Ursuline nuns gather around one of the caskets in their New Orleans convent, about to open and learn if it is as empty as the others they have been storing. (Photo provided by Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre)
Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre stages “The Casket Girls” for two days only
By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
You’ve got the ways and means to New Orleans when Gregory Hancock Dance Theater (GHDT) stages The Casket Girls at The Tarkington at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts, 3 Carter Green, Carmel, on Oct. 24 and 25 only.
The Reporter spoke with GHDT Executive Assistant & Coordinator Christine Colquitt Thacker about the folklore behind The Casket Girls and what audiences can expect.
According to GHDT, this grim gothic tale, based on real-life events in 1700s New Orleans, takes you into a world shrouded in fog, dark convents, and even darker secrets.
The Casket Girls tells the story of the women ordered by the King of France to help populate the New World in 1729. Hand-picked by the Bishop of Quebec, the women of noble standing and good backgrounds were sent to New Orleans to find suitable husbands. Arriving with their belongings packed in wooden trunks, an air of mystery surrounds them and their casket-like cases. Sent to live in a convent until suitable matches are made for them, the caskets are locked away in the attic.
“It’s very interesting lore and, like most urban myths, there are multiple versions of the story,” Thacker told The Reporter. “Sifting through and finding out what might be the truth can be difficult. We’re going for the folklore version of it. For our ballet, you meet the casket girls right there at the dock. They’ve stepped off, they’re carrying their trunks and there are ruffians that come around and then the priest and the nuns intercept them. The priest and the nuns are in true Gregory [Hancock] style. Gregory doesn’t like to necessarily put everything in a specific time.”
Audiences will feel like they are in the 1700s when the piece opens, but there are also very modern aspects to the show.
“The first thing that you hear is this lovely soft kind of quiet flute and quiet music,” Thacker said. “Then, when the townsfolk come in, it’s a heavy guitar. All of a sudden, you’re in what feels like a rock concert, essentially. That juxtaposition is very cool on stage. It’s a really cool image, and I think it also helps the audience to understand that this is a piece that can take place at any time in any place.”
According to Thacker, Hancock doesn’t want to date his pieces. He wants them to evoke a certain time period, but also feel very contemporary and accessible to today’s audiences.
“The entire score is this amazing electric rock score, beautifully composed and orchestrated by Cory Gabel,” Thacker said. “Also, Tessa Gibbons is joining us. She’s doing one of the songs live on stage. There is a love ballad, and we have a live singer who’ll be doing that on stage while the pas de deux is happening. So get a little bit of everything.”
The Casket Girls focuses on one particular young lady named Catherine. Catherine falls in love with a young man named Jean. After their marriage is okayed, the nuns go to reclaim her box of possessions and they find that all of the caskets are empty.
“That part of the story is true,” Thacker said. “The ladies that came, their trunks were put onto the third floor of the Ursuline convent. The nuns later went up to get to the items that the ladies had brought with them and there was nothing in the caskets. They got up there and the caskets were open. They were empty. They did a search of the convent to try and figure out where the items would have gone. And so that’s kind of where the legend started. What was in the trunks that the women brought? Why were they empty?”
The fun doesn’t have to stay on stage. Audience members are welcome and encouraged to dress for Halloween when attending.
“Just to come and have fun,” Thacker said. “Honestly, I think it’s the perfect performance for Halloween. We encourage people, if they feel like putting on a costume and coming, to just make a great evening of it. We’re right here in the center of downtown Carmel. We’ve got these great restaurants within walking distance of the Tarkington theater. You can make a great night of it. Parking is free and ample.”
The Casket Girls features a specially curated score commissioned specifically for GHDT by composer Cory Gabel, and can be found on Spotify and most streaming services. See the show live on stage on Oct. 24 and 25 at The Tarkington, 3 Carter Green, Carmel. Tickets are available online at gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org.
