Please Note: A new version of Dark River: The Fannie Lou Hamer Story was created in 2024. It is now called “Is This America? The Fannie Lou Hamer Story.”.
Overview
The opera is about Fannie Lou Hamer, a daughter of share-croppers who became a leader in the Civil Rights movement during the turbulent 1960s.
Is This America? The Fannie Lou Hamer Story (2024)
- Score by Mary D. Watkins, Libretto by Mary D. Watkins & Cerise Lim Jacobs
- Produced by White Snake Projects in Boston, MA (September 2024)
Dark River: The Fannie Lou Hamer Story (2009)
- Score and Libretto by Mary D. Watkins.
- Produced by Oakland Opera Theater in Oakland, CA (November 2009 – conducted by Deirdre McClure); Workshop Production at Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra in South Hadley, MA in April 2014 and concert version in Washington, DC in 2015 (both conducted by Tian Hui Ng); and concert version at Agnes Scott College and Community Orchestra in Atlanta, GA in April 2016 (conducted by Qiao Chen Solomon).
The Story:
Is This America: The Fannie Lou Hamer Story is an opera in two acts about Fannie Lou Hamer, the granddaughter of slaves and daughter of sharecroppers who was one of the first African-Americans to register to vote in Mississippi. She became a leader in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and she endured death threats, beatings, and imprisonment in order to obtain voting rights for her people.
The opera traces Fannie’s childhood, her decision to register to vote, her growing leadership as an activist, and her electrifying televised speech during the 1964 Democratic National Convention which focused national attention on the brutal KKK attacks on African-Americans who tried to vote.
Video Sample:
In this scene from Act Two, Fannie Lou Hamer urges the delegates from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to refuse an offer they have received from Vice President Hubert Humphrey. He has offered to seat two delegates instead of agreeing to seat the whole delegation. Fannie Lou Hamer is performed by Andrea Chinedu Nwoke. The other cast members In this scene are Farah Darliette, Melynda Davis, Ernest Jackson, Robert King, Synthia Pullum, Aaron Reeder, Craig Simonetti, Mauri Tetreault, and Miguel Angel Vasquez.
To see additional videos from previous productions of this opera, please visit our Videos page.
Audio Sample:
In this scene, which follows the scene in the video above, the delegates of the Mississippi Freedom Party sing about their decision to reject the offer from Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
To hear additional audio samples for this opera, please visit our Audio Samples page>>
More Information:
Vocal Forces: 2 Sopranos (1 Principal), 3 Mezzo sopranos, 1 Contralto, 2 Tenors, 3 Baritones. The chorus is formed of the cast members.
Orchestration: 1 Flute, 1 Clarinet, 1 Bassoon, 2 F Horns, 1 Trumpet, 1 Piano, 2 Violins, 1 Viola, 1 Cello, 1 Bass Violin, 1 Electric Bass
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