"Who Owns a Song?" Atelier Course Finds Inspiration in The Princeton & Slavery Project

The Lewis Center for the Arts’ Princeton Atelier presented a staged reading of Tune Every Heart: The Princeton & Slavery Project in Song, a series of original musical theater works based on newly revealed stories from the Princeton & Slavery Project, on January 13, 2018 in the Faculty Room of Nassau Hall.

Students walk into a very formal space with a long table and historic paintings on the walls

Photo by Justin Goldberg

A singer hold written music with the title "Goin' Black"

Photo by Justin Goldberg

A performer sings in a formal looking chamber

Photo by Justin Goldberg

Historic sketches are projected on the ceiling of a formal room with a long table

Photo by Justin Goldberg

Two performers smile with fists in the air as they sing

Photo by Justin Goldberg

A group of performers sing from music stands

Photo by Justin Goldberg

A single performer holds music in his hand as he sings in a formal room with wood paneled walls

Photo by Justin Goldberg

A performer lies on a table appearing to be dead or injured

Photo by Justin Goldberg

Photo by Justin Goldberg

Some of the untold stories finally given voice included an emancipated woman who educated generations around the world, racial violence that erupted between students and residents of the town, and reflections from a runaway slave who earned his freedom and began working at Princeton.

This was the culminating presentation of creative work generated through the fall 2017 Princeton Atelier course, “Who Owns a Song? A Theatrical Investigation of Princeton and Slavery,” led by Peter Mills ’95 and Cara Reichel ’96, founding members of the critically-acclaimed Prospect Theater Company.