There’s more to understanding the 1700s in Boston than a stroll down the Freedom Trail can explain. For decades, stories about the American Revolution have dominated that chapter of history, omitting the experiences of thousands of other Americans — namely, anyone who wasn’t a white soldier.
But a new perspective is taking up residence in Somerville.
The musical Come To Pass opens tonight (August 18) at The Rockwell, inviting audiences to take a closer look at colonial life for Americans of color. Functioning as “an exploratory look at how the principals that founded this country failed women of color, and continue to fail them today,” the musical follows the story of siblings Mirah (Brandie Blaze) and Solomon (Tashawn Taylor) as they relocate from Western Massachusetts to Boston after the death of their parents. Their journey unfolds almost exclusively through spoken word poetry and hip-hop tracks that each cast member wrote for their own character.
“I really felt this was the only way to write this story with authenticity, [and] as a white man there is no way for me to do that alone,” shares Come To Pass producer and creator Todd Dahn. “Once I decided that Brandie was going to be my lead, the topic of how this country treats women of color became the theme.”
Other artists in the ensemble include Axestrumentals, Moe Pope, Dutch ReBelle, B. Dolan, Amanda Shea, and Trap Beat Tranny, while behind-the-scenes music producers include The Arcitype, Jon Glass, Keith Lawrence, Dahn himself, and Tim Hall (who’s also music director). The diverse styles of rapping and beatmaking weave contemporary Boston music into an experience that feels tailor-made for the city’s arts scene.
“I almost feel like I had to learn to rap again,” Blaze says, reflecting on what it was like to write plot-appropriate lyrics for her character Mirah.
“Most of us didn’t see each other’s part until yesterday [Tuesday],” adds Dutch ReBelle, who plays the role of a seductive pimp. “I just had the beat… I didn’t know who else was on [the song].”
That’s where Dahn and Tim Hall stepped in.
“On top of making sure all the songs stood up to each other, I had to make sure the story continuity was stable enough for people to follow it, and not everyone is a storyteller in their art,” Dahn notes. “I worked closely with them as they wrote to make sure we captured the story we wanted to tell and the supporting emotional journey we wanted to accompany the music. A lot of that was just us sitting around and chatting about the characters, their feelings and backstory and how those impacted the scene and what ways they influence what we wanted the audience to get out of the scene and play overall.”
And just in case anything’s still unclear, each performance of Come To Pass ends with a 30-minute Q&A session between guests and the cast. Dahn hopes this interactive portion will provide the audience with a deeper understanding of the musical’s tough themes, and how these forms of oppression permeate society to this day. Feedback is welcome, too; this is only the first edition of Come To Pass, and Dahn plans to further develop the story with additional cast members and 15 to 18 new songs.
Make sure to add it to the history books.
COME TO PASS :: Thursday, August 18 to Sunday, August 21 at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St. in Somerville, MA :: 7 p.m., all ages, $25 to 30:: Advance tickets