"I Am Harvey Milk" tells Milk's story through music, from his boyhood to his assassination.
An oratorio based on the life of gay rights advocate and politician Harvey Milk gets its New England premiere this weekend in New Haven. Oratorios are typically large musical compositions with a dramatic theme, written for orchestra, choir, and soloists; think Handel's "Messiah," or Haydn's "Creation."
Although the oratorio essentially went out of style over 200 years ago, Broadway composer Andrew Lippa resurrected the form to honor the life of the iconic Milk, a San Francisco activist. Milk was assassinated in 1978, along with San Francisco mayor George Moscone, by fellow city supervisor Dan White.
"I Am Harvey Milk" tells Milk's story through music, from his boyhood to his assassination.
"You can tell that Andrew Lippa had fun playing with the different generations of music. There's something from all sort of styles," said Greg McMahan, artistic director of the Connecticut Gay Men's Chorus, who will perform the work this weekend in New Haven.
"One of the pieces takes us to 1977 in [San Francisco's] Castro Street on a weekend, so there is of course a big dance; disco song. Our string bass player has to switch to electric bass, and the drummer has to switch over to a drum set for that one."
"I Am Harvey Milk" receives its New England premier on Saturday night at 8:00 pm, and Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm, at the Theater at the Co-op on College Street in New Haven.
