THE HOUSE I LIVE IN: JOSH WHITE’S AMERICA Will Come to the South Carolina New Play Festival
Performances of this world premiere musical will run July 29 - August 9 at The Cristal Palace Spiegeltent in Greenville.
The House I Live In: Josh White’s America will come to the South Carolina New Play Festival this summer. Performances of this world premiere musical will run July 29 - August 9 at The Cristal Palace Spiegeltent in Greenville, SC.
Born in Greenville, Josh White grew up leading blind street musicians through the Upstate before rising to national fame in the 1930s and '40s. He became the first Black artist to sell a million records, shared stages with Billie Holiday, Woody Guthrie, and Duke Ellington at legendary New York venues like Café Society (the nation's first integrated nightclub) and became a pioneer of the civil rights movement before the House Un-American Activities Committee tried to silence him.
Now, his story is coming home in our first “full production”, complete with costumes, scenery, lighting, and choreography. If you’ve loved our music-stand readings, you’ll go crazy for our World Premiere production in the FULLY AIR-CONDITIONED Cristal Palace!
SCNPF commissioned award-winning playwright Donnetta Lavinia Grays and spent three years facilitating original research and interviews with Josh White's family members, local historians, and Greenville community leaders to create a work rooted in the real voices of the people who knew him and the city that shaped him.
Several of those who shared their stories, including civil rights activist Ruth Ann Butler, community leader Mary Duckett, and Beverly White and Josh White Jr., passed away during the creation of this project. The House I Live In remembers their stories.
The production is directed by Tamilla Woodard with Musical Direction by Wesley Hix. This is SCNPF's first-ever full production.
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