PRESS
“There have been—there are—a lot of dead people in my life,” Licity Collins said in a statement. “What I’m curious about is how the dead remain a part of our lives and also how grief is expressed."
“We need to laugh and not feel guilty. We need to cry and not feel ashamed,” she said. “Portraying how grief really is — that was a big goal for me.”
The project will offer an intimate exploration of grief and connection told through storytelling and song, with a single role played by seven actors of varied ages, genders and races to underscore the universality of grief. Each of the “seven Sams” is paired with a different instrument—and music written by a different composer—effectively creating a collaborative auditory tapestry onstage.
“One of the ways we see Sam’s grief displayed is that Sam then becomes played by seven different actors of all different ages, genders, races — all kinds. And this is why it shows us that inside each of us is all of us. Grief is a universal experience and Sam being split into all these people shows us that.”
In 2024, Collins, the recipient of an artist residency at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center in Portland, workshopped the opera. In the discussion facilitated by Grounded Grief Therapy that followed, a friend described it as “widow’s humor.”
“I loved that,” Collins said. “It told me I had met a big goal — portraying how grief really is." When she said that, I felt like she had told me, ‘Yeah, you get it.’ It was an honor.”
There are artists who make music. And there are artists who create worlds. Licity Collins belongs to this second breed.
What Collins does isn't just art.
It's emotional alchemy.
—CR Indie
Here & Now's Lisa Mullins speaks with Collins about the personal stories behind her lyrics.
LM: There’s one piece that you’ve done and I wonder if you can recite a bit of it for us, about going to attend your mom’s funeral. It creates quite an image.
LC: Well, actually, in releasing the first album, I was about to start the media campaign, and my mother died that morning. So I never thought, you know, releasing my first album and my mom dying would happen on the same day, but that was how it was happening and all could say was, “Yes.” You know, okay. I had to keep accepting and keep accepting, and so it was a really powerful experience.