What the Muses Said About Mom
The Old Alabama Town Revue will celebrate moms and Mother’s Day on May 4 in the church on Columbus Street in Old Alabama Town. We will start at 7 p.m. and present a combination of original songs and old faves. The OAT Revue Crue hopes the audience has a lot of moms present and encourages regular attendees to bring their mothers. The show’s theme is “What the Muses Said About Mom,” and we have planned a fun evening.
While the Old Alabama Town Revue Crue followed their own private whisperings of their muses to create their show, Mother’s Day and celebrations to mothers have a long history.
Good ole Wikipedia states that celebrations of motherhood go wayyyy back. However, the one most documented was the Greek goddess Cybele. Seems she evolved from a wild nature entity who controlled beasts and protected towns. The Greek version shows her a tad on the heavy side. Seemed she liked to run around town in a chariot drawn by lions, while playing wild music and drinking wine. I was getting into the whole idea when I read (again in Wikipedia) that her male attendants were all eunuchs. Well, I stopped reading about then. Really Wikipedia, when I think about a Greek mother Goddess I think of Demeter. You remember Demeter — Goddess of hearth and cultivated grain who mourned for the absence of her daughter, Persephone, to the point of causing winter. And then, she rejoiced in Persephone’s return to the extent of bringing on spring. I did read of a candlelight procession to honor Demeter’s search for her daughter, an image I found touching. Well, I guess one can choose the Greek Mother goddess of their choice!
Wikipedia also provided some information on our modern Mother’s Day. The day was first celebrated in 1908 when Anne Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St. Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. Her mother had been a peace activist and had also cared for wounded soldiers during the American Civil War. Anne campaigned to honor her mother by setting aside a day to honor all mothers because she believed they were “the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world.” Anne’s proposal to create a national holiday was rejected by Congress, but she persisted (a lot of that going around these days). In 1914, Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day a national holiday. Then, in an interesting twist, Anne became distressed with the commercialization of the holiday and actually boycotted it. Wikipedia said she even hated carnations. I wonder what she would have thought of lion drawn chariots, wild music, wine, and eunuchs.
Back to the event at hand. The Old Alabama Town Review Crue has a fabulous night planned. Special guest singer-songwriter Abby Katherine Douglas will share the stage. A new, young talent, Abbey is recording her first album at Echo7 and her performances around Montgomery and Prattville are earning her a great reputation. Tim Henderson has written a folk ballad about an infamous mom (nothing about lions though); Rockin’ Larry has a new song about sibling harmony (or not) and Mom; and yours truly wrote a song about Mama’s advice. Toni will sing also sing about Mama’s advice in the great song, “Mama Said,” and Stephen Bray will deliver the must-do song for a country Mother’s Day show: “Mama Tried.” There will be other songs and of course, Planet Karren. Might be some surprises. You can never tell.
This May show is our last show of this season. We will take off the steamy summer and see you in October. We will have our still-new album, “The Song Challenge,” for sale. So don’t miss the Old Alabama Town Revue’s Mother’s Day Show: What the Muses Said About Mom” on May 4, 7 p.m. in the church on Columbus Street in Old Alabama Town.
And Don’t Forget Your Cushion! Or your Mama! Or a cushion for your Mama!
Karren Pell is a writer, teacher, and performer who lives with her husband, Tim Henderson, and an assortment of cats and dogs in Capitol Heights. She is the author of three books. Her musical compositions range from commercial songs to theatrical works, with five musical adaptations to her credit.
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