Unsung Activist

Commissioned by Opera in the Heights
Music and Libretto by Steve Wallace

Houston, Texas, 1959. Eldrewey Stearns, a law student at Texas Southern University, is pulled over by the police. The officer discovers a photo of a white woman in Stearns's wallet and beats him mercilessly. Stearns appears before city council in protest and captures the attention of the press. A group of fellow student activists at TSU including Holly Hogrobrooks, John Bland, and Otis King look to Stearns as the charismatic leader they need to organize their fight for desegregation. Inspired by other protests in the South, Stearns leads a lunch counter sit-in, calling the press and the police to ensure their visibility and protection. Decades later, Stearns passionately tells his story, looking back on his fight for justice as the spark that led to the desegregation of Houston. The pride he takes in his accomplishment is evident, but so too, is the psychological toll of that fight.

Heroes is recommended for viewers age 13 and up.
This episode contains images of police violence, alcohol use, and the use of one strong racial slur.

 
Photo: Danielle Thralow

Episode 1: Answering the CAll

Heroes

Premiered October 1, 2021

 

Cast

Eldrewey Stearns: Steve Wallace 
Holly Hogrobrooks: Julie Jackson 
John Bland: Calvin Harris
Otis King: Saïd Henry Pressley
Police Man: Scott Clark

Creative Team

Music & Libretto by Steve Wallace
Film Director: Abbas Padilla

Steve Wallace

He/Him

Steve Wallace is an award-winning singer and composer from Chicago IL. His professional expertise incorporates a plethora of styles collaborating on hundreds of projects, including TV, studio recordings and film. Steve has released 15 solo albums, written a book of 13 art songs, 2 symphonies, 3 operas, 4 musicals amongst other works. Mr. Wallace has also performed worldwide as a soloist, on tours, and lead tenor roles in operas such as Carmen, La Boheme, Cavalleria Rusticana and La Traviata. The groundbreaking film musical "Hal King" that Mr. Wallace created, and composed was released earlier this year on Amazon Prime.

Abbas Padilla

He/Him

Abbas was born in Houston, Texas, the son of a Colombian immigrant father and a mother from far West Texas. As a student at Sam Houston State University, photography was his passion until he took his first video production class. After college Abbas has filmed projects all over the United States, Mexico, Israel, Jamaica, Curacao and more. His proudest recognitions have been the three Directors Awards he has received for his international tourism advertising work. In 2010 Abbas opened Big A Productions, a boutique production company based in Houston, Texas. His goal for the future is to work on more collaborative projects with organizations that promote unity, diversity, equality and justice. www.bigavideoservices.com

Julie Jackson

She/Her

JULIE JACKSON’s warm, expressive voice along with her elegant and poised demeanor is at ease performing domestically or abroad. Operatic roles include Giovanna (Rigoletto, Opera in the Heights), Vespetta (The Masterful Maid, Operativo Houston), Donna Elvira (cover with Spotlight on Opera), and Madame Goldnertrille (Der Schauspieldirektor, Franco American Vocal Academy, Salzburg). She was the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem (Woodlands Symphony Orchestra) and the soprano soloist in Mozart’s C minor Mass (Texas Southern University Orchestra). Based in Houston, TX, Mrs. Jackson is happily married to professional tuba player and teacher Ali Jackson. The couple enjoy spending time together and raising their tabby-calico mix, KitKat.

Scott Clark

He/Him

American Baritone Scott Clark is already becoming known as an interpreter of new work. He created the role of F. Scott Fitzgerald in the new opera The Ghosts of Gatsby by Evan Mack and Joshua McGuire. He also starred as Homecoming Soldier in Seagle’s production The Falling and the Rising by Zach Redler and Jerre Dye. Scott recently was a Resident Artist with the Opera Columbus and Capital University joint program, where he performed the role of Marco in Gianni Schicchi. Clark was also an emerging artist at Seagle Music Colony for two summers; there, he performed the roles of Belcore in L’elisir d’amore and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. He has been a young artist with Houston Grand Opera’s “Opera to Go” program singing the role of Belcore in The Elixir of Love. Other Notable credits include Don Giovanni in Spotlight on Opera’s Virtual Don Giovanni, Eugene Onegin in Russian Opera Workshop’s production of Eugene Onegin, Didier in Lone Star Lyric’s Madeleine. Mr. Clark has also engaged in concert work as the Bass Soloist in Händel’s Messiah with Houston Masterworks Chorus, and soloist for Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with First United Methodist Church Houston. The Texas native holds his Master of Music, and Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Baylor University. 

Calvin Harris

He/Him

Tenor Calvin Maurecé Harris is a native of Hampton, Virginia and a proud alumnus of Virginia State University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music. Since arriving in Houston, Texas in 2012, Mr. Harris has been a member of the Opera in the Heights chorus. In 2013, he made his operatic debut on the OH! stage playing the role of Il Commissionario in La Traviata. In addition to his work with the Opera in the Heights chorus, Mr. Harris has also performed in other comprimario roles including the role of Parpignol in Puccini's La Boheme.

Saïd Henry Pressley

He/Him

New York native Saïd Henry Pressley made his Houston Grand Opera main stage debut as the Jailer in Tosca as well as Hyde in Carlisle Floyd's world premiere of The Prince of Players. For HGOco, he appeared in the world premiere of The Pastry Prince and also in Cinderella in Spain. Pressley won first prize in the Tony and Sally Amato Opera Competition (2010) and second prize in the Harlem Opera Theater Competition (2013), and was a semi-finalist in Dallas Opera Guild’s Annual Vocal Competition (2014). Pressley is a graduate of Purchase College Conservatory and The Juilliard School. And is pursuing his Doctoral studies at the Butler School of Music. Recently Pressley sang in an experimental musical work titled “The Graying Rainbow” commissioned by the Madison Museum of Contemporary Arts.

ORigin Story

Composer/Librettist/Performer Steve Wallace and Opera in the Heights’ Artistic & General Director Eiki Isomura talk with Matt Boresi about the creation of “Unsung Activist”