Looking Back on I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams
Dear Friends of White Snake Projects:
It’s been a month since we closed I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams, An Immigrant Story. And what a month it was. We sat cloistered in a rehearsal room putting the piece up brick by brick, examining it at a granular level, working the music with conductor Maria Sensi Sellner, seeing the characters develop, physically and emotionally, under director Elena Araoz‘s deft hand, and we wept. We wept for the tragedy of our migrant neighbors, for our inability to find a constructive way through the morass that passes for immigration policy, and for the inhumanity wreaked on children and families. Such is the power of art, especially opera, to illumine and focus the raw elements of everyday life.
This power rocked the Paramount Theater in all three performances as you, our audience, wept with us. The singers were galvanized by the waves of emotion you generated and the conductor heard your sobs welling up like another chorus.
So where are we now that the show has closed? Nothing has changed politically: the Supreme Court is hearing the challenge to the President’s revocation of DACA this Term, the plight of migrant children and families remains in limbo. But we—our artists, creatives, crew and audience—have been changed by the experience of I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams. I know from feedback that we are more open to what our migrant neighbors are enduring, some of us are searching for ways to lend a helping hand, some are inspired to be activists, and all of us are thinking about the issues. Like building this show, it’s one brick at a time as we build a more caring community. And I’m grateful to be part of this building.
Warmly,
Cerise
Share this Blog
Related Reading
I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams—Boston 2019I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams