00:24La storia dell'Anne Lee
00:25Ho scoperto la storia dell'Anne Lee
00:29Ho scoperto la storia dell'Anne Lee
00:33Ho scoperto una hymna
00:36Ho scoperto la storia di Catherine
00:38La storia di cantare o cantare con la bambina
00:42Ho scoperto la storia di madre
00:47Ho scoperto una hymna
00:50Ho scoperto la storia di 50-100 anni
00:53Ma da la storia dell'Anne Lee
00:56La storia di partecipare in 1856
00:57Ho scoperto la storia del 1700
01:03E in la storia del 1700
01:05E la storia di questo hymna
01:09called Pretty Mother's Home.
01:18And I thought it was so beautiful and I loved it.
01:21And then I tried to find, you know, figure out where it came from.
01:25And it turned out it was written by a woman named Patsy Williams.
01:30It's credited to writing this song.
01:32And she was a freed slave and she was part of the Shaker community.
01:38And she was a prominent songwriter and artist within that community and a respected elder.
01:48And I thought, what is this religion that has an African-American woman as an artist and a songwriter?
01:54And so I need to understand this is not how I had perceived of American history at that particular time
02:02and place at all.
02:03So I needed to know more about it.
02:05And that took me down, you know, to further down into Ann Lee's story.
02:12And I realized, well, this was a religion that was led by a woman, which is extremely unconventional at the
02:18time.
02:19And a woman who had really radical ideas about equality and how, you know, and the thoughts about how to
02:30create, you know, a society and a space.
02:33With equality for all, for all, you know, all gender and race and social economic background.
02:39So I thought, well, this story is the story that I have to tell.
02:47The time is next.
02:50Yes, I know.
02:53Don't be afraid.
02:56Mona was, uh, had been telling me about this script that she had written and it was a passion project
03:03for her.
03:04And, um, when she gave it to me, she said, this is going to be really, um, you know, uncomfortable.
03:13It's going to be hard.
03:14And I was like, yeah, yeah, cool.
03:16And I read it and I was, um, I was kind of afraid because I didn't, I couldn't really wrap
03:27my head around it because it was so unconventional.
03:32And it was from a very specific point of view and the hymns were written in and I didn't know
03:39what the movement looked, the movement was written in and I didn't know what that looked like.
03:43I couldn't picture it.
03:44The script is sent with a few drawings and paintings and the document.
03:49And I was looking at these and I, I just, I couldn't picture me as Ann Lee.
03:55I couldn't, I couldn't see it.
03:57The only thing I could hold on to was Mona's, uh, commitment, Mona's clarity of vision.
04:07And I trusted her as a director at that point because I'd worked with her and I, I just had
04:12to go with God basically, I just had to go with Mona.
04:41So it had to be a very musical and movement driven piece because they worship through ecstatic song and dance.
04:48I was, I was a little scared of accepting it or sort of deciding that it was going to be
04:53a full blown musical, uh, in the beginning.
04:56I, I was, I was very, I was focused on, I just want to tell her story in a, in
05:02a way that's interesting and exciting to me and truthful and, and respectful of her, her story, um, and the
05:09shakers.
05:09Uh, but, uh, but then, you know, when I got into it and I started writing and working on it
05:14and doing all my research, you know, I was, I kept telling Brady, um, uh, Corbe, my partner, my writing
05:21partner, that it's, you know, it's a very musical, it's a very movement driven piece.
05:25And then he, you know, he, we started working on it together and he's like, Mona, it's just, it is
05:28a musical.
05:29That really is what it is.
05:31It's going to be a different kind of musical, um, but it definitely is a musical.
05:51The most enjoyable aspect of playing Ann Lee was her, was playing her naivety and her innocence.
06:00I think the beautiful thing about us as humans is that, like, if we really want to believe in something,
06:10we can.
06:11And her, her life, her, her beliefs were so unadulterated, so, so, I mean, she was so blissful.
06:22It's a really, really wonderful thing to play because that is rarely how life feels, rarely how I can, I
06:30can, I can relate to life.
06:32You know, I, I, of course, I'm blissful at times, but that, that commitment and that devotion and that consistency
06:39in her was just really powerful for me.
07:01The sum of everything she's great at, you know, made her perfect for this role. She is, first, of course,
07:10obvious things.
07:11An incredible singer, an incredible mover, um, and, uh, an actress with so much range, um, and depth, uh, those
07:23are the obvious things.
07:24And I, I, I had the chance to direct her on another project and I, I really got to, sort
07:30of, experience, sort of, really see her, her dramatic range as well.
07:35I hunger and thirst, I hunger and thirst, after true righteousness, I hunger and thirst, I hunger and thirst.
07:54I think she simply knew and understood that kindness and empathy and need for connection to the humans around you.
08:08It shouldn't be so novel, it's so obvious. It's how simple it can, it, things could be, how, how much
08:14easier it could be for all of us if we treated each other with the same kind of compassion and
08:19respect that, that she was preaching, that she was, she was offering her, her community.
08:27And the idea that, like, if we're all on the same page, we all start with the same tools, the
08:33same understanding, the same level of compassion for each other, we could do so much more in life. We could
08:38really thrive.
08:39La guerra si avvicina.
08:43La leggenda narra che apparve una donna vestita di sole e la luna sotto i suoi piedi.
08:52Ah-li.
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