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THE BRAND NEW LUCKY DIAMOND HORSESHOE CLUB (2004) – A Calypso Musical [Blues Kaiso in Jouvay Opera] with book by Tony Hall, lyrics and music by David Rudder, premiered in July 2004 at Crossroads Repertory Theatre (formerly Summer Stage), Indiana State University, Terre Haute and was performed at Queens Hall, Port of Spain, for Carnival 2006. Lucky Diamond won the 2005/2006 Cacique Award for The Most Outstanding Original Music in a theatre production.

The Brand New Lucky Diamond Horseshoe Club

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The Brand New Lucky Diamond Horseshoe Club music available on: http://trinidadmusicstore.com/Description.asp?catnumber=CL156&virpath=/genre_listing.asp

The Brand New Lucky Diamond Horseshoe Club

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"The Test of Fire at Indiana State University"

David Rudder and Tony Hall first staged their Kaiso Blues "Jouvay Opera" as a 2004 Summerstage production at Indiana State University (ISU), produced by Arthur Feinsod, the Artistic Director of the summer festival now known as the Crossroads Repertory Theater. Terre Haute, Indiana, a Midwestern city established literally at the"crossroads" of the United States (the point at which the old National north - south and east - west highways intersected.) was the appropriate setting to mediate the intersection of cultures that brought this exciting new genre of musical theater to life. Fortunately, Tony Hall and Dr. Feinsod had developed a working relationship at Trinity College, Hartford, CT, where Arthur had produced Tony’s Jean and Dinah and Derek Walcott’s Ti Jean and His Brothers, which Tony directed.

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"The Test of Fire at Indiana State University" (cont'd)

The artistic team assembled in Indiana included not only Tony and Arthur but also Trinidadian choreographer Stephen Hankey, who had collaborated with Tony, André Tanker and Peter Minshall on the Trinity production of Walcott's play. Workshopping a production that required musical directors Jeremy Ledbetter (David Rudder's associate in Toronto) and ISU's Kathy Anderson to communicate internationally, as Kathy learned how to capture the essential rhythms of a musical drama set in an intimate Trinidad Club, which is simultaneously a brand new kind of Calypso Tent and a metaphysical arena in which the "children of a lesser kind of God" struggle to find the equilibrium needed not only in their own lives but implicitly by all humanity struggling to live together in too little space, with too much on their minds.

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"The Test of Fire at Indiana State University" (cont'd)

Some of the core of the Indiana production remains in this new staging of The Lucky Diamond. In addition to Tony, David, Stephen, and Musical Director Jeremy Ledbetter, the Trinidad production brings Trinidadian-born cast members Rhoma Spencer (Prune Face Jean, the proprietress of the Lucky Diamond), Quweina ‘Qu’ Roberts (Sheila), and Conrad Parris (Delilah) together again with Indiana State University student Anthony J. Davis. Though they are not physically present in Trinidad, the spirit of Lew Hackleman (Mista Nation), Mark Douglas-Jones ( Indiana’s Singh), and Peter Papadopoulos (Indiana’s Simple Simon) enrich the Trinidad performances. The enormous leaps of faith taken by Musical Director Kathy Anderson and her gifted team of musicians, choric singers, and dancers helped to engage Indiana audiences that sat in rapt attention for every moving moment of a play they could embrace because they were able to find in the music and the performances the basis for common human empathy, even as they struggled to understand both the language and the world of the play intellectually. The Indiana production -- itself a testimonial to the miraculous power of human faith and loyalty to bridge the divides of race, ethnicity, and nation -- has provided the solid foundation for this more epic offering.

Milla Cozart Riggio

Professor of English, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Coordinator, Trinity-in-Trinidad Global Learning Site, Curepe, Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies

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For bookings:

Tel: 1-868-639-7643

Email: lordstreet@yahoo.com

http://www.lordstreet.net

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