"Steerage Song"

The Duluth Playhouse and Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua present "Steerage Song," a collaborative performance featuring members of the Blue Canvas Orchestra and guest performers in a moving, fully-staged musical originally produced by Theater Latte Da in Minneapolis. Now Terry Matier, executive director of Big Top Chautauqua, and Christine Gradl Seitz, executive and artistic director of Duluth Playhouse, have worked to bring the show to our region through a new co-production. Ellis Island was the gateway to America – a land of opportunity for some, a land of exclusion for others. Five thousand immigrants a day passed through this “Island of Hope, Island of Tears.” Packed into the steerage of steamships, they left their homelands with few possessions but a wealth of hope, promise and music. "Steerage Song" – by Peter Rothstein and Dan Chouinard – is a musical kaleidoscope of their journey to America.  The show's creators spent more than three years gathering immigrant songs. Authentic stories and songs from the "golden age" of immigration between 1840 and 1924 illustrate a dynamic journey of hardship and opportunity, discrimination and tolerance, anguish and optimism. The show is a docu-musical, blending the songs of 20 countries of Old Europe and the rhythms of Tin Pan Alley. 715-373-5552. www.bigtop.org. 7:30 p.m.