The Legacy of a Dreamer

Whenever anyone asks me why I am so passionate about this show, my response is "because my grandfather was a dreamer".  Referring, of course, to the modern connotation of immigrants currently seeking citizenship in America.  When Enrico Ciampoli immigrated to America in 1915, he was 16 years old.  When he enlisted in the American Armed Forces in 1917 he was not yet an American citizen, and not until 2 years after the war had ended was he naturalized.  His love and devotion to this country was expressed without reservation, as is the case with so many today who dream of becoming Americans. In LIBERTY, the young Giovanni studies English by reading discarded newspapers.  This is yet another parallel to Enrico, who taught himself English in the same way.  The courage and determination required to begin life anew is overwhelming to me, and if this show helps people reflect on the journeys of our ancestors, than we will have accomplished a great deal. For me, this entertainment is fairly serious business.  Delivered with many laughs and beautiful songs, but always underscored with history and family.  To the dreamers old and new.

Theresa WozunkProducer - LIBERTY A Monumental New Musical

Liberty and Me

I just love a big woman with a thing for immigrants. My 5’6”grandmother weighed 190 lbs. on her wedding day in 1920 to my 5’4” grandfather – who only weighed 155 lbs. She looks as if she is going to devour him (in that really sexy, good way) in their wedding picture. And according to my mother, they  were the happiest couple to ever walk the face of the earth. My grandfather was an Italian immigrant, who literally walked off the boat and into the arms of that big, jolly woman.

On my 14th birthday I came to NYC for the first time in my life. 

I climbed to the top of Statue of Liberty and looked out at NY Harbor through the windows of her crown, then saw my first Broadway Show – “Grease”. Some might say that this was a very formative day in my life. Fast-forward to 1986 and I found myself standing on the Brooklyn Bridge watching the fireworks fly overhead celebrating the Statue’s 100th Birthday. Forward again to 2006 and I get my first glimpse of a showcase production of LIBERTY.

More than 4 million people a year take the time to get a close look at Liberty Enlightening the World (the statue’s real title). Maybe I’m crazy, but I think that a small percentage of them actually THINK about her. We have lent our songs in celebration of her 125th Anniversary and enjoyed a successful premiere this past year.  Now we look forward to sharing her story with millions more.

Theresa Wozunk -  Producer Liberty The Musical

My grandmother is ninety-eight years old.

She was born here, in America, on the lower East side of New York City. But two of her older sisters were born in the old country -Russia - on a farm in a small town. She was given the biblical name Rebecca, though her family called her Bekeleh (little Becky). I only knew her as Betty, the name she took in honor of Betty Grable, the American actress, who had long American legs and blonde American hair.

When my grandmother was old enough, she would dye her hair to be blonder than Betty Grable’s, as blonde as Jean Harlow’s. And she’d name her dog Harlow as well. My grandmother was always Betty, to everyone who met her, never Grandma, and never unglamorous. But in her wedding picture, she has brown hair, because her traditional immigrant parents wanted her to look traditional as well. She didn’t want anything to do with the old country. Though her parents barely learned English, she had no accent and no interest in ever going back to Europe. When I spent a summer traveling overseas, she asked “Why do you want to go back there? We came from there.” For her, America was the goal, the finish line, the promised land. Why go anywhere else? She wasn’t religious. For her, the promised land was a place where she could buy a pocketbook on sale, sell it at a mark-up at the local senior center, and then spend the dollar on new mascara or a package of false eyelashes. My grandmother was a true capitalist. And that’s exactly how she wanted it. 

In the 1970’s, when her neighborhood in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, started to be known as Little Odessa, because so many Russian immigrants were settling there, it was confusing for her. Were they like her or not? She was American. They weren’t. But they understood some Yiddish, like she did. They dyed their hair blonde and wore furs and high heels and loved the gourmet food shops that were now springing up all along Neptune Avenue. Just like she did. But they were refugees, escape artists, runaways from repression and dictatorship. She wasn’t running away from anything. She was American. 

For the first time, though, she began to look back. These new arrivals sounded like her mother, who had passed away decades before. But they didn’t look like her mother. They drove shiny cars, they polished their long fingernails. They looked good. And they cared that they looked good. But they had been through something. Made sacrifices. For this. For the future. So that they and their children could become or be born American. Her parents had done exactly the same thing – everything they did was for her, so she could be Betty. American. And she was. And she was grateful.

-Dana Leslie Goldstein, Book Writer/Lyricist

LIBERTY Definitely Lives!

There is a certain sadness that plagues all writers, actors, and producers once the final bows have been taken after a successful run.  A few days after strike, when the void settles in and we long for those days and nights that so recently included chaos, lights, music, laughter & applause, and those mysterious breathless silences in a theater filled with a captive audience.  There’s nothing more exciting than making theater happen.  No wonder we mourn a little at the end of each successful run!  But, for me, the beginning of our amazing run at The Warner Theatre in Torrington, CT forced me to begin to brace myself for the end, because I knew I was going to miss this theater and cast deeply when it was all over.

From the first full rehearsal that I attended, I could see that Igor (Goldin) and Jeff (Lodin) had worked with this extraordinary cast to create a production that would set a very high bar – even for our up-coming NY production.  Voices soared, most of the cast had already settled into character, and the staging was mesmerizing.  What would this look like with our set & lights, on that expansive stage?  As the characters of Emma Lazarus, Liberty, and Samuel Ferguson reached the end of the song “More”, both Dana (Goldstein) and I had tears in our eyes, and all of my hopes kept lifting higher and higher.  We should’ve been able to relax, knowing that we were in good shape.  But, I was immediately jumping ahead in time to when this would have to end.  

 

The following week, as the set began to take shape and the lights began to focus, I found out that I was living in a blissful state of shock.  Josh (Zangen), Cory (Pattak), Olivera (Gajic) had designed a truly breathtaking world for LIBERTY.  The staff and volunteers of The Warner worked tirelessly, the musicians brought Brian’s (Crook) new orchestrations to life and each moment of rehearsal was filled with surprises and excitement, and that nagging thought that we only had 8 performances to share.  I was both happy and sad, and couldn’t help but wonder if my inner turmoil was showing.  

Both John Bonanni (Executive Director of The Warner) and I were thrilled with the results of this new collaboration. What an absolute relief that this first venture between our NY team and The Warner Stage Company (an exceptional community theater) could yield such riches?  My father’s stoicism took hold, and all I could do was smile to my core.

Through the course of the run, I did my best to thank each member of the cast, and the supporting crew, but know I must have missed a few.  Everyone that worked on LIBERTY at The Warner should know that you really did “make history”, and I am forever grateful that this partnership was formed.

Inside the mind of Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer for LIBERTY 

"These images show the grand scale of the location we're depicting....the sky and sea stretching out far beyond the docks of lower Manhattan. We're hoping to create some beautiful sunsets and sunrises that silhouette the Castle Garden structure as well as our 'ship rigging.' The long and powerful shadows convey a sense of oppression that new immigrants face coming to this new land. Everything around them is big and scary: the people, the industrial revolution, the government..and it's easy for them to feel lost and isolated in this unknown place. Set against the open sky and the tall shadows..we will watch Liberty rise up to be the grandest of them all and cast a shadow that is not intimidating, but welcoming."

                                                                                                                     - Cory Pattak

Below are images that have inspired Cory in his work with LIBERTY's Director, Igor Goldin and
Set Designer, Josh Zangen. 

We are proud to announce the world premiere of LIBERTY A Monumental New Musical at the Warner Theatre, beginning Saturday, June 30th, 2012!

The Warner Theatre (John Bonanni, Executive Director) by special arrangement with Theresa Wozunk will present the world premiere of LIBERTY A Monumental New Musical– with book and lyrics by Dana Leslie Goldstein and music by Jon Goldstein. Directed by Igor Goldin, performances of LIBERTY A Monumental New Musical begin June 30th, 2012 and continue through July 14th at the Warner Theatre in Torrington, Connecticut.

LIBERTY tells the story of America’s most famous immigrant who arrives from France in 1884 amid anti-foreigner fervor. With powerful political forces working against her and only a precious few on her side, Liberty ultimately wins over the people of the United States and takes her rightful place on the pedesta. LIBERTY serves as a theatrical reminder of not only what this country was meant to become, but how we have, in recent years, lost sight of the “Golden Door.”

Notes John Bonanni, Warner's Executive Director,“This is a great opportunity for our community actors and volunteers to be involved in the mounting of a first class production slated for New York. The use of our state of the art performance and rehearsal spaces is a great value for the Liberty Company, providing an environment that is conducive to artistic development”.

LIBERTY A Monumental New Musical features a book and lyrics by Dana Leslie Goldstein and music by Jon Goldstein. As the show prepares for an off-Broadway premiere in New York City, it has been performed at events for the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and the New York Immigration Coalition, been presented as a developmental workshop as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s Immigrant Heritage Week,and been part of the grand reopening of the crown of the Statue of Liberty on July 4th, 2009 and, most recently, the official celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Statueof Liberty National Monument on October 28th, 2011. At that event, the song “Huddled Masses” from LIBERTY was performed by Esther Stilwell (SPAMALOT) and Lewis Grosso (MARY POPPINS), accompanied by the Brooklyn High School of the Arts choir, winners of the show’s Public Schools Sing LIBERTY 125! Choir Contest. LIBERTY’s creative team includes director Igor Goldin,choreographer Jeffry Denman and music director Jeffrey Lodin. After a recent performance at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum Gala, Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch proclaimed “Give me more LIBERTY! It’s the story of our city,and our country, and I can’t wait to see this show where it belongs – on a New York stage!”

Dana Leslie Goldstein is a playwright, lyricist and poet whose writing has won the New England New Play Competition, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Playwriting Prize, Different Voices New Play Award, ACTF New Play Award, the Henry Hoyns Poetry Fellowship, AWP Intro Award and an Academy of American Poets Prize. Dana’s work has been seen at The Cherry Lane, Culture Project, Julia Miles Theater, York Theatre Company, New Dramatists, Center Stage, BMI, Vineyard Playhouse, Pulse, Theater Row Theatre, Gene Frankel Theatre, The Barrow Group, Acorn Theatre, LArk Theatre Company, Beckett Theatre, Neighborhood Playhouse, WorkShop Theater, Pacific Theatre (Vancouver), Tisch Asia (Singapore), at the New York Musical Theatre Festival ‘08 & ’09, on Ellis and Liberty Islands, at the United Nations and on Equity TYA tours throughout the East Coast. She has been commissioned to create a site-specific theatrical work for the plaza of the Grace Building in midtown Manhattan. Dana holds MFAs in Playwriting and Poetry. She has been a lyricist at BMI and member of the Playwrights Lab at The Women’s Project. She is a recurring panelist for the 5,000 Women Festival at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, as well as a member of the Workshop Theater, New Shoe and the Dramatists Guild.

Jon Goldstein has been writing songs for 25 years. In his twenties he performed regularly as a singer/songwriter at coffeehouses and bars on Long Island. For the past decade he has focused his attention on composing for musical theatre. His plays have been seen in New York City at The Acorn Theatre, The Algonquin Theater, The Cherry Lane Theatre, The Culture Project, The Women’s Project, and The Workshop Theatre Company, Liberty Island and the United Nations; regionally at Hartford Children’s Theatre, Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center, The Rhinebeck Performing Arts Center and on Equity TYA tours throughout the East coast. Jon’s latest musical THIS YEAR IN
JERUSALEM, (book & lyrics by Dana Leslie Goldstein), is expected to be produced by The WorkShop Theater Company this year. He recently released his third album of original songs, entitled Beautiful. A new acoustic album is also due out this year. Jon is amember of The Workshop Theater Company and The Dramatists Guild of America.
http://www.getgoldstein.com

Igor Goldin’s credits include: Off-Broadway: WITH GLEE (Prospect Theater), YANK!(York Theatre - Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Director of a Musical). Previous productions of YANK!; Diversionary Theatre, San Diego (StageScene L.A. Award for Best Direction of a Musical), The Gallery Players (New York Innovative Theatre Award), and the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Other productions for NYMF: Jane Austen’S PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (NYMF Award for Excellence in Direction), UNLOCK’D (NYMF Best in Fest Award), COMMON GROUNDS (NYMF Award for Excellence in Direction). Other credits: LIBERTY (Workshop), LIKE YOU LIKE IT (New York Innovative Theatre Award). Tours: Associate Director, SEUSSICAL, directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge (Theatreworks USA). Regional:…AND THEN I WROTE A SONG ABOUT IT (Luna Stage, NJ and Diversionary, San Diego - StageScene L.A. Award for Best Direction of a Solo Performance), I LOVEYOU BECAUSE (New Hampshire Theatre Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical). Igor was nominated by his peers as a top 5 finalist for the 2010 SDC Joe A.Callaway Award for Distinguished Direction. Member: Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Jeffry Denman’s credits include: Off Bway: YANK! (York Theatre - Lucille LortelAward & Callaway Award noms), ASSISTANCE (Playwright’s Horizons) NAKED BOYS SINGING. NY Workshop: YANK! (David Cromer, Director), LIBERTY, DANCING IN THE DARK. Dir/Chor: BROADWAY BY THE YEAR, ALL SINGIN/ALL DANCIN, and A TRIBUTE TO LERNER AND LOEWE (Town Hall). NYMF: Jane Austen’S PRIDE & PREJUDICE. Regionally: DAMN YANKEES, (Dir/Chor - Ogunquit Playhouse), THE MUSIC MAN (Chor-Ogunquit Playhouse), DANCING IN THE DARK (Chor - Studio Arena, Artie Award winner). Visit www.jeffrydenman.com

Jeffrey Lodin's recent Music Direction credits include the world premieres of THE SPHINX WINX , GLIMMERGLASS, and LOVE, INC and the NYMF presentation ofTHE KID WHO WOULD BE POPE. He has conducted for Chita Rivera and Greg Burge, and played piano for Andy Gibb and Mongo Santamaria, amongst others. Jeff’s scores include: YOUNG ABE LINCOLN (Theatreworks USA), DISNEY’S DOUG,LIVE! (Disneyworld MGM), TOP OF THE HEAP (Gallery Players), ABOUT FACE (NYMF 08), 100 YEARS INTO THE HEART (Village Theater 07 Festival of New Musicals), REBELS 1775 (Starlight Theatre), etc. lodinandsquier.com

John Bonanni launched his theatrical career in David Merrick’s office a very long timeago, then continued as production stage manager at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam,stage manager for a number of Broadway productions including ME AND MY GIRL, CITY OF ANGELS and CRAZY FOR YOU, and spent over 12 years at Madison Square Garden Entertainment, as production executive for over 1000 concerts and events and 4 years as Executive Producer for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. He is working on a new musical based on the life of Lloyd Price, the iconic R&B vocalist who created “Personality”.

For more information on LIBERTY A Monumental New Musical, visit www.LibertyTheMusical.com.

For more information on the Warner Theatre, visit
www.WarnerTheatre.org.

Read more: http://ct.broadwayworld.com/article/Warner-Theatre-Presents-Premiere-of-LIBERTY-620-714-20120329#ixzz1xtRzhhvQ

The Power of Story

This is a story that was submitted to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society's "My Story" site (you can find this and many more stories like it here). This is such an incredibly moving story that we wanted to reprint it here for our Liberty friends. The stories we tell help to define who we are, memorialize our past and inform the future. We invite you to read Zhanna's story, and please consider telling us your story of immigration. It could be your own personal story, your family's or simply your reflections on the immigrant experience. We would love to be able to share your story with the world!

Zhanna Veyts' story / Written on May 01, 2010 / Emigrated from Kiev, Soviet Union (USSR) to Los Angeles, United States 1989

I picture myself at about three and a half feet tall, the halogen lights beaming down like sun rays, musaq fading into the background as red juice dribbles down my chin.

I am six years old and this is my first time in a Supermarket, ever. My eyes are wide and my mouth gaping—the look of a child who cant believe her luck and the incredible treasure she’s been given.

I am in Vienna, cold in a just-too-small, slightly smelly coat, and it is December 1988. I am a transmigrant, technically, fleeing the oppressive hand of Soviet rule and the collapse of a corroded state. But I’m too little to know any of that.

I am destined for the land of opportunity, the land of Supermarkets and Supersizes and Supermans. There will be Farris wheels and bright colors by night, just like the carnival the week before we left home. I can still see it spinning around me as I am pulled past it by my mother, who is crying and screaming, “I just don’t know, maybe it was stolen, maybe it fell out of this pocket, maybe it’s still here somewhere. I just don’t know.” She’s lost her passport and my father is furious. He is convinced that she is trying to sabotage our departure, whether by hiding it or losing it on purpose, she has suddenly and completely destroyed a plan they’ve been construing together for three years since Chernobyl happened and made it glaringly obvious to her that we had to leave this place of lies and idiocy. For those first few months it was all I could remember them arguing about. “But my family?” she would cry, “your family might be useless but mine has never failed us! How can we leave them now, when my father’s heart is failing and we don’t know if he’ll survive the surgery.”

Gradually she began to give in, though. Maybe she couldn’t fathom splitting our family apart but knew that my father saw no reason not to go. Maybe she believed in him more than she believed in herself. I don’t think I’ll ever really know. All I remember is that before long we were standing in the line behind tens and then hundreds of other “dissidents” waiting for days to get the fateful stamp releasing us from the State and freeing us to go stand in more lines. Lines for selling what we could to get enough money. Lines to get on the list to get airline tickets. Lines to get on the list of immigrants who would be expected beyond the border, first in Austria, then in Italy and ultimately…?

Unknowingly, I stand in the midst of the ellipses. I am suspended, like a broken pocket watch dangling from its chain, caught in the present and rendered mute. My mother walks towards me smiling, knowing that I can hardly contain my excitement to see what she’s finally picked out for me in this immense exploratorium of a grocery store. I have never seen so many colors, smells and varieties of things I don’t even know the words for. I point in want, looking up at her, though she is equally bewildered and also hardened by the knowledge of how few Marks are in her pocket. She is still wearing the same grayblue coat from the day at the carnival, and I see her fingers gripping the coins in her pocket. But in her other hand she holds something shiny, round and alluring.

Pamedor! She announces to me, clearing my confusion and replacing it with pure glee.

“A tomato in the middle of winter?” I think, hardly able to believe my eyes or contain my excitement. I take the fruit gingerly and open my mouth as wide as I can. As I sink my teeth down, the glossy flesh gives way to tenderness, and then pure juice. I feel seeds spilling down my chin and I slurp twice, taking in the tart-sweet syrup. I grin with glee and give out a little laugh, which somehow becomes a snort on it’s way out.

My mother makes a motion for me to pace myself, but I misunderstand and instead reach the tomato towards her, noticing I’ve eaten just a little less than a third of it as I wonder whether it will make its way back. The thought fades as I watch her take a bite: we’ve never looked more alike than in that single moment.

My father approaches, laughing at his devushki, and grabs my mother tenderly around the waist. She turns in surprise and raises the fruit toward him. He leans in and takes a bit, “ne ploho (not bad),” he beams. With a smile that sure, it’s no wonder she’s following the man half way around the world, even with a six year old in tow.

Take another, she motions.

But he shakes his head in my direction, and surely she hands me the remaining fruit, kisses me on the forehead, and takes my small hand in her elegant one, as the three of us walk out together towards the Platz.