- © 2023 Hilarie Clark Moore. All Rights Reserved.
- 7 Parkers Point Road, Chester CT 06412 · 860.322.4956 · hilarie.clark.moore@gmail.com
The Fishergirl is a coming-of-age story of Dannie Trescott, a modern-era “Everywoman” who faces the same issues most women, if not all people, encounter today. The story’s central theme is universal, one’s desire to be truly known, past our ethnicity, gender, social standing, occupations and more. Set in the early 1900s, Dannie, a fishergirl from Castine, Maine, navigates the treacheries of gender bias, class distinction, greed, mental illness, and violence while finding her way in life. As we should all aspire, she finds truth, love, and family by trusting her heart. The story is uplifting, fresh, and surprising with unexpected twists and turns.
In the fall of 2014, Hilarie Clark Moore began writing the story, music, and lyrics for The Fishergirl. Her inspiration for the story came from three sources: historical family artifacts, which influenced her choice of geographical and historical settings, her home on the Connecticut River which influenced the imagery of water, and her reflections on issues present in today’s society. Family letters from the Civil War and other historical artifacts inspired the settings of Castine, Maine, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans during the early 1900s with a backstory set during the Civil War. Dr. Moore’s love of the Connecticut shoreline and the Connecticut River inspired the strong themes of water. She incorporated some of her reflections concerning the challenges we all face in today’s American society.
After receiving positive feedback from music colleagues on her music, she formed a creative team that includes Ron De Fesi, Gwen Gunn, and Zoila Savale. Ron De Fesi, artistic director of the Hudson Opera Theatre and musician extraordinaire, ensured that the vocal lines would showcase the beauty of the voice. He added his talents to the production with his masterful and creative orchestrations. Gwen Gunn, feminist playwright, wrote the dialogue and contributed to the backstory for The Fishergirl. Dr. Zoey Savale edited the project and provided guidance to the creation of the story.
We believe that this magical work, with its intriguing plot and characters and overarching messages, can be successfully realized in a piece for musical theatre and / or opera which will resonate with a diverse audience of all ages and backgrounds.
Dannie Trescott, the daughter of a Maine fisherman, faces significant trials as she steers through dangerous straits to find her true course in life. Although Dannie’s story takes place in the early 1900s, she is a modern-era “Everywoman” facing the same issues most women, if not all people, encounter today. As she navigates the treacheries of gender bias, class distinction, greed, mental illness, and violence, her challenges in finding her path in life are universal and ageless. She finds truth, love, and family by trusting her heart and choosing to look past discrimination and slander.
“I appreciate the individuality of your voice and the way you infuse a sense of the past into an expression that is contemporary without being trendy. Your music and your vocal lines create an emotional atmosphere that I felt directly.”
– James Kuslan, contributing writer at Opera News.
Widower William Trescott, a fisherman and father of our heroine, Dannie Trescott, answers the question of why he doesn’t date.
Lily, my beautiful Lily.
My lovely dear Lily.
My candlelight in the dark,
My warmth in the cold and the stark.
She was my love, my dear Lily, Lily.
Chasing the sea’s bounty every day.
I know the pull of the sea for me.
Though I go out there to fill my nets,
It’s the pull of her heart brings me home again.
My heart was full with my love for her.
My life was complete with her love for me.
Lily, my beautiful Lily.
My lovely dear Lily.
My candlelight in the dark,
My warmth in the cold and the stark.
She was my love, my dear Lily, Lily.
A spiritual song sung by the spirit of Dannie’s grandmother and at the end, Dannie. Grandmère tells Dannie to chart her own path just as a river finds its path from the first drops of water trickling down from the mountain tops to the blending of the fresh with the salt. Grandmère reveals her tumultuous early life.
From the first drops of water,
Trickling down from the mountain tops
To the blending of the fresh with the salt,
Life is but a river’s journey.
Life is a river finding its true course.
I was born to a life of privilege and wealth.
The sun danced on ev’ry small ripple of my gentle birth.
But that life, it was carved from the yoke of slaves,
chiseled by whips and chains.
Like a turbulent waterfall
Plummeting down onto the rocks below.
Dangerous measures were taken
To change the course of bloody rivers.
I was beaten beaten for my defiance.
Beaten for my convictions!
Hurt but never, never broken for I found the river
That erased my brutal waterfall from my dark past.
In “A Whiff,” Dannie Trescott senses that change is in the air for her. She wonders how her Castine community will acclimate to new advances in technology and to the demands that tourists or “rusticators” bring. She hopes she can navigate her way in these everchanging currents.
A whiff, a puff, a breeze whispers into the sails.
A gust of air, the wind gently fills the canvas sails
And sends the sailboats by.
I sense, I feel that change is in the air for me.
How do I trim my sails for change
And take an uncharted course?
Our world is a-changing.
We can’t stop the tide that comes our way.
New things and new ways keep shifting
Everything we know, transforming our lives.
The voice of change must be heeded,
Not silenced or restrained.
The challenge of thanking another for saving one’s life is exacerbated by pride and the failure to find common ground. Dannie tries to help her father, Charles Dandridge, and Kieran Stillwell by serving blueberry pie.
MY FATHER, A MAN OF THE SEA,
QUIETLY SITS WITH SOUTHERN GENTRY.
AWKWARD, STILTED CONVERSATION.
SO FULL OF PRIDE, THEY’RE POWERLESS
TO SPEAK THEIR MINDS.
MAYBE SOME BLUEBERRY PIE
WILL EASE THE TENSION.
As the chorus creates the sounds of a steam train, Dannie, Emma, Mary, Merritt, Carlos, and Kieran convey their daydreams and thoughts as they travel from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans.
CHORUS
(SOUNDS OF A STEAM TRAIN THROUGHOUT SONG)
MERRITT
STEAM TRAINS!
MARY
NEW ORLEANS’S FESTIVITIES!
MERRITT
STEAM TRAINS!
EMMA
CARLOS!
MARY
NEW ORLEANS
MERRITT
STEAM TRAINS
KIERAN
I FEAR FOR DANNIE.
EMMA
CARLOS!
MERRITT
RAILROAD TRACKS!
MARY
MARDI GRAS!
CARLOS
EMMA!
DANNIE
WHAT BLOOD TIES DO I HAVE THERE?
EMMA
CARLOS!
KIERAN
I FEAR FOR HER.
CARLOS
EMMA IS SO CLOSE!
DANNIE
FAMILY TIES?
MERRITT
DANNIE!
DANNIE MUST BE MINE!
CARLOS
EMMA LOVES ME!
EMMA
HE LOVES ME.
DANNIE
MÉMÈRE FLED HER HOME SO MANY YEARS PAST IN NEW ORLEANS.
KIERAN
HER GRANDMÈRE FACED GREAT DANGERS.
WHAT WILL DANNIE FACE?
DANNIE
AM I BRAVE ENOUGH TO FACE HER PAST OR
SHOULD IT STAY BURIED?
KIERAN
WHAT MUST I DO TO KEEP HER SAFE?
WHAT DANGERS WAIT FOR HER?
EMMA
I WILL SNEAK OUT AND SEE CARLOS, MY LOVE.
CARLOS
I HOPE I CAN SNEAK A KISS FROM EMMA.
EMMA AND CARLOS
WE’LL FIND A WAY TO BE TOGETHER.
MERRITT
DANNIE SITS CLOSE, ALTHOUGH SHE DOESN’T SEE ME.
IS SHE BLINDED BY DARING KIERAN?
WHY CAN’T SHE LOOK MY WAY?
EMMA
HOW MUCH FURTHER?
MERRITT
HOT STEAM AND PISTONS!
DANNIE
IS FAMILY SOLELY DEFINED BY BLOODLINES AND LINEAGE?
MÉMÈRE CHOSE HER OWN!
With pen in hand, Emma and Carlos want to write their own love story.
I want to live. I want to love.
I want to feel alive inside.
I see you there your eyes on me.
I’m all a glow when you are near.
My head’s full of romance from stories and books.
But the pages of my life are empty or boring.
So here I am with pen in hand.
We’ll fill those pages of our love story.
So here we are to write our story.
Together, together we’ll write one for the ages.