ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
TROY ANTHONY is a Kentucky-born composer, director, and theater-maker based in NYC rigorously practicing Black queer joy. He is the Founding Creative Director of Fire Ensemble Inc. where he focuses on the intersection between music theater, community practice, and social justice. He has presented work at 54 Below, JACK, Joe’s Pub, The Kennedy Center, Prospect Theater Company, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Commissions include 5th Avenue Theater, The Civilians, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Public Theater, St. Louis Rep, and The Shed.
THE FIRE ENSEMBLE is a community-centered production company that creates revolutionary new work rooted in music, ritual, and revelation by gathering through choirs that foster collective liberation. At the center of the company is The Fire Ensemble–an intergenerational pop-up choir community that centers BIPOC and queer folx. We invite a range of community members to
rehearse, workshop, and perform in transformative large-scale music theater works and rituals rooted in predominantly Black musical styles including gospel, R&B, and musical theater.
Although performances are moments of culmination and expand the circle of sharing, the emphasis of our projects are on the process, and the space of community that is built through gathering. The Fire Ensemble works with many other artistic institutions to produce workshops and commissioned projects by Troy Anthony. Generous support for Fire Ensemble Inc is provided by The Darnell-Moser Charitable Fund and The Mellon Foundation. The Fire Ensemble is a fiscally sponsored project of Producer Hub.
CREDITS:
Written by Troy Anthony
Additional Songs by Sam Appiah, Tony George, and Johnathan Johnson
Additional Lyrics by Vonae McCray and Assata Shakur
Music Direction by Sam Appiah
Dramaturgy by Ava Tiye
Produced in Partnership with 651 Arts.
Originally Commissioned by The Shed as a part of “Open Call”
