In The Studio
A Sneak Peek at the Stories
The Havre de Grace Mosaic Project of the Havre de Grace Arts Collective (Arts Collective), slowed by Covid-19 as most of the performing arts, has developed a sneak peek video of four of the stories to be included in its 2022 multi-media live performance. The Mosaic Project is a community-based performing arts adaptation of the stories of people, places, and milestones that contributed to the unique personality of the City of Havre de Grace. Sitting, safely distanced, at microphones, eleven actors of all ages bring life to short scripts developed from several interviews and memoirs. The video will launch on the Arts Collective/Mosaic website, (https://hdgartscollective.org/havre-de-grace-mosaic-project/) as well as the Arts Collective Facebook page March 25th. There is no charge to view the videos, but comments and memories are welcomed. The Mosaic Project team plans to release at least a dozen additional sneak peaks in the next sixteen months.
The first story, “The Coin,” was told by Walter “Mac” McLhinney during his Harford County Living Treasure Interview which is now available digitally at DigitalMaryland.org. This incident happened when Walter was only ten years old when he questioned his pay at the Seneca Cannery where many boys at each age worked for five cents an hour.
The second story, “Barbara Roberts,” is an excerpt from a short memoir called “Me and My Memories” by Barbara Roberts who spent time in Havre de Grace visiting her great aunt and uncle, the Carvers. In this interpreted vignette, we get a small girl’s point of view afternoon teas and a chance to bet on the horses at the Graw Racetrack.
Next is a compiled vignette based on several stories found in histories about big fishing on the Susquehanna River before the dam was built. These men led difficult lives, most of them “hobos,” that wandered up and down the coast looking for work.
And finally, the last vignette is based on another interview from Harford County’s Living Treasures of two sisters, Teresa Palmer Williams and Anne Palmer Tremble, who, as teenagers spent many a Friday night at the Hotel Bayou for music and dancing. In the “Palmer Sisters” episode, the girls enjoy flirtation with one of the Navy boys from Bainbridge Naval Station.
Mosaic Project: In the Studio is a thirty-five-minute video written and directed by Irmgarde Brown, taped and edited by JimmyO Burril, and produced by the Arts Collective at the Cultural Center at the Opera House, and supported in part by grants from the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway and the Maryland Heritage Area Authority. Incidental music is provided by Sylke Bargsten at the piano and soloist, Jackie Brandon. Local actors are Dickie Mahoney, Joey Tramontana, Lexi Newberry, Tom and Barbara Hartzell, Bob Willenbrink, Al, Kathy, and Natasha Herlinger, Jess Hutchinson, and Lilli Burril.
The Havre de Grace Mosaic Project live event will include drama, music, dance, poetry, and video interpretations. Anyone who has a good story to tell or would like to be interviewed for the Project, can contact the Arts Collective at 443-502-2005 or by email: [email protected]. The Havre de Grace Arts Collective is a 501(c)(3) organization created to address the cultural and economic needs of Havre de Grace and the surrounding region, including oversight of the Cultural Center at the Opera House, Arts and Entertainment District, Arts by the Bay Gallery and the Havre de Grace Public Art Committee. For more information, visit www.HdGArtsCollective.org.
