The HawtPlates' Present WATERBOY AND THE MIGHTY WORLD

The Bushwick Starr is thrilled to kick off our 2019-20 Season with Waterboy and the Mighty World, a new piece created by Justin Hicks, Kenita Miller-Hicks, and Jade Hicks, the husband-wife-sister trio The HawtPlates (690 Wishes at JACK and PS122). The group features Justin Hicks, composer/performer from Lynn Nottage's Mlima's Tale (The Public Theater), Empire State Works in Progress (The Whitney Museum), and Shasta Geaux Pop (The Highline) among others.

Waterboy and the Mighty World examines the relationship between people of color and law enforcement in America. [Who is being policed? Who is being protected? Who and what kind of people are enforcing the laws of the land?] The performance reinterprets and remixes traditional songs made famous by Odetta Holmes - the voice of the civil rights movement - with original compositions that piece together the life of legendary Bass Reeves, the first African American US Marshall. The Hawtplates have created a musical landscape that borrows from Korean pansori, mantra, dirge, gospel music, and experimental R&B that invites us to reconsider our contemporary historical moment, and honors both the folk and political history of a too often neglected American songbook. Part live concert, part concept album - Waterboy is a testament to the power of the human voice lifted in praise and protest.

Waterboy and the Mighty World features Justin Hicks, Kenita Miller-Hicks, and Jade Hicks

Scenic Design and Art Direction: Breck Omar Brunson, Lighting Design: Hao Bai, Sound and Recording Design: Ernie Indradat, Text: Quincy Flowers, Dramaturg: Sunder Ganglani, Producer: Jennifer Harrison Newman

This project is supported in part by a commission from The Bushwick Starr, and development included a residency at NACL (North American Cultural Laboratory) in Summer 2019 as part of a new long-term partnership with The Bushwick Starr.

Tickets are available now at: www.thebushwickstarr.org

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