One hundred singers will gather at Easton’s Beach in Newport on August 21, during the upcoming solar eclipse, for a special choral performance: The Sea Pageant. This performance is the creation of Jed Hancock Brainerd and Rebecca Noon of theater group Strange Attractor. The couple is currently finishing a year-long residency at the Providence Athenaeum, where they researched the historical relationship between Rhode Islanders and the ocean.
Preparing for the performance are 10 groups of singers all over the state, each with a designated group leader. The groups are all learning the same song and dance movements and will convene on the morning of the performance at the Easton’s Beach ballroom for a rehearsal. “We just hope that it all works,” Noon added.
Creating a performance inside of a theater was not a concept that interested the couple. “We’re always trying to think about how we use space and where we go,” Noon explained. “We are really thinking about this as a performance for the ocean. It’s about creating something, that while you’re performing it, you have the sense of being in something moving and transformative.”
The Sea Pageant is supported in part through a residency at the Providence Athenaeum and funding from the Rhode Island Council on the Arts. For more information, go to strangeattractor.org/the-sea-pageant. The eclipse — and the performance — will begin at approximately 1:30 pm.