Michael Brosilow
Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s The Beautiful Music All Around Us is a journey through the American South’s musical history led by Grammy-nominee Stephen Wade, who combines the intellectual excitement of a dedicated scholar with the unabashed emotional expressivity of a folk demigod. The show is drawn from his award-winning book of the same title and is a compilation of live banjo and guitar performance, spoken word and projected historic photographs. These elements combine to create a window into the lives of Americans whose names are not well known but whose contributions are staggering.
Wade’s book focuses on 13 such individuals and is the result of 18 years of research into the Library of Congress’ Field Recording Initiative conducted during the 1930s-’40s. He studied these sources extensively then traveled to sites where the recordings and photographs were made, interviewing 200 people who either lived through the New Deal initiative or are descended from those recorded. His performance is replete with myriad personal stories and legacies gleaned through this immense musicological endeavor.
A memorable narrative explores the origins and continuing legacy of the well-known piece “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” whose melody came from Kentucky family man “Fiddler” Bill Stepp, but gained international acclaim in renditions with sources ranging from Emerson, Lake and Palmer to the famed ballet Rodeo . When Wade re-toured his Southern research sites upon completing his book, he played the piece for Stepp’s extended family in its original form as well as the grandly orchestrated Rodeo incarnation; they were blown away to discover the scope of their patriarch’s fiddle tune.
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The Beautiful Music All Around Us is, in Wade’s words, a testament to “the indivisibility of art and life.” Though still a young nation, America’s tapestry of individual histories and creative expression is vast. Wade’s work eloquently expounds upon the importance, not just of the names we all know, but of the ordinary folk who planted the first seeds in our verdant sonic garden.
Through March 15 at the Milwaukee Rep’s Stackner Cabaret, 108 E. Wells St. For tickets, call 414-224-9490 or visit milwaukeerep.com.
