THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602230137
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Today the Chesapeake Central Library will ring with the joyful sounds of freedom.
The Virginia Opera Guild of Portsmouth, under the direction of its founder, Christine M. Davis, will present its production of ``Let My People Go,'' an opera in two acts about the Emancipation Proclamation and its effect on a group of Virginia slaves.
The free production takes place at 2 p.m. today.
The opera itself was written by Davis, who is also founder and organizer of the popular Gospelrama festival held every year during the first weekend in August at Portsmouth's Portside. Davis is also director of H.O.P.S (Helping Others Progress Successfully), a Portsmouth-based community service organization that helps disadvantaged youth and the homeless.
First performed at the Central Library last September at its annual Chesapeake Civil War Days festivities, the production had its origin in the late '50s, when Davis was performing at an Emancipation Day celebration held at Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
``I was inspired by that production,'' Davis said from her Portsmouth home. ``I said to myself that we need something like this and I began to write the opera.''
But she never completed the production until a few years ago when Ports Events director Linda Lamm approached Davis to create a work to be performed at a Portsmouth Civil War festival.
Davis said she completed a short work based on the Emancipation Proclamation, which was performed in front of a local Portsmouth church. The following year, she was again asked by the Ports Events folks to offer an expanded version at the Portside waterfront stage.
``Let My People Go'' was finally completed. The opera is set at Brown's Plantation, a Virginia spread near Washington, D.C. Act one takes place in 1863 just as word of the newly issued Emancipation Proclamation is spreading through the war-torn country. The slaves want to celebrate the good news with a party, but a woman tells them to pray and thank the Lord for their freedom.
Act two takes place two years later in 1865 when the war is finally over. The scene is a church where the same slaves sing, pray and exclaim their joy over finally being made free.
Along with the main characters Lulabell and Joe and other fictional characters, the production also includes Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and Elizabeth Keckly, Mrs. Lincoln's secretary and confidante.
Davis wrote the production using artistic acumen and experience she gained performing opera with the Negro Opera Company of Detroit over 30 years ago. The Portsmouth resident said she had appeared in many productions including her favorites ``Porgy and Bess'' and ``Carmen.''
The Virginia Opera Guild of Portsmouth was founded by Davis in 1963 as a way to present opera to the community. Davis directed her singers throughout the years as they performed songs and excerpts from operas at various South Hampton Roads locations including Norfolk State University.
Today's production will feature more than 30 singers in period costume. Davis will direct and provide accompanying backup music on an electronic keyboard.
Now the production has taken off, having been performed all over the region and state.
``Last year we did 11 performances,'' Davis said. ``I had no idea it would do that well. And the production is already booked just about every weekend through September. We've been asked to perform it again at this year's Chesapeake Civil War Days.''
According to Central Library manager Charles H. ``Chuck'' Anderson, Sunday's performance was scheduled to celebrate February as Black History Month.
``It's a stirring and emotionally uplifting production,'' Anderson said. ``When it was performed on an outside stage at last year's Civil War Days, people all around just stopped and began to watch. It attracted quite a crowd. It's really well worth seeing.''
Last year's Civil War Days setting certainly added to the opera's power, said Warren Freeman, who plays a slave and a black union officer, Dr. Alex Augustana, in the opera.
``It presents some emotional times,'' Freeman said. ``It shows the actual views of the slaves and points out the actual sustaining power of a belief in God.'' ILLUSTRATION: What: ``Let My People Go,'' an original opera about the
Emancipation Proclamation
Who: The Virginia Opera Guild of Portsmouth under the direction
of Christine M. Davis
Where: Chesapeake Central Library, 298 Cedar Road
When: Today at 2 p.m. Free but seating is limited
Call: For more information, call the library at 547-6562
by CNB