*Let me start by saying I have a heart for a good cause, so my antenna goes up whenever I hear of one. When I heard a little of the upcoming documentary musical, “Witness Uganda,” which will be performed at the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly Hills from February 5 to 23, I was immediately curious to know more. I had a very enlightening and informative telephone interview with Griffin Matthews, the man whose life inspired Witness Uganda.
Griffin explained the motivation behind Witness Uganda, which I found fascinating. It began with him being part of a volunteer effort in Uganda, where he came into contact with some children. He shared …
“It started with a small group of teenagers who had been out of school. Their parents some had passed away from the HIV/AIDS epidemic or they had a single parent and couldn’t afford to go to school and so I met these kids in the village on the street and started to hang out with them and formed a very incredible friendship with them. After six weeks of being with them and decided I wanted to come home and raise money to get them back into school. In order to do that, we needed to start a non-profit.”
That was the birth of his non-profit organization, Uganda Project.
Originally, the idea was to get the children through high school; however, high school turned into college, grad school, weddings and births. According to Griffin …
“The idea of the Uganda Project was rather than continue to scale up and get bigger and bigger and bigger and take on hundreds and hundreds of kids, the idea was to take on a small group of kids.”
Uganda Project followed twelve children through school, some of them from as early as elementary school. They have gone on to different walks of life, including medical school. The project continues to support them through all life’s mazes.
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In 2008, when the recession hit, Uganda Project lost a lot of its funding and fell on hard times. Griffin’s partner, Matt Gould, thought it would be a good idea to raise money by performing a documentary musical about their experiences in Africa and the Uganda Project. The one night New York performance was well received, has been performed all over the world and is now being performed for the Los Angeles audience. Griffin Matthews directs the musical. Matt Gould is the musical director. Ledesi is also lending her time and talent to Witness Uganda. According to Griffin, after he and Matt, “tracked her down at a Mexican Restaurant in the San Fernando Valley,” she wanted to be a part of the project.
Come on out to the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly Hills between February 5 and February 23 and Witness Uganda for yourself.
For more info: https://thewallis.org/witness
WEST COAST PREMIERE of
The Wallis’ Production of
WITNESS UGANDA
A DOCUMENTARY MUSICAL
by Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews
Directed by Griffin Matthews
Twelve-Time Grammy Nominee Ledisi, Jamar Williams,
Amber Iman and Emma Hunton Star in Groundbreaking Production
Documenting the Story of a Man Battling to Find his Place
in a World Full of Injustice and Inhumanity
Tuesday, February 5 – Saturday, February 23, 2019, at the
Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts
(Beverly Hills, CA) — The Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts presents the West Coast premiere of The Wallis’ production of WITNESS UGANDA, a groundbreaking documentary musical by Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews starring twelve-time Grammy nominee Ledisi, Jamar Williams (Wild Goose Dreams), Amber Iman (Hamilton) and Emma Hunton (Wicked), directed by Matthews with music direction by Gould, from Tuesday, February 5 – Saturday, February 23, 2019, in The Wallis’s Lovelace Studio Theater. After a successful Off-Broadway run, this new and revised production documents the story of a man battling to find his place in a world full of injustice and inhumanity.
In addition to Ledisi (Rain Lady/Church Lady), Jamar Williams (Griffin), Amber Iman (Joy) and Emma Hunton (Ryan), the cast features Kameron Richardson (Jacob), Naärai (Grace), Sha’leah Nikole (Eden), Dexter Darden (Ibrahim), Jordan Barrow (Ronny), Jai’Len Josey (Vocalist/Understudy for Rain Lady/Church Lady) and Antwone Barnes, Kennan D Washington and Thurzday in the Ensemble. Ledisi will not perform on the evening of Friday, February 15 and for both shows on Sunday, February 17. In her absence, Jai’Len Josey will play the roles of Rain Lady/Church Lady. Witness Uganda is choreographed by Abdur-Rahim Jackson, with music supervision by Remy Kurs, set design by Connor MacPhee, lighting design by David Hernandez, costumes by Carlton Jones and sound design by Martin Carillo. Assistant Director is Mark Jacob Chaitin and Stage Manager is Sara Sahin. Casting is by Chad Murnane of Binder Casting.
Based on a true story, Witness Uganda follows Griffin, a New York City-based American volunteer, as he arrives in Uganda to help build a village school and escape his church’s condemnation of his sexuality. When he falls into a complicated relationship with a group of destitute, orphaned teenagers, he finds himself driven by a mission that will change his and their lives forever. From the rolling hills of the Ugandan countryside to a stifling apartment in New York City, from a joyous celebration of African youth to a terrifying abduction 8,000 miles away, Witness Uganda explores the question, “is changing the world even possible?”
According to CBS, Witness Uganda is, “an awesomely powerful musical that will thrill you to the bones.” Associated Press called it, “a vibrant, pulsating musical,” and TimeOut NY described it as, “exuberant and soulful… releases gale-force waves of faith, hope and love.” The show has received the Richard Rodgers Award, Harold Adamson Award and Dean Kay Award.
Witness Uganda has been performed in concert by Gould and Matthews around the country and around the world since 2008. It had its world premiere at Harvard University’s American Repertory Theater in 2014 and premiered off-Broadway at New York City’s Second Stage Theater under the name Invisible Thread, both under the direction of Tony winner Diane Paulus. Witness Uganda has helped to raise over $275,000 for UgandaProject, an organization founded by Matthews and co-directed by Gould that sponsors the education of a group of students living in Kampala, Uganda. Both Matthews and Gould have each spent time living and working in Africa. Gould was a Peace Corps volunteer in The Islamic Republic of Mauritania from 2001 to 2003, and Griffin first went to Uganda in 2005 on an aid trip. For more than a decade since, the two have visited Uganda. They created Witness Uganda based on interviews with UgandaProject staff and students, weaving music through the words of the people.
“This production gets back to the roots of Witness Uganda,” says Gould, and Matthews adds, “We’re excited to share this raw, real story about the complexity of helping others. It feels more relevant now than ever.”
“From the beginning of my association with Matt and Griffin and this show, I have always connected with their story of this young man on his epic journey,” says The Wallis’ artistic director Paul Crewes. “It’s been a wonderful experience to work with them at The Wallis on this West Coast premiere.”
Tickets, $50, are on sale now and, available at TheWallis.org/Witness. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. To purchase tickets and for more information, please call 310-746-4000 or visit: TheWallis.org/Witness.
Marilyn Smith is a Los Angeles based writer/reviewer. Contact her via [email protected]
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