We’ll Meet Again: A New American Musical Comes to UNA’s Norton Auditorium Sept. 8
Aug. 22, 2023
Michelle R. Eubanks , UNA, at meubanks@una.edu, 256.765.4392
FLORENCE, AL – We’ll Meet Again: A New American Musical will come to life at Norton Auditorium on the University of North Alabama campus Friday, Sept. 8. A patriotic, life-affirming story, We’ll Meet Again is inspired by the life of Henry Stern and his family’s remarkable odyssey and narrow escape from Nazi Germany, their immigration to America, and their integration and settlement in Alabama.
“UNA's School of the Arts and Advancement team is honored to bring We'll Meet Again: A New American Musical to the Norton stage,” said Dr. Meghan Merciers, Interim Assistant Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering. “James Harris has written a beautiful play based on the life of Henry Stern that conveys a message of hope and new beginnings. Director Richard Rose leads an incredible cast, expertly telling this timely tale, which balances somber historical events with an abundance of humor and terrific music set by the award-winning composer and orchestrator Mark Hayes.”
In 1937, then five-year-old Heinz Stern and his family escapes Westheim, Germany, under Nazi occupation. They were welcomed with open arms by the small town of Opelika, Alabama, where Stern’s family found love and acceptance. However, war left missing pieces for Henry Stern, as he became known, and, for more than 60 years, he continued to search the United States for other family members who survived the Holocaust.
After experiencing We’ll Meet Again, renowned Auburn University basketball coach Bruce Pearl and his wife, Brandy, immediately knew its importance as a moving story that everyone should experience with their families. Subsequently, the Pearls helped encourage and support this Southern Tour of the show.
“We want as many people to experience this production as possible so that others can laugh and cry and be moved and inspired by the music, the story, and the dancing – just like Brandy and I were,” said Coach Pearl.
The musical features 1930s and 1940s-era music, including many of the most popular songs and swing dances of the World War II years. Classics include “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “I’ll Be Seeing You,” and “Juke Box Saturday Night,” as well as several beloved Jewish and Hebrew songs intimately integrated into the story, one of which is the favorite “Hava Nagila.”
We’ll Meet Again was created and written by Jim Harris, directed by Richard Rose, with vocal arrangements and musical orchestrations by Mark Hayes.
“Our hope in creating this show is to capture the essence of what America has meant to the world in our best moments,” said playwright Jim Harris.
Tickets are available at this link.About The University of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering credential, certificate, baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs in the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. The first-choice University for more than 10,000 on-campus and online students, UNA is on a bucolic campus in Florence, Alabama, part of the historic and vibrant Shoals region. Lions Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I’s ASUN Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/