What Lies Beneath

presented at

The Tall Ship Wavertree
South Street Seaport Museum
Pier 16, foot of Fulton St.
New York, New York, 10038

Combining song, story, history and movement as we returned to live performance, What Lies Beneath was a site-specific and immersive experience aboard the historical Wavertree, built in 1885, and used as a cargo ship before being acquired by the South Street Seaport Museum in 1968. This immersive musical experience invited small groups to travel around the ship’s main deck to hear and see vignettes intended to connect audiences to the complex and tragic stories surrounding American maritime history, both through the enslavement of African people and through novelist Herman Melville’s tragic heroes. From the enticements used to lure Africans into enslavement to Captain Ahab’s final moments of moral reckoning aboard the whaling ship Pequod in Moby Dick, What Lies Beneath was a series of six unique vignettes:

TRICKSTER’S ARIA
from Amistad composed by Anthony Davis to a libretto by Thulani Davis

AHAB
(Staged Premiere)
composed by Juliana Hall to a libretto by Caitlin Vincent

1619: A SONG CYCLE
(East Coast Premiere)
by Damien Geter

CLAGGART’S ARIA
from Billy Budd composed by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier

SEA FEVER
composed by John Ireland to a poem by John Masefield
World Premiere arrangement by James Davis Jr.

MAURYA’S LAMENT
from Riders to the Sea composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams
based on the play of the same name by John Millington Synge

Hero photo by Paul Margolis

Pier 16, John Street, New York, NY, USA

Cast

Matthew Anchel

John Claggart

Lindell Carter

Shack Thomas

Edwin Jhamal Davis

John Brown

Nicholas Davis

Thomas Johns

Chantal Freeman

Martha King

Carami Hilaire

Grandmother

Bernard Holcomb

Trickster

Zachary James

Captain Ahab

Tesia Kwarteng

Della Fountain/Maurya

Elliott Paige

Luke Dixon

Karmesha K. Peake

Auntie Adeline

Creative Team

Eric Einhorn

Co-Director

Winston A. Benons Jr.

Co-Director/Cultural Advocate

James Davis Jr.

Conductor

Azalea Fairley

Costume Designer

Sheree V Campbell

Stage Manager

TaTyana Smith

Assistant Stage Manager

Damien Geter

Composer - 1619

Byron Burford-Phearse

Pianist

Dmitry Glivinskiy

Pianist

Charity Wicks

Pianist

Rasaan Talu Green

Percussionist

DeShon Elem

Assistant Costume Designer/Wardrobe Head

Our Venue Partner

The 1885 ship Wavertree has a well-documented and fascinating history. Built in Southampton, Great Britain, she circled the globe four times in her career, carrying a wide variety of cargoes. The ship called on New York in 1896, no doubt one of hundreds like her berthed in the city. In 1910, after thirty-five years of sailing, she was caught in a Cape Horn storm that tore down her masts and ended her career as a cargo ship. She was salvaged and used as a floating warehouse and then a sand barge in South America, where the waterfront workers referred to her as “el gran Valero,” the great sailing ship, because even without her masts she was obviously a great windjammer. She was saved by the Seaport Museum in 1968 and towed to New York to become the iconic centerpiece of the “Street of Ships” at South Street. The 130-year-old Wavertree, built of riveted wrought iron, is an archetype of the sailing cargo ships of the latter half of the 19th century that, during the “age of sail,” lined South Street by the dozens, creating a forest of masts from the Battery to the Brooklyn Bridge.

SUPPORT

This production is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

“The Unknown Is My Realm” from Amistad composed by Anthony Davis to a libretto by Thulani Davis; presented under license by G. Schirmer Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners.
“Ahab” composed by Juliana Hall to a libretto by Caitlin Vincent; Produced by permission of ECS Publishing Group, St. Louis, MO. Sole Agent for E. C. Schirmer Music Company, Publisher and Copyright Owner.
1619: A Song Cycle composed by Damien Geter is presented through special arrangement with DG Music: Sans Fear Publishing www.damiengetermusic.com. Revised narration written by Damien Geter was commissioned by On Site Opera for What Lies Beneath.
“O Beauty, O Handsomeness” from Billy Budd composed by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier; by arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.
“Sea Fever” composed by John Ireland to a poem by John Masefield.
“Maurya’s Lament” from Riders to the Sea composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams based on the play of the same name by John Millington Synge; licensed by arrangement with Oxford University Press.

Gallery

I found What Lies Beneath to be full of stunning imagery, compelling storytelling, and excellent performance from a highly talented cast of singers.

No Proscenium
Down to the last note, the audience was captivated by small details: jagged hand-held mirror pieces reflecting the shattered lives of the slaves as well as the sparkle of the ocean when hit by the sun, and yes, hello, literally reflecting the entirely White audience watching the entirely Black ensemble sing about slavery’s lingering damage.

Medium
The production is imaginative, beautifully mounted, and stirring.

Woman Around Town

What Lies Beneath