Musical History

Elaine Kendall, Elaine Moe and Dennis Poore, adapted from John Sanford's Feed Their Hopes.

Concert staging.

1 m, 29 f (NYC production was played by 1 m, 5 f)

A celebration of the spirit and imagination of American women, as well as their triumphs and sufferings. The vignettes, half of which are in song, portray Sally Blauvelt, who bore children to Thomas Jefferson, Peggy Arnold, Molly Maguire, Mary Surrat (of the Lincoln conspiracy), Elizabeth Custer, Isadora Duncan, Bessie Smith, Golda Meir, Josephine Baker, Eleanor and Alice Roosevelt, Georgia O'Keefe and 11 other notable, quotable and quite remarkable women. Along the way we have portraits of the infamous Triangle Shirt waist Fire, in which twelve dozen girls died, a "Dear John" letter, and numerous themes of feminist interest.

"Rarely, if ever, do plays celebrate their subject matter as well...American Cantata easily won my vote as the best celebration of American womanhood in recent reckoning."--East Villager

FEE: $75 per performance.

A Piano/Vocal Score is available upon receipt of a $50.00 refundable deposit, a music rental fee of $25.00 for the production, plus a $10.00 music royalty for each performance.