A dazzling musical production brings students at the Haley back to the roots of Black History Month

They say that in order to understand your future, you must first understand your past. And thanks to the dedicated faculty and staff at Dennis C. Haley Pilot School, this quote came to life in the most artistic way possible.

In honor of Black History Month, students at the Haley recently performed the hip hopera “Houston” to celebrate the brilliant life and work of Charles Hamilton Houston, a civil rights attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in

the 1940s and 50s. Houston was widely known for his use of the “separate but equal” doctrine in the fight against Jim Crow segregation, which effectively paved way for the landmark court case Brown v. Board of Education.

“What we’ve been seeking to do is look at Black History Month not as a standalone, isolated month, but rather, a month of celebration that is part of a yearlong celebration,” said Jason Wise, a theater-art teacher at the Haley, “so it really feels like part of the fabric of the mission of the diversity initiative of the school.”

While the end product was nothing short of spectacular, “Houston” took countless hours on behalf of the faculty, staff, students, and even parents at the Haley to put together. Influenced by Lin-Manuel Miranda’s show “Hamilton,” Wise began writing the script for “Houston” last summer, with production work beginning in mid-October. By February, rehearsals were over, and the students were on stage performing for their friends and family.

“The ground was really fertile for this kind of conversation because of the work the staff, especially the middle-school staff, has been doing for a couple of years now,” Wise said. “It’s a family affair at the Haley, always.”

Wise said it was amazing watching the students grow over the course of the four-month production and seeing them connect the dots between what they’d been talking about in class and what they’d been performing on stage. And these learning moments didn’t just happen to the students.

“After the show, there were a lot of folks and children who came up to me asking about why they’d never heard of Charles Houston before,” Wise said. “And you know, I think that question is above my paygrade, but to have them to say they’ve learned something, that they have a deeper understanding of what that struggle was about, that’s priceless.”

Originally, the school was only going to put on two performances of the show, but after it was so well-received by the audience, two quickly turned into four and schools from all around the district were coming to see the show for themselves.

By design, the show was meant to be catchy for both the performers and the audience members. Wise categorized the musical as a hip hopera, which, logically, is a fusion of hip hop and opera with almost no breaks in the music itself.  

“I really like the sort of pneumonic device of hip hop in the sense that it allows for the kids to more easily gravitate toward and memorize a lot of lines,” Wise said. “They internalize it more than they would if it were in script form.”

The last two performances also included an interactive portion called “Houston” Inte‘rap’tive, where audience members were able to come up with their own rap verses to perform. Wise said he plans on using the genre again of hip hopera in a sequel to “Houston” hopefully to be performed at the Haley next year.

“You know, most importantly, it gets it gets back to the kids and just knowing that this particular group of kids just put their heart and soul into this project,” Wise said. “They just took a flying leap of faith with it. They’ve come such a long away, I think, feeling more empowered with their own abilities and their own confidence levels.”

Wise said the students know more about themselves and about that time period and at the end of the day, that’s the goal. Wise said he can’t wait to do it all over again for the school’s next production.