Shaun Taylor-Corbett is Darrell Waters and Brent Florendo is Old Man in Distant Thunder, directed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett.
Distant Thunder arrives Off-Broadway with the distinction of being the first mainstream Native American musical to be staged in New York. Written by Lynne Taylor-Corbett (book) and her son Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Chris Wiseman (music and lyrics), this musical soars with an indigenous cast.
Jeff Barehand, as the reclusive White Feather, and Michelle Rios, as matriarch Betty Still Smoking, lock horns in a quarrel. Photographs by Russ Rowland.
Set on the Blackfoot Reservation in Browning, Mont., Distant Thunder begins with a powwow flashback that thrusts one into the thick of Native American culture. One sees a woman in a jingle dress, as well as dancers and a young boy named Dancing Waters, who swirl about the stage to drumbeats. At the end of it, Dancing Waters is taken away from the reservation by his white mother.
Distant Thunder, first and foremost, is a story about identity. Years later Dancing Waters returns as Darrell, a lawyer from Chicago. His mother has died, but he has found a business proposal for oil drilling that could benefit the Blackfoot tribe and himself. His ambition sets off a firestorm: the drilling would be at the site of a school. On a deeper level, Distant Thunder is the story of the Indigenous Americans as they struggle to sustain their language and culture, while Darrell grapples with being a person of mixed race:
The GPS says I’m here. No, I don’t recognize a damn thing. It all looks like a bad spaghetti Western.
Distant Thunder has many strands in its tightly woven narrative: There’s the central story of Darrell’s homecoming that inevitably brings him back into the orbit of his childhood sweetheart Dorothy Dark Eyes (Angela Gómez) and his reclusive father, White Feathers (Jeff Barehand). Darrell also encounters Thomas (Spencer Battiest), the wayward 17-year-old with whom he unwittingly becomes entangled when the teen gets into trouble with the law.
Bonale Fambrini (left) plays Smudge, Spencer Battiest is Thomas, and Aubee Billie is Aiyana Buck in Distant Thunder.
All the principal characters in Distant Thunder are fully realized, and it demands one’s full attention to follow them as they collide with one another. Although change comes to everyone before the finale, the two characters who undergo the most change are Darrell and his father, White Feather. Suffice it to say, that Darrell will see his father with new—and more compassionate—eyes as he learns more about his complex past, including his warrior days in the American Indian Movement at Wounded Knee, S.D., in the 1973 occupation of the site by Native Americans.
Taylor-Corbett, as Darrell, has the star turn in the show. In his Act II fantasy dance beside his younger self, Dancing Waters, he seems to be transfigured into a whole new Native American realm. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of the cast fall in his shadow. In fact, Barehand’s nuanced performance as Darrell’s father, White Feather, adds psychological depth to the story, most notably when his character lashes out at his Ivy League-educated son who accuses him of cowardice (“You and your words and your fancy education—you know nothing about bravery. You are just a spoiled white boy!”). Johnlee Lookingglass and Xander Chauncey also prove themselves worth their salt as actors: the former as a trigger-happy sheriff quick to pick a bone with anybody; and the latter as a veteran injured in Iraq and concealing his trauma behind an affable façade. What truly makes Distant Thunder hum, however, is its unique mixture of pop-rock and Native drumming and dancing, starting with the powwow and the welcome by the tribe’s doyenne Grandma Jingle Dress:
As you can see, I am still wearing my Jingle Dress from long ago, because it heals and inspires me to keep our stories alive. My Ojibwe sisters taught me how to sew each jingle on this dress, and that’s how many stories I’ve told!
All 14 songs featured in the show vary in mood and atmosphere. The opening number, “Time Stands Still,” has Darrell ruminating on what it was like for him as a child to be taken away from the land and people he loved and start a new life in an affluent Chicago suburb with his mother. A lighter tone is evoked in “Loaves and Fishes,” which captures the generous spirit of the Blackfoot tribe as they set an extra plate for Darrell on his first day back at the reservation. But, by far, it’s the eponymous song at the finale that’s the most potent, an ensemble number that celebrates the enduring culture of the Blackfeet, with the character Raymond Buck calling out in an emotional powwow vocal line that serves as a fitting exclamation point to the entire show.
Distant Thunder is well worth the investment of any theatergoer’s time. It shines a fresh light on an often overlooked people.
The production of Distant Thunder: A New American Musical, produced by Amas Musical Theatre, runs at A.R.T./ New York Theatres (502 W. 53 St.) through Oct. 27. Evening performances are 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; matinees are at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, visit amasmusical.org
Book: Lynne Taylor-Corbett
Music & Lyrics: Shaun Taylor-Corbett & Chris Wiseman
Direction & Choreography: Lynne Taylor-Corbett
Scenic Design: Regina García
Lighting Design: Anthony Pearson
Sound Design: Ben Selke
Costume Design: E. B. Brooks
