Warrior is a musical drama that explores the life and times of Jim Thorpe, the great native American Olympic Champion and football immortal. Born in the Indian territories before the massacre at Wounded Knee, Thorpe's life spans the tragedy of America's inability to come to grips with the inclusion of its native population. This is the story of an America that is gone; of the last of a generation of Native Americans born beyond the emasculation of the full-blown reservation system. Jim Thorpe rose to national prominence as the embodiment of the "Warrior spirit."
With this cultural panorama as its backdrop, the musical "Warrior" is primarily about one man's struggle to make his way. It is the story of Thorpe's rise from poverty, the institutional racism of the Carlisle Indian School, his emergence as an athlete with transcendent abilities, his Olympic triumph and then national shame, his lead role in the creation of professional football, and his ultimate descent into relative anonymity, poverty, alcoholism and heart-break. Through this alternating ancient and modern lens, Thorpe is presented as a true American hero, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to take his place in American history.
Warrior will be performed in New York as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival this September at the St. Clement's Theatre. Please check out www.nymf.org for ticketing information and show times.
Marcus Hummon, has been one of Nashville's most consistently successful and innovative songwriters, and was named "Nashville's Top Songwriter" by the Nashville Scene's Readers Poll three years in a row. He has penned, or co-penned, hits for Sara Evans ("Born to Fly"), the Dixie Chicks ("Ready to Run" and "Cowboy, Take Me Away"), Tim McGraw ("One of These Days"), Wynonna ("Only Love"), and most recently, Rascal Flatts ("Bless the Broken Road"), along with many others, garnering Grammy, CMA, and Tony nominations, and receiving a Grammy is 2006 for "Best Country Song" for "Bless the Broken Road."
Along the way, he has also recorded and released five albums of his own. The first, the critically acclaimed All in Good Time, on Columbia Records, two sterling independent label releases, The Sound of One Fan Clapping and Looking for the Child, and his latest EP, Revolution on Velvet Armadillo Records, and Supernatural released on the London Rock Label, Track Records, in the UK, and Western Beat in the US. Marcus's diverse career has also included a published book of poetry, entitled "Gospel Haiku," and the lyrics for the PBS children's cartoon series, "Book of Virtues."
Venturing into theatre, Marcus has received Metro and Tennessee Arts Grants for three of his musicals: American Duet, co-written with Bill Feehely, Artistic Director of Actors Bridge, Francis of Guernica, performed by Tennessee Repertory Theatre, and Warrior, a work based on the life of Jim Thorpe, the great Native American Athlete, which premiered at the new Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Warrior also garnered Marcus the award for creative achievement given by the Native American Association of Tennessee. His latest produced work, The Piper, debuted at the Hartt School in Hartford, CT in April, 2004, and his new musical, Atlanta, will be produced by Actors Bridge in January, 2005. In New York, American Duet received a stage reading at the New 42nd Street Studios in January, 2004, and is slated to open off Broadway in September, 2005. His opera, Poor Players, is scheduled to be performed by the Nashville Opera in November, 2005. His musicals have not only played to sell out crowds, but have also generated great reviews and multiple "Tennie" (Tennessean Theatre Critic) awards. In his review of American Duet, The Tennessean's theatre critic, Kevin Nance, wrote:
"...Hummon offers a visionary alternative. His score for American Duet-a pulsing, yearning, soaring amalgam of Afropop and country styles-masterfully delineates and then subtly blends the two genres so that, by the end, the differences between them all but disappear and a new thing, a third thing, has taken their place. The result is no self-conscious hybrid; it has its own kind of integrity, perfect and whole."
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