Telling the story of Michael Jackson’s life, MJ features over 25 of Michael Jackson’s biggest hits.
“The show takes audiences behind the scenes as Michael prepares for the 1992 Dangerous World Tour, providing an in-depth look at his process. As Michael and his collaborators rehearse their epic setlist, we are transported to pivotal creative moments from his career.”
“I’ve been to the mountaintop and seen the promised land”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., April 3, 1968
Performing HAMILTON in Honolulu these last two months has been a transcendent and otherworldly experience. This land where we are welcomed with divine sunshine, met with beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and greeted with a warm aloha is a final and beautiful culmination of an intense touring schedule of one and a half years with my family.
The specificity of this operatic musical presents musical challenges unlike any other and yet it remains transcendent. The orchestration is written with pristine clarity that is intentional with regards to pitch, timbre, volume, tone and attack. Thus, the cast and orchestra must have an extremely high level of focus and energy to ensure that the work is performed with excellence. Learning to play, rap and conduct this gargantuan work is massive in scope and requires the utmost diligence and maintenance.
While I conducted my final performance, I thought of the many beautiful mountains I climbed and crossed. From the beautiful hills in Oakland, overlooking the San Francisco Bay, to the Hidden Peak at Snowbird Mountain; from the Rocky Mountain National Park to the Canadian Rockies in Banff; from the mountains at Glacier National Park in Montana, to the Diamond Head Crater. I thought of the mountains I climbed to conduct and play HAMILTON while faithfully attending to my family as husband and father. As a traveling family and homeschooling our children, this tour has been the greatest mountain I’ve climbed and has required me to stretch in new ways beyond what I imagined.
As I shed tears of joy and gratitude towards the end of my last show conducting, I thought of the many people who made it possible for me to share in this beautiful work. I thought of Grady Fuller, who paid for my first two years of piano lessons at Memorial Presbyterian Church in Roosevelt, NY and my first piano teacher Stanley Ralph who would close his eyes and pray as he taught me. I thought of my
beloved Trinity, my 2nd child who was born too soon at 20 weeks. She was unable to sustain life, but I was grateful to hold her in my hands for one precious hour before she transitioned to be with her creator. There have been many shows of HAMILTON I’ve conducted when I felt her presence.
I thought of the creators of HAMILTON: the Cabinet – Lin, Lac, Tommy and Blank and those who trained me in preparation for this role, Alex Lacamoire, Matt Gallagher, Lily Ling, Andre Cerullo, and now David Atkinson. To them, I am most grateful for their love, time, and sacrifice. I thought of my beautiful cast, orchestra and crew with whom I’ve shared this work and of our audiences who journey with us each
night. I’ve thought of our management and producers who have blessed me with this opportunity and for their incessant anti-racist work to hire many BIPOC employees and vendors. I am honored and privileged to be the first African American to conduct the show. What a gift you all are to me and the world!
At the beginning of the pandemic I did not know what the future would hold for me. When I was invited to do this show in 2021, Burr’s song Wait for It held special meaning to me and still does, remembering mid-2020, when I would lay on the grass looking up at the sky while the musical theater world was essentially shut down. I wondered if I would ever be able to create art in person again. Wait For It was a reminder to me that through faith and prayer, I can get through the most difficult of times. As the book of Isaiah 40:31 in the Hebrew Scriptures states, “They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they shall mount upon wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. I hoped that my music career would resume, and it did way beyond my wildest dreams! I’m grateful I waited for it.
Another line from HAMILTON that always grabs my heart and reminds me of the sacredness of all life is, “the fact that we’re alive is a miracle, so stay alive, that would be enough”. Having survived COVID in Dec. 2021 in Boise, Idaho, it is a miracle that I am here on this planet. I am so grateful the And Peggy company decided on a conscious comeback that focused on breathing and meditation as essential to the creative process, because breath is life. As I told Matt Gallagher, before playing the most difficult song on the 2nd Keyboard Book, Farmer Refuted, “ each time, I take a cleansing breath to help me prepare so I won’t botch it up”. Hopefully I played it accurately a few times. Each day is a gift, and I can only pray that I am able to leave a legacy for my family and children by staying alive.
I have also grappled with many dichotomies that are present in the show and our industry. While HAMILTON has helped to showcase the work of BIPOC artists it is not easily accessible to all audiences, particularly those who are of a lower socioeconomic status. It celebrates the contributions of the Afro-Latino music and culture like hip-hop, R&B and the tresillo rhythm (the rhythm that is present in Wait for It and NonStop i.e) and it also assumes a colonialist vision that simultaneously exploits Native Americans, the first inhabitants of North America.
Consider two of the most popular lines from our show, “I will kill your friends and family to remind you of our love” and “Immigrants, you get the job done”. One on hand, “I will kill your friends and family to remind you of your love” is hilarious because it is the height of irony. King George III is comic relief in an intense show and audiences everywhere love him! “Immigrants you get the job done” is the ultimate underdog hype line, demonstrating the power of the disenfranchised and disinherited to overcome all odds to get it done. This line is so popular because it celebrates the contributions of immigrants here in America and unifies all of us, reminding us that we are all immigrants on this land and the land does not belong to us.
On the other hand, I wonder how these lyrics sound to Native American ears. I imagine Native Americans would be insulted by the idea of King George III saying,”…kill your friends and family” because that was the experience of most Native American people. It is estimated that almost 100,000,000 Native American souls perished during the period when European settlers came to this land in the 15th century through the expansion of America to the West Coast.
The Native Americans that remained were not invited or given an opportunity to incorporate their people, ideas or beliefs in the founding of this country. Thus, the lyric “immigrants, we get the job done” would feel dismissive to the Native American existence. Native Americans in America were largely placed on reservations where even today alcoholism, unemployment and suicide rates are exponentially higher. Christian boarding schools in the 20th century used the motto, “kill the Indian, save the man”. America tried it’s best to eradicate everything that made it Native American.
I was encouraged through this tour when we arrived in Canada. I am amazed by the level of awareness regarding First Nations (Indigenous groups in Canada) and the work to recognize their rights and privileges. I’m hopeful that the United States of America can better acknowledge it’s history of mistreatment to Native Americans by adopting a similar model that Canada used in its Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Calls to Action:
Being in Hawai’i has helped me better appreciate the contributions of Native culture and people. In this land, I am blessed to be able to learn about Hawaiian people and culture. I live on Lili’uokalani Ave, and learned that Queen Lili’uokalani was the last sovereign monarch of Hawai’i who fought for her people, ruling until 1891. She was a dark hued woman who ruled with grace and dignity until pro-American forces rose to overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy. Despite the Hawaiian monarchy being overthrown, many elements of Hawaiian music, culture language, and traditions remain. Thus, we receive the graciousness of the Aloha spirit, one of unconditional love and kindness, where we breathe in the presence of another human being – the true meaning of Aloha. I imagine a world in which more streets in America were named after Native American chiefs and leaders and that we all had the privilege to learn more about Native American language, culture, and music. What a difference that would make for our world!
Finally, as I reflect I think about my wife of 5472 days, Ciara Simonson, and the contributions of women worldwide. Our show is in part dedicated to the strength, beauty, and grace of Eliza and Angelica Schulyer and the spirit of women who are our greatest heroines. I celebrate the female producers, managers, actors, cast, orchestra and crew that make this work possible. You are so beautiful and brilliant! Ciara has made this tour possible for me to travel together with my family and I am very grateful for her sacrifice, love, and patience. I celebrate her work as a therapist and doctoral candidate.
Ciara has dedicated her life’s work to women’s services supporting couples in creating healthy, fulfilling and joyful relationships through her clinical practice with the Imago Center DC. She continued with her doctoral work and therapeutic practice even while on tour, conducting a study on the implication of pregnancy loss in African American Couples . This was in part inspired by the loss of our 2nd child Trinity while we were on tour 2013 with Memphis the Musical. To learn more or to support her work check out one of the non-profit organizations she is passionate about here:
I have circled our company and the other Hamilton companies in prayer throughout my tenure and now as I depart, I circle you all for wisdom, peace and strength for this new year and the work of justice that is sorely needed on our planet. As a pianist whose first lessons were paid for by the gift and support of Grady Fuller, I continue to pay that gift forward by my support and mentorship for other aspiring African American musicians, I invite you to also consider building/inspiring rising artist of Color by donating to educating and exposing young BIPOC music students through the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA), a non-profit organization that is in part managed by two brilliant women, my mother, Theresa Allen and sister, Pamela Simonson:
To all the producers, managers, creators of this beautiful work, and all my colleagues with whom I’ve shared this work while on tour, I say thank you and I love you all! Thank you for all of your support in getting to this mountaintop to enjoy and see all the possibilities of the promise.
Ashe,
Victor Simonson
Associate Conductor, HAMILTON the Musical
And Peggy Tour January, 2023
The story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe is a story about music, loss and the triumph of the power of love. The godmother of rock and roll as she is affectionately called was anointed and gifted at a young age to sing and play the guitar. As she shared her gifts within the church and eventually outside of the church, she found a way to honor her desire to share God’s love through song to the world
She did this part by courageously singing or swinging her spirituals and hymns in a medium that was palatable to people outside of the church, in prestigious venues like the Cotton Club and Carnegie Hall in 1938 where people were likely not expecting to hear gospel music. During her performance of “That’s All” at Carnegie Hall in 1938, “audience members were on the edge of their seats moving in time to her rhythms”1. Even Count Basie remembered that “cool New Yorkers were almost shouting in the aisles”, and “there were a lot of people out there who never heard that kind of singing”2. I can imagine the anointing that was flowing through Rosetta in those rooms where the gospel was being sung gloriously!
She represented the strength, determination, beauty, and grace of women especially a black woman. Rosetta had marriages that failed and was estranged from the church because of her choice to pursue a career mainly singing outside of the church. Her close friend, lover and singing partner, Marie Knight, chose to leave Rosetta on the road in part because she lost her two children in a fire. Despite these many challenges, Rosetta persevered and eventually went on to tour the United Kingdom, and Europe with the Blues and Gospel Caravan featuring Rosetta, Muddy Waters and Otis Spann. To be black and a woman touring through the 1940s and 1950s meant often sleeping on bed in her bus because there was no hotel that would welcome her (she had her own tour bus!) and having someone bring you food when segregated restaurants wouldn’t serve black people. Her biggest hit, “Strange Things Happening Everyday” in 1945 reflected the reality of her success despite the harsh treatment of black people.
Rosetta was prophetic because she sang religious music in a secular space thus elevating the importance of gospel music. In doing so, Rosetta in part returned African American Christian music to its African roots. In most of the African diaspora there is no distinction between the sacred and the secular. As purported by Melva Wilson Costen, “For most African societies, life is viewed holistically rather than in separate compartments as created by a secular-sacred dichotomy”.3 Thus, Rosetta singing gospel music in a secular setting would break down barriers and walls that may have prohibited gospel music from being heard in those settings thereby, in part, returning American society and culture to a
more African feel, where no sacred-secular barrier exists.
That Rosetta entertained a lesbian relationship speaks to her ethic of love, honesty and courage. She entertained this relationship at a time when gospel artists could never disclose a homosexual relationship. Many gospel artists today are not able to disclose their sexuality publicly for fear of being judged. Many churches still prohibit women from preaching and prohibit homosexuality or judge those who are homosexual. Rosetta’s life invites us to consider these questions: How am I being judgmental of others because of behaviors I deem inappropriate? How can I accept the mystery of God operating in all the created order?
In the scene in SHOUT SISTER SHOUT when Marie Knight leaves Rosetta because her children died in a fire, she blames herself and her lesbian relationship with Rosetta as the cause for her children’s death. Had Marie embraced the mystery of God, accepting herself and the love she shared with Rosetta instead of judging herself harshly perhaps she would have chosen to stay with Rosetta longer. Through Rosetta’s career and ministry of music, we are invited consider the ways in which the African American Christian church and Christ has often demonized music that is secular and behaviors deemed sinful when perhaps love, tolerance and acceptance is most needed.
Rosetta’s life was undergirded by a deep abiding love of God and all humankind and a desire to share her love of God through song. I have been blessed to bear witness to her life, strength, grace, and brilliant musicianship. I am grateful to the creative team, cast, orchestra and crew for the sharing in this work and for the privilege of telling this story each nights! I am hopeful that I too, can “live the life I sing about in my song” and “have more love, more understand, everyday of my life, and That’s All”!
You may feel like you’ve landed in a retro church service for the first 15 minutes of the sparkling new production of The Amen Corner from Shakespeare Theatre Company, what with the “praise Gods,” spirited hymn singing and Sunday-best hats on display. That’s because the play—a drama by mid-century African-American writer James Baldwin (with newly composed and adapted spiritual music interludes by Victor Simonson)—takes place in and around a Harlem street-corner church in the 1950s.
Produced by Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders, Roy Furman, Quincy Jones, Creative Battery, Anna Fantaci & Cheryl Lachowicz, Independent Presenters Network, David Lowy, Stephanie P. McClelland, Gary Winnick, Jan Kallish, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Bob & Harvey Weinstein, Andrew Asnes & Adam Zotovich and Todd Johnson; Tour Produced by AEG Live
World Premiere Produced by Alliance Theatre (Susan V. Booth, Artistic Director)
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel spins a musical tale of hope and forgiveness weaving together carols, and folk songs, this “beautifully stitched tapestry of American lives”. Victor performed masterly as the Music Director incorporating a variety of musical instruments.
Memphis is a musical by David Bryan (music and lyrics) and Joe DiPietro (lyrics and book). It is loosely based on Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips, one of the first white DJs to play black music in the 1950s. The play won four Tony Awards®. Victor served as the Associate Music Director/Conductor for the National Tour.
Smokey Joe’s Cafe is a musical revue showcasing 39 pop standards, including rock and roll and rhythm and blues songs written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Victor serves as the Music Director for the 2014 Arena Stage production. This electrifying show garnered seven Tony nominations and became the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history!
Violet is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and libretto by Brian Crawley based on the short story “The Ugliest Pilgrim” by Doris Betts. Part of the Creative Team, Victor performed “Violet” at the historic Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. and was noted for his talent on the keyboard. “The musical does have some wonderful scenes like a dance hall in Memphis (I noticed the audience waking up) and the appearance of a gospel choir which almost steals the show”.
