Culper Spy Ring musical coming to Celebrate St. James center

How's this for a revolutionary idea for local theater. From July 10 to 12, Celebrate St. James, a nonprofit cultural arts organization, will present "Shadows Rise," an original rock musical about the Culper Spy Ring that operated on Long Island during the American Revolution. 

Directed by Natalie Weinstein, president of Celebrate St. James, "Shadows Rise" features 16 original songs put together by producer and marketing vice president Carolyn Benson. The show is being presented at Celebrate St. James Center for the Arts, the revitalized former home of the former Calderone Theater on Second Street.

Last fall, Mayor Richard Smith of the Village of Nissequogue requested for Weinstein to write a production in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War. Weinstein started by visiting the Three Village Historical Society, which has a room devoted to the Culper Spy operative that worked out of Long Island and Manhattan during the American Revolution to provide George Washington with information on British troop movements and other critical matters. From that point on, she immersed herself in research to help her write the production.

"It is a story of how the espionage ring of people, who were ordinary people, did extraordinary things to help George Washington win the war," she said.

Weinstein, 83, said, the show is designed with the idea "of bringing the style of a radio show into the modern era, with a history lesson that has spanned all of these hundreds of years."

The cast of 20 will be dressed in all black with music stands and scripts in front of them, while video screens behind them display historical images. from the Revolutionary War era on the stage.

"I want the story to be told in a way that people are not looking at the staging per se, but listening to a story that's unfolding," she said. 

Weinstein said they had to prepare the show in a little over six weeks. Speeding up the process, she said, was the use of artificial intelligence.

"Everything that we have done is with the assistance of AI," she said. "We all experimented with the use of it to enhance the production, and it's very exciting."

Weinstein said she used AI to help her arrange historical events depicted in the show in chronological order. It was even a bigger help for Paul Mahos, who created the video effects, which included putting actors faces on actual historical figures shown on screen.

Tickets for the show are $35 and can be purchased at celebratestjames.org. 

Though Weinstein doesn't know what's next for the show after its three performances, she promises it will be "the most exciting and immersing history lesson ever," especially after audiences hear the closing number.

"The final song is called 'Anthem,' " she said, "and the first time I heard it, I thought it just brought the history of the 1700s to today and tomorrow."