For the last two years, Christian Theological Seminary has staged a passion play early in Holy Week, performing to full houses and an overwhelmingly positive response. This year, CTS is continuing the tradition – but with a new twist.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of a jazz/blues singer’s signature song – Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit.”
In 1999, Time magazine declared it to be “The Song of the Century.” That song is actually a protest poem set to music. It was written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish high school teacher from New York City, after seeing an infamous photograph of the lynching of two African-American teenagers by a violent mob in Marion, Ind.
To commemorate the anniversary, and the power of the arts to turn an act of horror into an enduring symbol of redemption, CTS will host an evening of meditations on the mystery of the Christian cross through music, dance, spoken word and film.
“Strange Fruit: Encountering the Mystery of the Cross through the Arts” will be presented during Holy Week on April 14 and 15 at 7 p.m., in Shelton Auditorium at Christian Theological Seminary.
Ticket prices are adults $10, youths $5, groups of 10 or more half-price.
CTS says the program is a deeply human program of tragedy and beauty, defiance and grace. The scriptural accounts of Jesus’ passion will interweave with works of art, culminating with Billie Holiday’s own “Strange Fruit” – a song that has inspired generations to believe in the power of music and the dignity of the human spirit.
The evening also will feature vocalist Anastasia Talley of Indiana University; dancer Mariel Greenlee from Dance Kaleidoscope; cellist Eric Edberg from DePauw University; pianist R. Kent Cook from Illinois Wesleyan University; filmmaker Elizabeth Myer of the Salt Project; and oboist Roger Roe from both the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Indiana University.
Tickets can be reserved at cts.edu/strangefruit.
