Pete Seeger's Passing Mourned in Aurora

Pete Seeger’s passing is mourned by the production team behind
I GO ON SINGING – Paul Robeson’s Life in His Words and Songs

Photo Courtesy Andrew Flack

Aurora, CO – Members of Grand Design, Inc., director donnie l. betts and playwright Andrew Flack, each deeply saddened by the passing of folk legend Pete Seeger, are honored that he was able to make a special contribution to their upcoming production of I Go On Singing – Paul Robeson’s Life in His Words and Songs prior to his death.

     Andrew Flack recalls: “In July of 2010, our I Go On Singing production team spent a morning with Pete Seeger at his home high on a bluff above the Hudson River in Beacon, NY, talking about his friendship with Paul Robeson. In the summer of 1949, those two men had appeared together at a concert in Peekskill, NY, where white, racially-charged agitators had provoked a riot. Seeger tells the story in great detail during one of his three video segments featured in I Go On Singing, and at the show’s conclusion, he leads the audience in a rousing rendition of a song that both he and Robeson covered, “Jacob’s Ladder."

      Flack continues, “It was a lovely time we spent that day with Pete, and I’m sure none of us will ever forget the feeling of being with this brilliant man so full of grace and generosity. As Tony Brown (who pays tribute to Paul Robeson in I Go On Singing) wrote last night on hearing of his passing, referring to words first penned by Paul Robeson, Jr. “What was true for Robeson, is also true for Seeger, ‘The world has lost a great and gentle warrior’.”

     We are ever so grateful to Pete for his participation and support of this project, and through his video appearances in the show, he, too, will go on singing!
     Written by Andrew Flack and directed by Denver’s own donnie l. betts, I Go On Singing delivers equal parts historical drama with a live concert experience. Musical numbers range from Spirituals to Broadway, and include original Robeson arrangements of favorites like Ol’ Man River, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Shenandoah, Scandalize My Name, It Ain’t Necessarily So, All Through the Night, Joe Hill, Deep River and many others.
     Pete Seeger makes three video guest appearances discussing his friendship with Robeson and the music they shared in turbulent times.

 PRODUCTION DATES –
Thursday                     February 27 at 7:30pm – PREVIEW PERFORMANCE
Fridays                        February 28 at 7:30pm  -  OPENING NIGHT
Saturdays                    March 1 and  March 8 at 7:30pm
Sundays                       March 2 and March 9  at 2:00pm