It wouldn't be the holiday season without a little family trauma. Jerome Walker, the newest member of the Playbill Songwriter Series, brought several emotionally affecting songs to the series this month as a part of his collaboration with Noah T. Parnes.
His first two songs pulled from the pair's show What Comes Next, which tracks the journey of grief within a family after the unexpected death of their son, Max.
Walker's first song, "Alcatraz," features Ellie (Alaina Anderson), Max's older sister, grappling with the unending presence of grief in her life. Anderson performed with a backing trio consisting of Gillian Jackson Han, Danny GW, and Kenyon Duncan.
The second song, "Searching for an Answer," centers instead on found family, as Max's college roommate Aaron (Danny GW) attempts to parse through the depth of his feelings in the wake of Max's loss.
The second Walker and Parnes show, Something in the Water, centers on a group of local teens fighting to protect their hometown from the wealthy out-of-towners who descend upon their lakeside refuge every summer.
Walker's third song, "The Taffy Song," is from the perspective of the Mayor (Heath Saunders) as he try to make his daughter understand the ebbing and flowing nature of their life through his own, quirky perspective.
And finally, the fourth song, "I Can Feel It," sees two siblings Andy (Gillian Jackson Han) and Nicky (Noah T. Parnes), reflect on what they love about their hometown that the out-of-towners can never truly see.
Walker is a composer, pianist, singer, and educator originally from Washington, D.C. and currently living in Brooklyn, NY. He has taught and directed choirs at Phillips Exeter Academy; sung and arranged with Doox of Yale, Yale’s first all-gender TTBB a cappella group; directed POC-, queer- and drag-centered cabaret shows; and (sometimes) hosts a podcast with Kenyon Duncan called We Love That!. Walker has written arrangements for the Princeton Playhouse Choir, the Trenton Youth Singers, Touch of Blue: New American Vocal Ensemble, and the Mystic Middle School Choir. He got his BA in Music at Yale and is currently pursuing his MFA at New York University.
The piano utilized by Walker in the filming of this episode was provided to Playbill by Sing For Hope. Sing For Hope harnesses the power of the arts to create a better world. Our creative programs bring hope, healing, and connection to millions of people in hospitals, schools, care facilities, refugee camps, transit hubs, and community spaces worldwide. A non-profit organization founded in New York City in response to the events of 9/11, Sing for Hope partners with hundreds of community-based organizations, mobilizes thousands of artists in creative service, and produces artist-created Sing for Hope Pianos across the US and around the world. The official Cultural Partner of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, Sing for Hope champions art for all because we believe the arts have an unmatched capacity to uplift, unite, and heal. Learn more at SingForHope.org.
