HART ISLAND by Danny Haengil Larsen & Michelle Elliott (both Cycle 14). Photo by Elise Bakketun. Courtesy of Village Theatre.
GMTWP Alums Danny Haengil Larsen & Michelle Elliott (both Cycle 14) received a workshop production of their new musical HART ISLAND as part of the Village Theatre's BETA SERIES this past June.
The show is inspired by an actual island of the same name in Pelham Bay, just off the Bronx, above the East River. Since 1869, it has been New York City’s public burial ground and over 1 million people have been buried there. Bodies of the poor, the unclaimed and the unknown are buried in rudimentary pine boxes and laid in mass graves. Infants and young children are also buried on Hart if their parents cannot afford a private funeral. Until very recently, families were not allowed on the island and had no way to visit the graves of their loved ones.
Hart Island follows two individuals, Charles and Marielena, who have each suffered the loss of a child and are brought together by Hart Island. This song portrays the moment after which Charles realizes that he has done himself and his loved ones a disservice by avoiding the grief associated with his son’s death.