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SET 4: PROTESTS & PROGRESS UPDATED: Thursday, March 19, 2020 1
(DAVID appears with a scroll or an old large leather-bound book. On the chalkboard is written: “Justice and honor involve danger in practice.” He opens the book and begin to read pre-show announcement.) DAVID: Thank you for joining us for today’s World Premiere performance of Hootenanny: The Musicale. (Begin instrumental underscore of “The Battle of Aughrim.”) Pre-show announcement continues: THE BATTLE OF AUGHRIM (Instrumental) Key: A minor Darcie: Fiddle David: Guitar Hubby: Badhrán Katie: Bass Ken: Mandolin Morgan: Banjo Thanks for joining us and enjoy the performance! (Finish out instrumental) Welcome to Hootenanny: The Musicale! You may be asking yourself, “What is a Hootenanny and/or What is a Musicale? Well, we’re here to help you out with that. (DAVID gestures to MORGAN who steps forward) MORGAN: The Oxford English Dictionary defines Hootenanny as “an informal gathering with folk music and sometimes dancing.” (DAVID gestures to KATIE) KATIE: They define a Musicale as “a musical gathering or concert, typically small and informal.” 2
DAVID: Anyone catch the word those two definitions have in common? (HUBBY holds up sign that says ‘INFORMAL’) DAVID: Great…now that we’ve got that sorted out…Music of many varieties… “Music is what brings us together today!” We all come from somewhere….most everyone in this room—their forebears came to this country in the last 300 years or so, to…seek a new future, to escape a bad situation, to work, or pay off debts, and, many, by force. We may have some folks in this room who have ancestors who came here 10,000 or 15,000 years before the rest of us arrived, but we all come from somewhere— I’m sure y’all can tell by my accent that I’m originally from Oconomowoc, out past Waukesha… No, I don’t come from ‘round here, but I’ll save me for the end. (Band and Stage Manager introductions: ad libbed)) We all come from somewhere and from some…one…s… our family tree, and that—and the music we carry with us— is what tonight is about. My name is David Lutken and I come from Texas and Louisiana and Mississippi, and I’ll be your musical guide…Professor Hootenanny! (Dons his mortar board) Here is me. (KATIE brings out a board with Family Tree on it) And exactly like any person, every song has one of these, too…so many limbs that Hootenanny: The Musicale is actually four—tonight is just one of four separate evenings on different themes; each show follows a branch of America’s Musical family tree over the last few centuries, with stories of how my own family tree is entwined… like twigs, or leaves—flowers, maybe?… or just bark or nuts, depending on the song and which cousin’s singing! Hootenanny: The Musicale is a salute to my forebears, both familial and musical. All the variations are somehow divided and intertwined in my head along the lines of my two 3
grandmothers: Ada Ray and Erma Lutken, one is the ‘hoot’: raw, Southern music straight from the 18th century Appalachian ‘frontier,’ and don’t forget New Orleans.… The other is the ‘musicale,’ steeped in theory, composition and Classical music history, a lot more prim and proper…though she could cut a rug, too! The same way that America is the combination and contributions of all of its people, a living, growing family tree with roots, leaves and flowers—and more than an occasional nut—but the “sap” flows, connects and combines in all directions. Tonight’s show is the music of Protest & Progress. (Rings bell) School’s in session. There’s a quiz at the end of the intermission! Pull out that map, Katie. (KATIE pulls out map of Europe) Some of the oldest music and poetry on earth is about Protest….The Epic of Gilgamesh from? HUBBY: Sumeria. MORGAN: 2,100 B.C. DAVID: Very good! And part of the story is the gods sending a madman, Enkidu, who sings songs, to tell the King of Uruk to stop mistreating his people. Progress is a funny thing. It means different things to different people, and it always has unforeseen effects good and bad: Did everybody check their ‘Book-Face’ today? How’s that twitter-feed? (to Morgan) Is that the same thing as bird seed?….OK… How many of y’all are with me on this: How many Luddites do we have in here tonight? Good! In the same way that history can hinge upon certain people as it does upon events, tonight’s songs are historical, and they also are history. That first song, “After the Battle Of Aughrim” is from? KATIE: The Jacobite Rebellion. DAVID: Yes. A series of uprisings, rebellions and wars in England, Scotland and Ireland. When? 4
HUBBY: 1687 to 1746! DAVID: (writing on the board) Right. Long time… And the name ‘Jacobite’ comes from…? DARCIE: Latin for James. MORGAN: King James the 7th. DAVID: ..or the 2nd depending on which side you’re on…Now songs and poems about wars have been around at least since Homer. But what we think of as a Protest song can be traced to the 17th, 18th & 19th century in England—the Luddites. Ready? THE TRIUMPH OF GENERAL LUDD (to the tune of “Poor Jack”) ALL: CHANT NO MORE YOUR OLD RHYMES ABOUT BOLD ROBIN HOOD, HIS FEATS I BUT LITTLE ADMIRE I WILL SING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF GENERAL LUDD NOW THE HERO OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE BRAVE LUDD WAS TO MEASURES OF VIOLENCE UNUSED TILL HIS SUFFERINGS BECAME SO SEVERE THAT AT LAST TO DEFEND HIS OWN INTEREST HE ROUS’D AND FOR THE GREAT FIGHT DID PREPARE DAVID: My great-great grandfather Edmund Waller was a little boy in England when the famous Luddite protests began… in? MORGAN: Lancashire and Nottinghamshire. HUBBY: 1811—1816. DAVID: That’s right, but sporadic actions to protest working conditions had actually started as early as 1675. In 1811, the character of Ludd was invented in Nottingham when 5
skilled textile workers organized in secret and smashed machinery and burned mills. They were protesting their masters’ employing unskilled laborers at starvation wages and using shoddy, cheap machinery to increase profits. For those years, these ‘protounionists’ staged rallies with songs and marches, and often violent demonstrations under the command of their mythical general: Edmund Ludd. They sometimes dressed in women’s clothing to disguise themselves. (the men put on wigs and skirts) ALL: WHETHER GUARDED BY SOLDIERS ALONG THE HIGHWAY OR CLOSELY SECURED IN A ROOM HE SHIVERS THEM UP BY NIGHT AND BY DAY AND NOTHING CAN SOFTEN THEIR DOOM SHALL THE WHOLE TEAM OF HUMBLE NO LONGER OPPRESSED AND SHALL LUDD SHEATH HIS CONQUERING SWORD BE HIS GRIEVANCES INSTANTLY MET WITH REDRESS THAN PEACE SHALL BE QUICKLY RESTORED. DAVID: The use of protest music, and the use of disguise came across the ocean with the colonists. (MORGAN pulls out map of America) One of the most famous examples in 1773 being… DARCIE: The Boston Tea Party. DAVID: Gold Star!! FREE AMERICA (to the tune of “The British Grenadier”) David: WE LED FAIR FREEDOM HITHER, AND LO! THIS DESERT SMILED, A PARADISE OF PLEASURE WAS OPENED TO THE WORLD; YOUR HARVEST, BOLD AMERICANS, 6
NO POW'R SHALL SNATCH AWAY, HUZZA, HUZZA, HUZZA FOR A FREE AMERICA. TORN FROM A WORLD OF TYRANTS BENEATH THIS WESTERN SKY WE FORMED A NEW DOMINION, A LAND OF LIBERTY; THE WORLD SHALL KNOW WE'RE FREEMEN HERE, AND SUCH WILL EVER BE, HUZZA, HUZZA, HUZZA, FOR LOVE AND LIBERTY. DAVID: Thank you. My great-gr-gr-gr-great grandfather on Ada’s side was a Scotsman, James Anderson, who came over after the Jacobite Rebellion and served as a Captain in the Colonial Army in South Carolina…I learned that song from her “Songs of America” songbook—all the ladies in the D.A.R. had a copy, I’m sure—it was written by General Joseph Warren, one of the wealthier and most prominent Sons Of Liberty, who died leading his men in a charge at the Battle of Bunker Hill. (referring to the quotation on the blackboard) “The path of expediency is safe. Justice and Honor involve Danger in practice.” KATIE: Thucydides: The History of The Peloponnesian War. DAVID: Very good! As our nation progressed, though, those denied their liberty… continued to protest, often in song. NO MORE AUCTION BLOCK Key: C Darcie: Fiddle David: Guitar Hubby: Guitar, Vocals (Lead) Katie: Bass Ken: Mandolin 7
Morgan: Dobro Hubby: NO MORE AUCTION BLOCK FOR ME NO MORE, NO MORE NO MORE AUCTION BLOCK FOR ME MANY THOUSANDS GONE Instrumental – All featuring Morgan (Dobro) All: NO MORE PINT OF SALT FOR ME NO MORE, NO MORE NO MORE PINT OF SALT FOR ME MANY THOUSANDS GONE Instrumental – All featuring Ken (Mandolin) All: NO MORE DRIVER'S LASH FOR ME NO MORE, NO MORE NO MORE DRIVER'S LASH FOR ME MANY THOUSANDS GONE Instrumental – All featuring Darcie (Fiddle) Hubby, David, Darcie: NO MORE AUCTION BLOCK FOR ME NO MORE, NO MORE NO MORE AUCTION BLOCK FOR ME MANY THOUSANDS GONE. KATIE: “The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
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DAVID: Frederick Douglas. It can be difficult to face, but America’s lasting legacies of genocide, racism, slavery and oppression go hand in hand with “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”...pretty heavy stuff, and we—as a nation—are, of course, by no means alone… I try to imagine who it was who wrote that song...or made it up and sang it for the first time. I’m pretty sure that he or she might still be pretty upset if they were around today, but also, I hope, gratified that it’s being sung here tonight. Paul Robeson recorded that song. He was the son of a former slave. My grandmother, Erma, loved his voice. Erma Lutken, my father’s mother, was a Classical Pianist. She was born in Kosciusko (Kah-zee-ess-ko), Mississippi. Is that how y’all say it? I know there’s a park a few miles south of here. MORGAN: Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kosciusko was a Polish General and engineer who fought in our American Revolution. He helped the Colonial Army defeat the British at the Battle of Saratoga. DAVID: Correct. And there’s a bridge in Brooklyn, right Hubby? HUBBY: Kosciusko…fuggedabowdit! DAVID: Erma loved Bach and Handel and Hayden and Mozart, but also very modern and progressive composers like Dvorak, Poulenc, and Gershwin. She loved Gilbert and Sullivan and grand opera: Enrico Caruso, Lauritz Melchior, and there was some hokey stuff on the list, too, that I didn’t really get, like Irving Berlin….now, not to get ahead of myself, and y’all just hold on through this list of seemingly un-related facts (don’t forget, there’s a quiz!!)…but: Irving Berlin, Israel Baline, came to the United States from Russia as a little boy in 1893.. In 1645, the first Jewish families immigrated to New Amsterdam—a group of 23 people. They had actually come from a colony in Brazil—an outpost of Jews who had fled The Inquisition in Portugal 100-or-so years before. 9
Two centuries later, at the brink of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln spoke, famously, about “the better angels of our nature...” Twenty-five years after that, in an incredible gesture, the French Government made a gift of the Statue of ‘Liberty Enlightening the World’, as Ellis Island and the New York harbor began to swell with tens of thousands of immigrants from all over the world seeking a better life. In 1883, Emma Lazarus, not at all an immigrant, but a descendant of those first Portuguese Jewish families 240 years before, wrote “The New Colossus”… (“The New Colossus” underscore starts) THE NEW COLOSSUS Key: B flat Morgan: Piano …to help raise money for the fund to build the statue’s pedestal on what came to be known as Liberty Island…I had to memorize this in the 2nd grade, hope I can remember it. Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips… And in 1949, Irving Berlin—who had sailed past that statue as a 5-year-old refugee—put those 300 years of progress and protest into a song:
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THE NEW COLOSSUS Key: B flat All: Vocals Morgan: Piano All: "GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR, YOUR HUDDLED MASSES YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE, THE WRETCHED REFUSE OF YOUR TEEMING SHORE. SEND THESE, THE HOMELESS, TEMPEST-TOSSED TO ME, I LIFT MY LAMP BESIDE THE GOLDEN DOOR!” (Getting audience to sing-along) “GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR, YOUR HUDDLED MASSES YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE, THE WRETCHED REFUSE OF YOUR TEEMING SHORE. SEND THESE, THE HOMELESS, TEMPEST-TOSSED TO ME, I LIFT MY LAMP BESIDE THE GOLDEN DOOR!” DAVID: The decades around the turn of the 19th to the 20th century saw an incredible amount of upheaval and activism in America and around the world. Joel Emmanuel Haeglund was a “Wobbly”—that’s the name for the militant wing of the I.W.W., the Industrial Workers of the World—and a great poet, songwriter and rabble-rouser. “Rebel Girl” is a song that Haeglund, who American-ized his name to become Joe Hill, wrote about Elizabeth Gurley Flynn after he’d met her when she visited him in jail. Flynn was a Progressive activist from the Scandinavian school, by way of an Irish father. She had started early—arrested at the age of 16 for preaching Socialism on street corners in New York City—the Greta Thunberg of her day. She went on to help found the American Civil Liberties Union...Joe was obviously favorably impressed: REBEL GIRL Key: C Darcie: Guitar, Vocals 11
David: Tenor Banjo Hubby: Bass Katie: Cajon Ken: Banjo Morgan: Mandolin Darcie: THERE ARE WOMEN OF MANY DESCRIPTIONS IN THIS QUEER WORLD, AS EVERYONE KNOWS SOME ARE LIVING IN BEAUTIFUL MANSIONS AND ARE WEARING THE FINEST OF CLOTHES THERE ARE BLUE BLOOD QUEENS AND PRINCESSES WHO HAVE CHARMS MADE OF DIAMONDS AND PEARL BUT THE ONLY AND THOROUGHBRED LADY WITH A REBEL GIRL All: THAT’S THE REBEL GIRL, THE REBEL GIRL! TO THE WORKING CLASS, SHE’S A PRECIOUS PEARL SHE BRINGS COURAGE, PRIDE AND JOY TO THE FIGHTING REBEL BOY WE’VE HAD GIRLS BEFORE, BUT WE NEED SOME MORE IN THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD FOR IT’S GREAT TO FIGHT FOR FREEDOM WITH A REBEL GIRL Instrumental verse – Darcie: YES, HER HANDS MAY BE HARDENED FROM LABOR AND HER DRESS MAY NOT BE VERY FINE BUT A HEART IN HER BOSOM IS BEATING THAT IS TRUE TO HER CLASS AND HER KIND AND THE GRAFTERS IN TERROR ARE TREMBLING
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