Carey Wong, costumes by Karen Ann Ledger, lighting by Aaron Copp and sound design by Brent Warwick.
The cast of 25 African Americans is led by 2015 Gregory award-winner Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako, who is perfect as Efua. The talented Joell Weil plays her cousin Balinda and Jon-Michael Reese steals some scenes as Efua’s fiance, the social phobic Edward.
I got goose bumps when Lauren Du Pree as the prostitute Kanika sang “No Control.” Also notable are Seattle native Shaunyce Omar as Efua’s Nana and Jarvis Antonio Green as Efua’s father Sakuro Kuti. The ensemble includes numerous Village and KidStage veterans, Seattle theater regulars, Cornish College graduates and people with Broadway and national touring backgrounds.
Take your teen, take your mom for Mother’s Day. Sunday matinee seats are beginning to fill up.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
If you go
Village Theatre’s world premiere of the new musical “My Heart is the Drum” is April 29 to May 22 at the Everett Performing Arts Center, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. For tickets, call 425-257-8600 or go to villagetheatre.org/everett/tickets. Group discounts are available. You can see the show twice, the second time for half price. Students are encouraged to show up a half hour before curtain to ask about rush tickets, which are offered for a 50 percent discount.
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