Randy Myler is one of America's hardest working theatrical artists. In any given month he is racking up frequent flyer miles preparing one of his musical creations for his enthusiastic audiences. Here at Northlight, we have presented the musical version of The Immigrant, and his own creation of It Ain't Nothin But the Blues, a spectacular hit for us starring Felicia Fields (The Color Purple) and Jeff Award Winner Mississippi Charles Bevel, who joins us again in Fire.

His extraordinary musical collaborators help inspire and create rousing and poignant evenings in the theatre like Fire on the Mountain. I think Randy considers Fire the most moving and resonant of his works to date. The rich history of the mines, the men who risk their lives in them, the women who wait with the dull ache of dread till they return, the children who yearn to follow their fathers; all combine to create a homespun tapestry of bravery and proud tradition that is one of America's most troubling and conflicted legacies.

The music is at once wild and exuberant, simple and heartbreaking, spawned from the people and the gorgeous country that inspires it. Its authenticity is so visceral that it catches in your throat, yet it makes you want to stomp your feet and holler!...(...go ahead you should!!!).  It is music that makes you grin as your heart soars with its pride and simple truths.

Randy and this amazing cast will take you somewhere else, far from the high rises and malls, the ribbons of interstate and choked streets. You will feel the scratch of the coal dust in your throat, and breathe in the fresh cool air of the mountains. The coal miners' stories will move and inspire you.

 

This is a transportive evening in the theatre, exactly what we hope to do with every production we create for you at Northlight.

Fire in the Hole!

More anon,
Beej

PS - Oh, and on an interesting sidenote, I belonged to the United Mine Workers when I  worked for Mobil Oil in a factory in Cleveland making paint thinner and varnish during college. Indeed, I myself walked the picket lines with the Mine Workers Union over wages in the summer of 1969. I am very proud of that. One weekend during the strike we took off to go to a music concert in Woodstock, NY, got stuck in the rain on the NY State Thruway, and drove to Provincetown instead. What was I thinking?