As the leaves turn auburn, signaling the arrival of fall, the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) prepares to unveil a vibrant new chapter in its artistic journey. Premiering on Oct. 10, the regional debut of the musical In the Green marked not only the start of the 2024-2025 season but also a poignant reunion of creative spirits. With a powerful narrative woven through the life of 12th-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen, this production promises an exploration of femininity, trauma and the enduring quest for growth.
The story of this production dates back to 2015 when actress and multi-hyphenate Grace McLean first worked alongside now-CCM professor Rachel Stevens. The two collaborated in Boston on Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, a new musical that eventually premiered on Broadway to critical acclaim. Through Stevens’ role as the assistant director, she came to know McLean, who played Marya.
“I’ve always been a big fan of Grace as an individual, a big fan of her as an artist and her work,” said Stevens, director of In The Green.
Flash forward to 2018, and McLean was commissioned by The Lincoln Center to write a new musical, which she named In The Green. The story, spanning 30 years, details the life of St. Hildegard van Bingen with a score, lyrics and book by McLean, who also starred as Hildegard’s mentor, Jutta von Sponheim. Locked in a cloister’s cell, Hildegard and Jutta have committed to a life not unlike a dead person, secluded from the world due to a “preternatural sensitivity.”
The show’s plot dates back to a real-life German abbess from the 12th century who, after succumbing to visions, was locked within the monastery with Jutta, who served as a mother figure to her. Jutta worked to educate Hildegard, and, eventually, the latter became a renowned composer of monophony, or a single melody line sans harmony. Through this journey, the characters move through trauma and experience growth, much like the green foliage from which the show’s name derives.
“(Hildegard) is an exorcist and really was one of the most, like, prolific women of the feudal era and continues to be, like, really well renowned,” Stevens said. “There is this propensity for growth and greening because she was a Catholic mysticist, and everything was really related to nature. The entire story is these two women going into the green and finding what’s on the other side.”
Through McLean’s residency at Lincoln Center, In the Green was commissioned to premiere off-Broadway in 2019. It opened its two-month run to rave reviews, earning six Lucille Lortel Award nominations and a win for McLean as leading actress in 2020. In the years since, McLean has appeared twice on Broadway, in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bad Cinderella and the recent Tony-winning musical Suffs. The journey finally culminates as Cincinnati receives the regional premiere of In the Green at CCM.
The show is no Oklahoma, and it doesn’t try to be. In her second year as a professor of musical theater, Stevens sees McLean’s one-act musical as a challenge, but one not without benefits. The intriguing musical composition and niche storytelling convinced her to stage the musical, challenging her students while providing an all-female space for its process.
“The show is this really inclusive exploration of just what femininity is, and that has been incredibly gratifying,” said Stevens. “We chose this show because it could showcase femme-identifying students and really explore a different perspective on musical theater.”
The cast is fully comprised of female-identifying students, playing roles that range from Hildegard and Jutta to Hildegard’s inner thoughts through the use of puppetry. The fact that the show was conceived, written and directed by women is not its only achievement; it also features textured instrumentation that heavily relies on human voices.
“One thing Grace always focuses on is the voice as an instrument. In this, folks have to harmonize with themselves.” Stevens said. “The orchestration of an entire song is one person’s voice that’s sort of layered on top, which is really cool.”
There will be live looping, self-harmonies and, most interestingly, guttural noise-making, all in the name of this show’s creative journey. The musical arrangements echo Hildegard’s own compositions, and, in Stevens’ words, “create a space with permission to express what (women) suppress.”
“In musical theater, our femme humans don’t often get the opportunity to not sing pretty,” she said, remarking on the show’s broad vocal range. “It sounds like it’s of the ancestors, just like coming from a primordial space. And I think just tapping into that part of our psyche and our spirit is really beneficial.”
The show is CCM’s first musical of the academic year, presented in the intimate Cohen Family Studio Theater and running for two weekends — Oct. 10-12 and 17-19. The show contains references to death, miscarriage and sexual assault, and runs 90 minutes with no intermission. Following this production is Wonderful Town, the classic Broadway comedy from November 21-23, Seussical, the Dr. Seuss-inspired musical at the Carnegie in January, and finishing with the rock musical Hair at CCM in the spring.
As for the show’s intriguing premise, Stevens notes that audiences can expect a blend of drama and comedy, but more than anything, “an experience like they haven’t had before. I hope that they walk away able to explore all facets of who we are, and that it’s the human experience to go through trauma.”
In the Green will be performed by the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music at the Cohen Family Studio Theater on Oct. 17-19. More info: ccm.uc.edu.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s Oct. 16 print edition.
This article appears in Oct 2, 2024 – Oct 15, 2043.