Forestine

“We stand on the shoulders of the older and the bolder, even those whose lives we may never know”

My original musical “Forestine” is very loosely based on my family history. It’s a fictional love story about a young woman’s journey as a trailblazer and the resilience of her Black bourgeoisie community during Reconstruction. Intricately woven into the details are anecdotes I’ve heard since childhood, stories of family members, their triumphs, and their plights, and how they kept each other uplifted against all odds.

I saw this picture when I was a child of my great Aunt Forestine, my grandmother’s eldest sister. I thought she was beautiful. Something about the sadness behind her eyes both haunted and intrigued me. I had heard second-hand accounts of her life but found myself wanting to know more, though she was already gone. She’d died of tuberculosis when my grandmother was young, but from time to time I’d wonder about her and what her life might have been if she’d lived to be older than she was in this picture.

This musical pays homage to her and so many of those untold stories that I would have loved to hear firsthand. 

I’ve always been drawn to the time period known as Reconstruction after slavery ended and before civil rights began. Through the vivid storytelling of our protagonist, we experience the vibrant world of a historic Black bourgeoisie community as she looks back on her life.  I don’t see many depictions of the Black middle class, certainly not from this time, and I find myself craving one that accurately reflects this personal legacy that I share with my family and many Black friends.

I was elated and honored to showcase the different pockets of resilient Black people that rose to prominence from Memphis to Bed-Stuy from the perspective of a chosen family. The musical highlights the brilliant thought leaders, the small business owners, and the communities that made such a name for themselves that they drew the ire of people looking to tear down the strides that they had made or just sweep them under the rug. None of this stood in their way. Instead, they held onto their belief that anything was possible if they pursued it and maintained a belief in themselves and each other. They did it masterfully, walking a trailblazing tightrope while balancing the weight of legacy on their shoulders to lighten the load for those of us who would come after them. 

I am the composer, lyricist, and book writer of the musical “Forestine”. As of November 2022, I have finished the final draft of the libretto! “Forestine” is my first full-length musical and one of the most rewarding accomplishments of my life. I hope you fall in love with the melodies and characters as much as I did writing them. I look forward to putting this two-act, all-Black ensemble musical on stage in the near future.