Headwaters heads into its final weekend
An opening weekend to remember, with genuine hilarity, tearful reunions, and a great leap forward by the performing company. A middle weekend with surprises and changes – get well soon, Amber – and a stronger set of performances every time. And now we head into the final weekend, which will, in all likelihood, blow the doors off of Headwaters: Birth, Death and Places In-Between.
It ain’t over yet, by a long shot, but as we near the final stretch, there is cause for consideration of the process we have been through to make this remarkable show. It began with ideas batted around at this time last year, when Jo Carson, Jerry Grillo, Jerry Stropnicky and Lynn Jeffries assembled in Sautee Nacoochee along with me (Lisa Mount), Terri Edgar, and Tommy Deadwyler, and we began to talk about what the "new Headwaters" should be like. Jerry S admonished us all that it had to be a play with a strong central theme – the first two years’ patchwork structure served for the initial outing, when all we had to do was show people stories about this place, tied together by the place itself. For the second of our commissioned plays, we decided to aim for a show about family.
There’s some debate as to whether we made it – yes, family is shot all through the current Headwaters. But I’m not sure that’s what people are taking away from the performance – the final weekend will be an opportunity to pose the question.
The creation process of a community story play is one part hunting material, another part crafting it into performance text, and still many more parts assembling and promoting the performance itself. We have been blessed with a talented and dedicated ensemble and an amazing artistic team. We have made the historic gymnasium into a much swankier performance space than its ever been (I dare say, not having been here quite ten years, but I challenge you to tell me when it’s looked better). We provided a big set of "wow" moments with the shadow puppets as a way of re-telling the story of a man whose only solid relationship was with a horse.
We’ve been really fortunate to get great press coverage in Northeast Georgia about the show – articles in the White County News and the Northeast Georgian, and oodles of time on the radio (hooray for GPB and WPPR!). And audiences have been strong – with expectations that we’ll sell out the final Saturday night.
Check out this podcast with Candice Felice of WPPR, interviewing me and Jeff Mosier about the music of Headwaters.
What that interview doesn’t say (because it’s only four minutes long) is that the music in Headwaters came from many places, and was suggested by many people. Jerry Grillo brought "The Come Heres and the Been Heres" to the show; Jo Carson’s been longing to have "Ezekial Saw the Wheel" in one of her story plays forever, and we borrowed our version from Lisa Deaton. The Lilies of the Valley (a group of women singers spawned in the first year of Headwaters) sang Dede Vogt’s "Purgatory" this spring, and it was too perfect not to use in the show. My pal Chip Epsten of the Accidental Vaudeville Revival (band) put "Idumea" on the table one night. Tommy Deadwyler knew we had to play "Dooley" and he suggested that "Blue Suede Shoes" was right for the Brothers Tim and Daddy-o — a band name conferred by Walter Daves, who was the one who identified the old version of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," after Vicki McMorrough suggested it. It’s a veritable celtic knot of musical influences. Jeff and I worked on two songs, "Ain’t No Place" and "My Mama Told Me," out of ten in the show.
"And it all gets cut down to size in the end," says the cutting Fate, and on Sunday July 26 we will make Headwaters disappear for another year. We’ve been asking folks for money after every show, and we hope that some has come our way to help support the work of making next year’s play an even better show. The suggestions are already coming in – and you’re welcome to add more.
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