THE HOUSE THAT I LIVE IN:

SCNPF commissioned and developed The House That I Live In; Josh White’s America by Donnetta Lavinia Grays. The original musical is inspired by the true-life story of prominent blues and folk musician Josh White, who rose to fame in the 1930s and 1940s as a singer-songwriter and as a pioneer in the civil rights movement.

The production will take place in the “Cristal Palace” a historical Spiegeltent from the 1940s that will call to mind “Café Society”, the first integrated club and dance hall where Josh White initially made his name. The Cristal Palace bar will be open inside the tent both before and after the production to fully to immerse the audience in the world of the play. The tent will be erected on the lawn outside of New Realm Brewing.

The House That I Live In; Josh White’s America tells the story of Josh White's beginning in Greenville as a "lead boy" to Blind Musicians in the Upstate all the way to his rise to fame in the 30’s and 40’s at New York Clubs like Café Society and as a star of Broadway and Hollywood, including scenes with legends like Billie Holiday, Woody Guthrie, Duke Ellington and Paul Robeson, to name but a few. Over the past three years, SCNPF has facilated research and interviews between Donnetta Lavinia Grays and Josh White's family members as well as local experts and scholars from the Greenville community. Many of those who were interviewed, like Ruth Ann Butler, Mary Duckett, and Josh White Jr have passed during the creation of the project, and the show immortalizes their stories in play form.

Auditions will be held in May and full casting announced at a later date.