May 23, 2016
Written by Michelle Lopez Rios, Producer of “Precious Lives: Live Show”
One Place. Two Years. 100 Stories. Gun violence is a crisis in the city of Milwaukee which is why United Way is excited to partner with 371 Productions, WUWM 89.7 - Milwaukee Public Radio, WNOV 860 AM - The Voice and an array of other community organizations to help give a voice to this issue and amplify efforts to solve it.
On June 15th Precious Lives, a weekly radio podcast series about young people and gun violence is putting on a LIVE performance at the Pabst Theater.
Each week we will showcase different blogs from those involved with this impactful event. We start the one of show’s producers Michelle Lopez Rios who shares how she got involved in the project.
Stories of history, war and incredible adventures were first shared by humans over 3,000 years ago. And today, although we have a wide range of digital storytelling options, we have not yet invented a machine that allows for the physical connection to the sound waves in the air that are produced when we hear a story live. People are touched by a live speaker in a completely different way.
As a professional actor I know that stories we tell on stage resonate, challenge, teach, and yes, entertain the audience. I have engaged in countless conversations with audience members about their experience of the power of seeing their story on stage. But as a voice specialist I also understand the power of finding one’s own voice and the ability to effectively communicate it.
In 2006, I began working with playwright Alvaro Saar Rios on the basis that “Everyone has a story and everyone’s story is important.” We have done numerous workshops, classes and productions that focus on bringing out these stories. We create a space for people to unveil their voice and their story. Sometimes violence, abuse, racism, oppression, or other challenging factors have suppressed these voices. But each time we complete a project we are lucky to witness the incredible empowerment of the participants as they share their story.
It is with this background that I came to collaborate on “Precious Lives: The Live Show.” For those not familiar with “Precious Lives,” it is a wonderfully orchestrated two-year, 100-part radio series about young people and gun violence in Milwaukee. We wanted to create a live show that could reach new audiences and touch those who were already listening to the series in a new way.
During our first workshop for the series we worked with youth from COA Holton Center that have been affected by violence. We started with a room full of participants hesitant to speak and ended with an enthusiastic group fighting for more time to present their poetry, raps, songs-share their story.
We are now headed into rehearsals where we will devise a live performance that mixes the stories of the youth with the stories of people in the community working to address the gun violence. Using the power of story, our hope, as one young performer put it, “Is for gun violence to STOP.”
Buy Tickets to Precious Lives: The Live Show