How do you define forever?
That’s a question Suzanne Tanner faces every day.
Tess Tanner (Photo/Suzanne Tanner)
She’s the mother of Tess Tanner, a 12-year-old Coleytown Middle School musician, actor, environmentalist and fun-loving girl who died 5 summers ago in a motor vehicle accident, while attending summer camp in Maine.
For Suzanne, “forever” means never letting go of her daughter’s poetry, passions and determination to make a difference.
It also means honoring Tess with a musical theater production that Suzanne herself has written.
“Where the Love Begins” is a musical memoir — “a mother’s love story,” she says — titled after Tess’ 1st poem, written when she was 5.
Suzanne performs a world premiere reading of the musical on Wednesday, August 17 — the 5th anniversary of her daughter’s death — at Saugatuck Congregational Church (7:30 p.m.).
The free event includes a special dance tribute by Staples High School junior Katherine Flug.
There’s special poignancy to the show. Many of Tess’ classmates leave soon, entering college and pursuing passions of their own.
Suzanne — an award-winning musician while at Harvard — calls her multimedia composition “a musical monument” for her daughter, and “a thank-you gift to the universe for the profound privilege of parenthood.”
The show has received Broadway interest. It will workshop next year, fulfilling Suzanne’s mission to immortalize her daughter’s essence, and continue Tess’ emphasis on family, friendship and faith in forever love.
(For more information, click here or email PoeTessProductions@gmail.com)
