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African American History Sung Through Opera
The Harrison Opera House in Norfolk kicked Black History Month off with the opera “Sanctuary Road” showing on January 26th and January 28th.
The opera was based on William Still, an abolitionist who helped conduct the Underground Railroad while keeping a record of about 800 slaves who escaped to freedom.
It premiered in North Carolina in 2022 and made its way to Hampton Roads to educate those on the lives of Ellen Craft, Henry Brown, Harriet Eglan, and Charlotte Giles runaway slaves who traversed the railroad to freedom.
One of our esteemed professors, Dr. Newby-Alexander, was able to contribute to the show.
As the Professor of Virginia Black History and Culture here at Norfolk State, she had the honor of creating a pre-show lecture to be presented for the opera.
“I would help to contextualize what people were about to see,” stated Alexander.
The lecture discussed the underground railroad and how Harriett Tubaman was not the only leader of it. She created the lecture before seeing the show and to her surprise, it lined up perfectly with the opera.
“I was so happy that what I created went very much along with the opera…a lot of people told me that they understood the opera even more because of it,” stated Alexander.
After the introduction to the opera, the audience was taken back to the 1800’s as William Still sang the stories of four individuals making their way through the underground railroad.
Dr. Alexander noted that this opera broke from the generalizations taught by most schools.
“...the majority of those who worked as agents and conductors were black. Those who opened their homes to slaves were mostly black,” Stated Newby-Alexander.
An emphasis on not only telling an accurate portrayal of history but as well as the full story was a goal of this opera by bringing to light the black agents and conductors that were helping the slaves along the trek.
While the show had its moments of comedy, it pulled some emotional strings for audience members and even Newby-Alexander herself.
Alexander stated, “It brought me to tears to think about the incredible sacrifice that William Still made.
He desired that this would help families after slavery reconnect and the opera brought out the idea of not forgetting who these people were and to remember that they were alive.”
A major hope of the creators of this opera is that people take away the fact that history is much more complex and nuanced than the average person may think.
Dr. Alexander made sure to note that inclusivity was of utmost importance when considering history such as this.
“That is not just a word [inclusive] it is a very serious argument and necessity. If your history is not inclusive then it is not history.”
By Carlos Tankard