A Powerful Tale of a Black Cowboy, ‘Cross That River,’ Conjures in Music the African-American Experience in the Old West
Allan Harris’s basic language is jazz, but the score is suffused with virtually every roots music genre that exists: blues, country, gospel, bluegrass, Tex-Mex — the one thing it does not sound like is a typical musical comedy score.
‘Cross That River: A Tale of the Black West’
Music and Lyrics by Allan Harris; Book by Allan & Pat Harris
59 E 59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, New York, NY
Through October 8, 2023.
In traditional African-American spirituals, crossing the river frequently means traversing the River of Jordan, a metaphor for transitioning out of this world and into the next. In other words, dying. In many such folk songs, death is presented as a release and a reward, the only way to escape the misery of slavery.
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