ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Director Rob Dimmick, left, asks Thomas Carlos to talk about his experiences.
By BILL BROTHERTON
LYNN — Jazz is a Rainbow will be returning to the city this summer.
“Let Freedom Sing: The Songs and the Song Makers of the Civil Rights Movement” will be presented by an all-youth cast Aug. 26 at LynnArts, said Mike Palter, who wrote the musical/historical script. It played to capacity audiences last summer in Providence, R.I.
Lynne Jackson will be co-musical director and Robb Dimmick will direct the production, which will include songs “If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus,” “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” “If I Had a Hammer” and other powerful songs of the Civil Rights movement. The show will also focus on the personalities and historical events surrounding the music.
The unique thing about Jazz is a Rainbow: The cast is made up entirely of youths ages 10 to 18.
“This is an important program, the only project in the United States where children work with an original script written strictly for them,” said Palter, a professional musician who was born in Revere and raised in Lynn. “Many of the youngsters have never performed in public or been exposed to jazz.”
Jazz is a Rainbow was started more than a dozen years ago by Jackson and Palter, who live in Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Dimmick. Their productions use jazz and musical theater as learning tools for urban youth.
“Jazz is the first true shared art form,” said Dimmick. “It is black history. It is white history. But it’s more a shared history.”
Lynn natives Alex Newell, who starred in the hit TV series “Glee,” and Khalil Flemming, who interned on “Sesame Street,” and now works for United Talent Agency, got their starts here.
Palter said any youngsters age 8 to 18 are invited to take part. Rehearsals for “Let Freedom Sing” will be at LynnArts, 25 Exchange Street, Aug. 14-25, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participation is free. Cast members will learn all the skills needed for musical stage performance, including script memorization, vocal training, choreography, ensemble cooperation and focus. The project is funded by grants, private donations and nonprofit partners, including the Lynn Museum.
Carlos Thomas, a 12-year-old from Lynn, performed in last summer’s production, “The Harlem Strut.” It was his first time on stage. “At the beginning I was extremely shy. I was the youngest person in the cast. At the start, I was afraid no one would hear me and I’d ruin the whole show. After I got to know everyone, it was fun. And I wanted to do it again.” Thomas has advanced to the National Assemblies of God Fine Arts Festival, where in August in Anaheim, Calif., he will play a piano solo and perform a dramatic reading. His family has created a Go Fund Me page to help finance the trip: https://www.gofundme.com/ag-national-fine-arts-festival.?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
If all goes well, Jazz is a Rainbow might be expanding to Revere in 2018, said Palter and Leslie Heffron, manager of the youth outreach program at MGH Revere, a nurse and visual artist who believes music and the arts are important parts of a child’s development.
Those interested in joining the “Let Freedom Sing” cast can contact Palter at michaelpalter@comcast.net or 978-526-8620.