Presented by the Program in Theater as part of the New Works Festival II.
The Great Cloud: Stories and Songs by Alexandra Buzzini
Run Time
Approximately 75 minutes; no intermission
Special Notes
Please silence all electronic devices including cellular phones and watches, and refrain from text messaging for the duration of the performance. No flash photography permitted.
Cast
Choir: Cassandra James ’23*
Choir: Tiffany Agyarko ’23
Choir: Cynthia Makachi ’24
Choir: Yedoh Kang ’22
Choir: Rachel Chen ’22
Choir: Katie Baldwin ’24
Choir: Alexandra Buzzini ’22*
Choir: Timothy Seiferth ’25
Choir: Juan José López Haddad ’22*
Choir: Luke Martin ’24
Choir: Toussaint Santicola Jones ’25
Poem Recitation: Esset Teshome ’25
Musicians
Piano: Alexandra Buzzini ’22*
Bass: Toussaint Santicola Jones ’25
Drums: Andy Iyabor ’23
French Horn: Selena Hostetler ’23
Cello: Katie Baldwin ’24
Flute: Alessandro Troncoso ’25
Guitar: Tyler Ashman ’21
Production Team
Director: Alexandra Buzzini ’22*
Music Director: Alexandra Buzzini ’22* and Toussaint Santicola Jones ’25
Choreographer: Rachel Chen ’22
*denotes a certificate student in the Program in Theater
Faculty Advisors
Robert Sandberg, Project Advisor
Vince di Mura, Music Advisor
A Note from the Thesis Proposer
To the people and communities that made The Great Cloud possible:
First, a massive thank you to my advisors: Bob Sandberg and Vince di Mura. Bob, thank you for bearing with my chaotic schedule, and for always taking my work so seriously as to provide incredibly thoughtful feedback on each song draft, as well as inspiration for how to bring the pieces of this show together. Vince, I am grateful to you for generously giving of your time to offer support, encouragement, and guidance throughout the composition process! Thank you for sharing your insights and for believing in this project.
Many thanks to the LCA staff for providing the space, and production and promotional support!
To our incredible cast and pit musicians, Y’ALL ARE CHAMPS. Thank you for being patient with us as we threw partially composed songs and crazy choir parts at you a week before opening night – you welcomed it all with grace, enthusiasm, and joy. This show could not have come to life without your willingness to be so generous with your time and effort. I hope you all know how grateful I am for each and every one of you.
Toussaint, it’s SO crazy to me that I didn’t know you before this semester. I’m so grateful that this show brought us together, for what I hope is only the first of many collaborations to come. Thank you for being the most kind and encouraging friend, EPICLY talented bass player, speed-notator, and fellow composer/music director and enthusiast. I don’t know how I could have composed this show without your eagerness to share the weight of the work like it was your own, always with funky ideas, energy, and excitement. I am deeply grateful to you, and so excited to see and support the incredible projects you embark upon in your remaining years at Princeton (get READY everyone)!
Tyler, you have encouraged me and believed in me and the hope for this show from the start. Thank you for countless facetime calls to help me compose on guitar from afar, for reminding me of the chords when I forget to write them down, for reeling in harmonies that have a little TOO much crunch, for comforting me and lending invaluable support, and for pushing me to keep moving forward past every doubt. You are wonderful, and I truly cannot express my gratitude to you enough.
And last, but certainly not least, to my many friends in our Christian community here at Princeton who feel like family – thank you for inspiring these songs by your faithfulness to run with endurance the race set before you. You have loved one another and cared for me so abundantly for the past four years, and my life and beliefs have been changed because of it. To those of you who were generous enough to sit down and talk with me about your life and faith – I am grateful beyond words. It is my sincere hope that this show both celebrates you all and how you have encouraged one another in the faith, and tells of the wondrous works that God has done in your lives.
— Alexandra Buzzini ’22
Land Acknowledgement
An estimated 10 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of European colonizers. Many thousands lived in Lenapehoking, the vast homeland of the Lenni-Lenape, who were the first inhabitants of what is now called eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Princeton stands on part of the ancient homeland and traditional territory of the Lenape people. In 1756, the College of New Jersey erected Nassau Hall with no recorded consultation with the Lenni-Lenape peoples.
Treaties and forced relocation dispersed Lenape-Delaware to Ohio, Kansas, and Oklahoma. We acknowledge the violence of settler colonialism and pay respect to Lenape peoples past, present, and future and their continuing presence in the homeland and throughout the Lenape diaspora.
Current Princeton student activists and alumni are advocating for Indigenous students and studies at the University. For more information, see the websites of Natives at Princeton and Princeton Indigenous Advocacy Coalition.
Lewis Center for the Arts
Interim Chair: Michael Cadden
Executive Director: Marion Friedman Young
Director of Program in Theater: Jane Cox
Producing Artistic Director, Theater And Music Theater Season: Elena Araoz
View a full list of the Program in Theater Faculty & Guest Artists
For a look at all the people working behind the scenes to bring you this event, view a full list of LCA staff members »
The programs of the Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts are made possible through the generous support of many alumni and other donors. View a full list of LCA Supporters »
