The Tenderloin Opera Company is a performing arts and advocacy group based here in Providence, RI. The group includes people who are without stable homes, people who have experienced homelessness, and advocates for equitable treatment of all people, regardless of their housing status. I find it difficult to describe to friends exactly what it is we do and how we do it.
Until you’ve been to a Tenderloin show, or joined us for a check in (and a sing along) during one of our weekly meetings (now on Zoom!), it’s too hard to shake the given models of “applied theatre” or “community performance.” TOC’s motto is “wrong and strong” – it’s strengths lie in its willingness to push those models, or leave them behind.
This year, TOC presented our annual show as part of this year’s New Music Gathering, held virtually this past Friday, so now, you can take part from wherever you are (minus the cookies).
Check it out below, and find out what TOC is all about!
http://www.facebook.com/TenderloinOperaCompany/live/
The show was always meant to be a retrospective. The company is in a time of transition – our founder has found himself in New Mexico, and our main composers and mainstays have moved on to Portland. This year, for the tenth show, we had intended to create a dynamic performance that revisited some of our favorite scenes, and gave some of our longest standing members a chance to set up “stations” where they could share their stories, answer questions, and lead us in one of their favorite songs. With many thanks to Jacob, Kirsten, and Zan, we were able to create a virtual version of the event that we shared with musicians and activists across the country. As per tradition, we’re going to try to do a second performance of the show, with slight adjustments to include members who couldn’t join us this time. Keep a lookout!
TOC shows are joyous, sometimes raucous, colourful, and musically complex. However, they are also often an acknowlegement of the true costs of our current housing policy, and the perverse hegemonic incentives of capitalism that perpetuate it. This year, we honoured Madonna Trottier, a woman who was evicted from her home because she withheld rent for months her landlord refused to fix the heat – an act which is entirely legal under RI housing codes. She passed away this spring. For more about her story, please take a look at this documentary, made by a member of TOC.
See also: http://evicted-in-ri.com/#/
dan j ruppel 