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South Pasadena Theatre Workshop (SPTW) invites the community to A Song Returns. There are two 6:00pm performances on February 26 and 27 at the Workshop, 1507 El Centro Street on the corner of Mound. It is necessary to register online and to bring proof of vaccination for entry. The program runs for an hour with no intermission, and masks are mandatory throughout. There is no charge for entry, but there is a suggested $15 donation at the door, which will cover production costs and support the Afghan resettlement program.
The change of the seasons, marked by the winter solstice and the forthcoming vernal equinox, has long been held as an opportunity across cultural identities to surrender to the mystery and inwardness of winter and to gently welcome the hope of the coming spring. Our winter souls ease into rest and a quiet longing for that which has gone before us. Voices new and old gently emerge from the cold and quiet and return to song as we shift our attention in anticipation for the spring’s light and that which is yet to come.
A Song Returns consists of vocal performances, accompanied and a cappella, that celebrate a mix of modern music with the ancestral sounds of bygone eras and faraway homelands, interspersed with curated prose and poetry. The cast consists of local musicians reuniting to sing together for the first time in over 10 years, including members of the Workshop Conservatory from years back who brought you Stephen Sondheim’s extraordinary musical, Into the Woods.
“There is a deep inner calling for mindful reflection in the seasons’ transition, amplified this year by what has been a collectively challenging period in our history,” says musical director and performer Chloé Cavelier. “These songs and selections speak to the duality and interdependence of winter and spring – of the fallow and the fecund – and our hope is to inspire healing through a musical connection to those with whom we gather and to those voices that came before us and have yet to come.”
South Pasadena Theatre Workshop is an artistic haven where great texts are worked on and new ones inspired. Since 2009, founders Sally Smythe and Stephen Godwin, and a collaborative team of other local talents have presented theatrical events to embolden the spirit, workshops for theatre professionals, and conservatory opportunities for young artists. Learn more about current offerings at southpasadenatheatreworkshop.com.
