Short Synopsis
The play centers around six people connected to a club in the French Quarter: club owner Sam, his love interest Violet, Violet’s daughter Jasmine, Voodoo priestess Larinda, waitress Marie, and Sam’s best friend Beau. They scatter and meet different fates during the seven days that Hurricane Katrina smashes into New Orleans and drowns the city.
Sam’s and Violet’s love affair is torn apart by class differences and transformed by tragedy. The tender relationship between mother and daughter ends with a heartbreaking loss. A mass exodus follows the mayor’s mandatory evacuation, but Marie and thousands of others are huddled in the Superdome with no food or water. Marie’s son is arrested as looting and chaos engulf the city. When rescuers face hard decisions and grisly circumstances, Beau chooses to be saved from his rooftop and abandon his dog. All the while, the positive powers of Voodoo give strength to the African American community.
The show ends with the characters coming back together at the club, expressing hope for the future while the enduring wounds and losses of Katrina remain in their and New Orleans’ psyche. (Full synopsis at bottom of page.)
Photos by Mike Carroll of Walking on Water Productions’ world premiere.
Script Samples
Katrina, A New Musical was performed for 7 audiences—5 were sold-out houses.
From the original press release:
Katrina, A New Musical Debuts in Ithaca August 1
JULY 24, 2019: ITHACA, NY—The premiere of a new musical about Hurricane Katrina is opening at the Kitchen Theatre on August 2, with a preview on August 1. Katrina, A New Musical, by book writer Elizabeth Bauman and composer David Frumkin, is being presented by Walking on Water Productions (WoW). Katrina tells the story of fictional characters living in New Orleans who struggle with the storm and subsequent flooding, made so much worse by the government’s slow response and the racial and economic divides in that city.
“This show has 12 cast members and a six-piece band performing 25 original musical and dance numbers,” says Priscilla Hummel, founding artistic director of WoW and director of Katrina. “The show is based on actual news reports and events, with the fictional characters making the story captivating and emotionally moving.”
Acknowledgement
David Frumkin and Elizabeth Bauman gratefully acknowledge the support of Walking on Water Productions, Ithaca, NY, www.walkingonwaterproductions.org, for providing the space and producing the first developmental workshops of Katrina, A New Musical, and producing the world premiere on August 2—11, 2019 at Kitchen Theatre Company, Ithaca, NY. Director/Choreographer: Priscilla Hummel, Music Director: Benjamin Stevens, Scenic Designer: Patti Goebel, Lighting Designer: Lea Davis, Costume Designers: Dana Harris and Karen Veaner, Sound & Projection Designer: Rob Natoli, and Production Stage Manager: Jamie Dye. The cast included: Adara Alston, Emily Aviles, Sirus Desnoes, Joshua Dykes, Cynthia Henderson (member of Actors’ Equity Association), Andrew Hudson- Sabens, Kimmi Neuschulz, Alek Osinski, Bernie Sheredy (member Actors’ Equity Association), Grace Traore, Karen Veaner, and Jaime Warburton. Band members included: Alan Bargar, David Frumkin, Em Ludek, Anna Marcus-Hecht, London McDaniel, and Hannah Thien.
Full Synopsis
Characters:
Violet: 40s, African American, middle class
Sam: 40s to 50s, owns the Quarter Note club in the French Quarter, race open
Jasmine: 20s, daughter of Violet, sings in Sam’s club, African American or biracial
Marie: 30s to 50s, waitress at the Quarter Note, Violet’s good friend, race open
Beau: 30s to 60s, friend of Sam’s, hangs out at the bar, race open
Larinda: 40s to 70s, African American, voodoo priestess, friend of Violet’s and Marie’s
Act I
It’s February 2005, and New Orleans is celebrating Mardi Gras. Sam has just started dating Violet and is falling hard for her. Violet is more reluctant to fall in love. “New Orleans”
Fast forward six months to August. Sam asks Violet to marry him. She says she needs time to think about it. As they walk down the street they encounter a beggar. Sam rebuffs him and tells him to get a job. Violet is put off by Sam’s insensitivity.
A few New Orleans natives are talking about a big storm brewing off the coast. They recount all the major hurricanes that have hit the city that they have survived. One woman says that her friend in the Army Corps of Engineers told her the levees were not built properly and cannot withstand a really big hurricane. “We Survived”
At the Quarter Note, Marie is working at the bar, and Violet comes in to hear Jasmine practice for her gig that night. Jasmine sings “Dreamer,” a song she has written.
Sam asks Violet if he can come over later that night to talk about marriage plans. Violet balks. Then Sam humiliates a janitor mopping the floor. When Sam hands Marie her paycheck, she notices that he has failed to give her the raise he promised. Sam’s attitude angers Violet. “Violet with Skin Like Velvet” and “Sam, You’re Not My Man”
Later that night, Larinda shows up at the club to warn them about the big hurricane coming. Beau tries to teach Sam how to win Violet back. After he closes the bar, Sam serenades Violet outside her bedroom window with his saxophone. She briefly turns her light on, but then closes the curtains and turns out the light. Sam leaves dejected. “Make That Woman Swoon” and “Saxophone Solo”
Jasmine goes over to Larinda’s house the next morning for a reading. Larinda tells Jasmine she foresees a lot of wind and water and Violet holding Jasmine. Larinda warns Jasmine to stay close to her mother during the coming hurricane.
Many newscasters in New Orleans are broadcasting warnings for people to get out of the city before Katrina arrives. The mayor of New Orleans then orders an emergency evacuation. People who are unable to leave are told to go to the Superdome. Marie is freaking out because she has no car or money to leave. Violet is torn about whether to stay and protect her home. Sam shows up and pleads with Violet and Marie to leave the city with him in his car. But they refuse. “Evacuate They Say.”
Jasmine comes to her mother’s house, and they reminisce about the good times spent there. Violet sings the same lullaby that she sang to Jasmine when she was a baby. Violet begs Jasmine to stay with her during the storm, but Jasmine says she must go to her apartment to find her cat. Jasmine leaves, and Violet vows to stay through the storm. “Sleep My Child” and “My House”
Marie goes to Larinda’s house, where Larinda prepares a gris gris bag to protect Marie’s family. Larinda beckons the ocean mother spirit to give the people of New Orleans strength to survive the storm. Despite Larinda’s song to ward off the hurricane, Katrina arrives and does devastating damage to the city. “Katrina”
Act II
The levees are breaking and storm surge waters are flooding the city. A gospel choir is joined by Violet, Jasmine, Beau, Larinda, and others putting out sandbags. “Rain, Rain on Pontchartrain.”
Meanwhile, Sam is driving away from the city. He hears a minister talking on the radio about the dire circumstances in New Orleans. Sam turns off the radio but hears Violet’s voice in his head telling him that he has no compassion and that she never wants to see him again. Suddenly, he has a flat tire and the car swerves and stops. A hitchhiker offers to change the tire for him. The hitchhiker asks Sam why he is traveling alone. Sam says that the people he cares about didn’t want to go with him. The hitchhiker asks Sam why he left anyway. This makes Sam think that he should have stayed and asks the hitchhiker to go back with him. The hitchhiker agrees. “The Man I Want to Be”
Back in New Orleans, rescuers in boats and helicopters are trying to save people, but many are dying in the flooding. Beau’s house is flooded, so he is on the roof with his dog Buddy. A helicopter comes by, and the pilot yells to Beau that he can take him but has no room for the dog. Beau struggles with the decision but decides to leave without his dog. “Always By My Side”
Looters break into a store and steal luxuries but also necessities such as diapers and water. A police officer arrives. Even though the police officer is somewhat sympathetic, he catches and arrests one of the looters. “Now Is the Time”
Violet’s house is flooded and she is rescued by the Coast Guard. They rush to Jasmine’s apartment but find that she has drowned. Violet is devastated. Jasmine appears as an apparition and tells her grief-stricken mother she must go on without her. “Dreamer Duet”
Sam arrives back in the city and goes in a boat with the hitchhiker to find Violet. They see that her house is submerged. Sam fears that Violet is dead and screams in anguish, because he believes if he had not left he could have saved her.
The Superdome is overflowing with people who have no food, water, or medicine. Marie is there with her mother. She hears President Bush spouting platitudes on a radio and yells at him to send in the military with rations and water. “Abandoned by America.”
Meanwhile, Beau and other desperate people from the Convention Center are trying to walk over the Crescent City Connection bridge to Gretna where there is higher and drier ground. They are stopped by the Gretna police firing warning shots. They turn back. “No Exodus.”
Now it’s a month later, and Beau is staying in a room over Sam’s bar. Marie is back at work at the club. Sam has turned his upstairs into a shelter for people who lost their homes to Katrina. None of them know Violet’s or Jasmine’s fate. Violet
shows up and tells them that Jasmine drowned. They are all grief-stricken. Sam professes his love to Violet, but she tells him that even though he has become a better man, she is not ready yet to love again.“Violet with Skin Like Velvet Reprise”
Larinda, Beau, Violet, Marie, and Sam enter the stage one by one to tell what each lost and learned by experiencing Katrina. The rest of the cast joins them to sing their hopes for the healing of New Orleans. “The Water’s Rise”
Now it is February 2006. New Orleans is celebrating Mardi Gras as a rebirth after the devastation wrought by Katrina. The cast takes their bows. “New Orleans Reprise.”