Harlem Symphony

Conceived by Musical Director Linda Twine and producer Hiromi Sakamoto we built Harlem Symphony from scratch in New York City.  Linda Twine gathered some of the top musical talent in the African American community in New York circa 1994. Hiromi’s idea was to put together a musical revue. I was hired to write the little outros and intros between the numbers. I was there about 4 days when I told Hiromi that he should let me write a play and plug the songs into a two act tale of love and loss and civil rights and world war. He said we only have 6 weeks and we open in Osaka. I nodded. (I was so cocky then. I thought I could do anything)  Six weeks later we had a dynamite two act play with music that was almost ready to put on stage. But not quite. I hitched a ride to Osaka to take care of any last minute changes while the cast worked day and night rehearsing, modifying and creating. Opening Night with search lights and limos and tuxedos, we only had time to do the tech. When the curtain rose we were performing the play straight through for the first time. None of us had any idea if it would work.

It did. We were on TV shows and won awards in Japan. We had a Japanese audience in Osaka rushing the stage. The wonderful singer, Jennifer Leigh Warren, was spectacular, as ever.