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"i felt a genuine sense of awe that God was going to bring something good out of my pain.” ienny met her first husband, Keith. a black Trinidadian, when she was 17. They moved to England and got married when she was 2|. 'When we started looking for rental accommodation we had great difficulty in finding a place to live. (People) would be great to me, but when Keith showed up it "I knew that lthe earlier worlsl would never be seen outside of the church environment. where of course one is preaching mainly to the converted." she explained. "At some point along the way, as I researched the material for Freedom Sings. I realized that my own story. and the trials and tribulations I had been through. could be interwoven into the historic events," she said. FEBRUARY 2004 In I997. inspired by the story of Martin Luther King. composer and lyricist lenny Bowen started writing Freedom Sings. a musical drama based on the life of the great American civil rights leader. When the work premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, England, in November. it opened to glowing reviews from both critics and audiences. Since lenny's previous musicals. including Starchild and Crucifixion. were written specifically for church congregations, she relished the opportunity to bring a spiritual story to the secular stage. Freedom Sings, a play inspired by Martin Luther King, is a must see Him": 8!. (m mam» (905) 642-9195 NEW LOCATION 0 6,000 80. FT. fl Kate Gilderdale @t‘i'afiE PULSE Stouflville This Month TOTAL TFITNWESS CENTRE ”The Best uip ed Fitness Club in Stoufl‘ville” GfiAfiANTEED! OFmHMwulualiomand Oflmmi Although Kate. now 23. never knew her father, she inherited her mothers passionate desire to combat racism and spread King's message of love and peace. along with her talent for music and composition. When Kate saw Freedom Sings in Leeds, she discovered that the Tests revealed that the cause of death was a virus in the brain. which doctors believed had likely been contracted when he was attacked. and had lain dormant until his collapse. ‘He was 33 years old and we had two children; loanna, aged three. and lames. who was one-and-a- half. I was pregnant with Kate when he died.‘ was a} different story." After her husband was brutally beaten by skinheads in a racist attack which left him with a severely fractured skull and broken n'bs, the couple decided to move to Canada and start a new life. One day. a number of years after the attack. Keith came home from work and collapsed in the doorway. "He never came out of the hospital." Jenny and Kate Bowen fitness trainers in tho business Freedom Sings has attracted Interest from the theatrical community in London, Toronto and New York. #5 Nick Ahad wrote in a personal note to lenny, "I think this is a play that the world needs to see.” 'I saw the play three times, and every night people were crying." said Kate As one female cast member told lenny. ~We were not acting, we were all crying. we were grieving over our own children." And the predominantly white. middle-class audience reacted with overwhelming enthusiasm. said lenny. "The play tells the story of Martin Luther King and the emancipation of black people. interwoven with a tragic love story between a white woman and a black man. But that tells only the smallest part of the story To say that Freedom Sings is powerful does not begin to describe what I saw‘" When a black boy and a white girl plead to be allowed to play together in He's/she's my friend. noted Ahad, "I cried tears of deep sorrow and pain." Most of the cast. who ranged in age from 7 to 70, were volunteers from the local black community and many had no experience of acting. but that did nothing to detract from the power of their performances. observ- ed Nick Ahad, theatre critic of the Yorkshire Evening Post. "Watching Freedom Sings. I was moved like never before," he wrote. maiority of the actors knew little about their Americah history. "In early rehearsals. a lot of them were crying when they were sold as slaves." ~ ‘Ifie Emeraliflslk r17142 EmerafifIsfe Mmmwm under the direction of New Chei/ Owner Kulam Now Featuring French Cuisine, Curries, seafood, Pasta on Delicious ChePs Creations “SIRS EKR BISTRO 8. BAR "WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE THIS MONT H" - 2] 6298 Main St 0 Downtown Sbuflville 905 642-2122