A new musical developed over the course of a decade is coming to Ithaca through a collaboration between Walking on Water Productions and Finger Lakes New Works Festival. Daughters examines the enduring impact of Argentina’s military dictatorship through the intertwined stories of four generations of women.
Composer and lyricist Julian Mesri said the musical centers on “the relationship between mothers and daughters through four generations spanning two different countries.”
“At its heart, the historical moment it’s exploring is that during the Argentine military dictatorship in the 1970s and 80s, many young people were disappeared,” Mesri explained. “Many of those women were pregnant, and the children born while they were detained were given to military families. The mothers were subsequently disappeared.”
The musical follows a New York University student trying to help her mother confront the possibility that she may be one of those stolen children. Another storyline focuses on the grandmother searching for the granddaughter she has never met.
“In spite of it being such a difficult moment in history,” Mesri said, “this piece is also quite uplifting, because it’s about family connection. It’s about families coming together in spite of history and time and the horrors of the dictatorship.”
Producer Priscilla Hummel noted that the project’s 10-year development closely parallels the growth of Walking on Water Productions itself.
“Ten years ago, co-creator Courtney Young-Sochar had the inspiration for this piece after seeing a glass exhibit by sculptor Sylvia Levenson in Italy,” Hummel said. “That same year was also very early in the development of Walking on Water Productions. We were founded in 2017, so this marks WoW’s tenth season and the tenth year of development of Daughters.”
The creative team also includes book writer Saviana Stanescu. Hummel added with a laugh that the production continues the theme of ten: “We also have ten cast members in this production.”
The cast features Francisca Muñoz as Mariana, Sabina Luras as Andrea, Erica Reyes as Clara, and Isis Harniki de Carvello in multiple roles. Hummel said the production has strong ties to the Ithaca community, including current students and alumni from the Center for Theatre and Dance at Ithaca College.
Mesri said the decade-long workshop process has been essential to shaping the musical.
“You have to love rewriting, because it’s essentially the heart of what we do,” he said. “Every workshop led to more writing, more discovery, and more collaboration. There’s a lot of darlings that get killed, but sometimes those darlings come back.”
He noted that one of the very first songs he wrote for the project — initially discarded — was restored to the show only recently.
“Everything you do in new work development is always at the service of the story,” Mesri said. “There’s no song or moment more important than making sure the story is clear and lands the way we want it to.”
Daughters will be presented June 4–14, with performances Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. at Kitchen Theatre Company. More information is available from https://www.walkingonwaterproductions.org/ and more information at https://www.fingerlakesnewworksfestival.com/