ADAMS, Mass. — Music theater collective Floating Tower's two nights of performances at the Adams Theater raised more than $7,000 to be donated to Razom for Ukraine.

 

"Our community is a very caring and supportive community," said theater owner Yina Moore. "Events like this bring people together and amplify the impact to great causes."

 

"Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: An Immersive Musical Homage to the Spirit of Ukraine" centers around a classic Ukrainian art film of the same name. Using the film as a starting point, composer Mátti Kovler brought together Ukrainian musicians and artists in Floating Tower who have their own immigration and refugee stories.

 

"Music often acts as a social glue connecting people from very different backgrounds," said Kovler. "Bringing together refugees and immigrants from multiple communities as well as local community members who participated in the production as a choir for an intensive week of rehearsals and performance makes for an interesting social experiment and, of course, deepens the understanding of the plight of the refugees in our own local community."

 

Moore added that this was the first show at the theater that involved a weeklong residency, on-site rehearsals, community participation on stage, and a community open house.

 

Kovler said he was amazed a the professionalism and dedication of the Ukrainian refugees in this production. The youngest member of the production, Polina, age 9 from Kyiv, and her brother Petro, age 11, portrayed the young Ivan and Marichka in the production.

 

"In between rehearsals they were writing notes to themselves and practicing their songs on their own," Kovler said. "This work ethic was inspiring. Strangely it was also the very first time for these kids who grew up in a large city, Kyiv, to have encountered some Ukrainian traditional instruments such as the bandura and sopilka."

 

The bandura is a folk string instrument and the sopilka a fife traditionally made of wood. He added that he just heard from their mother who said her kids are now interested in learning the ukulele and flute.

 

Moore said the shows were well attended. She said she was happy to see first and second-generation Ukrainian people in attendance from the region.

 

She said it was a good mix of Berkshire County.

 

"It was very well received. Numerous people in the local communities told me that they didn't know what to expect before the show, but walked away with such pleasant surprises," she said. "Among our audience members, 20 percent are from Adams, 20 percent from North Adams, 25 percent from the rest of the Berkshires, 20 percent from the rest of Massachusetts and NYC, and 15 percent from nine other states. I think this is the most geographically diverse audience pool that we have encountered this season."

 

Over the two performances that took place July 1 and 2 through ticket sales and donations, the theater was able to donate $6,843. Through a bake sale, this donation was increased to more than $7,000

 

Proceeds from the show will be donated to benefit Razom for Ukraine, an organization supplying aid to vulnerable communities in Ukraine.