Episode #27: The River – Part One

Scattershot Symphony #27

The River – Part One

Welcome to:

Scattershot Symphony

The Music of Peter Link

(That’s me.)

This week being the twenty-seventh episode of this podcast, 

I prefer to let the music do the talkin’.  However, if you need to know more about me, please visit Wikipedia.com – Peter Link.   

This episode is entitled

The River – Part One

The River — A Musical Revelation, concept by Peter Link and William Spencer Reilly, Music and Lyrics by Yours Truly opened in New York at Off-Broadway’s Promenade Theater in January of 1988 to rave reviews by 23 of the 25 major critics who attended. Included in that was a rave from the New York Times, the all important hit maker, who stated, “The River is, in fact, a celebration, that is directly communicated from the performers to the audience. It is an abundant musical evening. It moves on to an even greater affirmation of the spirit of man. Join in the celebration! Join in the exaltation!”

The River, and the NY Shakespeare Theater’s production of Much Ado About Nothing, were the two best reviewed NY shows I ever scored. Much Ado became, at that time, the longest running Shakespeare production to ever run on Broadway and then became a 3 hour IBM Television special. And The River, for which my reviews were nothing short of sensational, closed in three weeks. The closing, for me, was devastating. It was the experience that made me walk away from the theater then, for the next thirty years.

What was the difference between the success of the two productions? 

The producers. Much Ado’s producer, Joseph Papp was considered one of the genius producers of the American theater and The River’s producers made one financial mistake after another and ran out of money early, consequently not having the necessary funds to promote our tremendous reviews on television. The show opened in a NY January sub-zero degree cold spell where nobody wanted to wait in line in the freezing weather long enough to buy a ticket. The audiences who did come, went nuts, show after show. And on closing night refused to leave the theater in protest of the closing for two hours after the final curtain came down.

It was a night I’ll never forget. I went to bed that night knowing for sure that the tirade of the impassioned audience would turn the tables for us and we would survive the mistakes of the producers. But, again, there was no money. So the theater owners closed the doors. That rollercoaster ride of 24 hours absolutely broke my heart and changed my life forever. 

The summer before we had tested the show, what I always thought was really a theatrical concert and not a Broadway Musical, at the Lincoln Center Out Of Doors festival for three straight nights to huge standing ovation cheering audiences. Everybody knew we had a hit on our hands.

With an all black cast it was, well, don’t take my word for it, here’s a quote from the Amsterdam News, the foremost black newspaper. Quote. “There definitely is Gospel Music, and it is the finest. But there are also Pop songs with a serious beat and great lyrics that could cut it on the Pop charts as is. In fact, the whole show is album ready and would be a welcome addition to today’s music market.”

But, of course, none of that ever happened. 

I’ll let the critic from the NY Times tell you what the show is all about. I quote. “Peter Link’s, new musical “The River“ is a collage of rock, rap and pop, gospel, extolling water in spiritual and metaphorical terms. In Mr. Link’s lyrics, water falls, tumbles, rains and rushes in the streams, rivers to the oceans and is then drawn back into the heavens by the sun to begin the cycle again. Mr. Link parallels the cycle of water and the life cycle of man.” End quote. So, man falls from grace and travels in his or her lifetime across this material plain, Planet Earth, and hopefully, in the end, ascends back up into Heaven. The show, which has no spoken dialogue is entirely sung. Is it an opera? No. It is a theatrical concert.

It begins in the heavens, and it’s narrator, played most effectively by our tenor, John Danny Madden, sets the tone and leads us spiritually through the experience.  Omi, Omi, Omi Lenia an imagined Nigerian folk chant, translates to “Water is like man” followed by Oshun Oshun Awa Toro Alafia —  “Goddess of the River, bring us peace.” This is followed by our opening number by the entire cast which sets the theme. Let us begin.

Scene One, The Heavens — Circle.

Circle

The song, “Didn’t It Rain” is a spiritual classic in the public domain. The preface to this next song is original.

And so, as the storm clouds gather. The women of the show, Stephanie James, Carol Dennis, Jenny Burton and our lead singer for this song, Valerie K. Eley begin the journey of man to earth and water to ground.

Scene Two, Rainfall — Didn’t It Rain

Didn’t It Rain

We continue with our narrator, Danny Madden and follow the progress of One Drop Alone as it falls and begins its journey.

One Drop Alone — Danny Madden

One Drop Alone

Put The Fire Out — Jenny Burton and Cast Women  

Put The Fire Out

Lawrence Hamilton, Ray Stevens, and Danny Madden

Three human men losing their way and 

Wandering In The Wilderness

Wandering In The Wilderness

A solution to losing one’s way in this life  …

Listen to the Still Small Voice within.

Carol Dennis

A Still Small Voice

A Still Small Voice

Scene four, The Stream

And so, the lost find their way in listening and the joining of forces.

Danny leads us. 

One Drop Alone

Now Carol Dennis and Company 

Lead Me To The Water

Lead Me To The Water

And so, the purification begins … The Baptism 

Then, Don’t It Feel Good

Jenny Burton and Company.

The Baptism

Don’t It Feel Good

So there ya’ have it. Episode 27: The River – Part One. Next? Episode 28: The River – Part Two (Of three.)

Thus ends Part One of The River. 

We are bringing you the entire show, the closing night, its final performance.

Great gratitude goes to Jeremy Harris, our most loved mixing and sound engineer, for capturing digitally this historic moment in time. Had he not had the inspiration to do this, The River would just be a fading moment in time for only a few.

The River, Part Two to follow …

Stay Tuned!

Also, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts … etc.

A very special thanks also to Stuart Barefoot, our Associate Producer for all your invaluable knowledge and good vibes.

And a posthumous thanks to Ludwig Van Beethoven for your opening 4 bars. 

Julia

(over playout music)

This podcast is presented with loving care by the staff at Watchfire Music. If you liked what you heard, we got lots more where that came from. In the meantime, you can find the songs you just heard on watchfiremusic.com. There you can purchase the singles or albums and have access to all the lyrics. Also, there you will find all previous podcasts and future scheduling.

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