How can Jonathan Palant put almost 300 people on stage to shed light on the issue of homelessness?
An associate dean and choral director at the University of Texas at Dallas, Palant runs three choirs, including the UTD student group and the Dallas Street Choir. They will be joined at the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts by his Credo Community Choir, a couple of Broadway performers and an 18-piece orchestra for the premiere of a semi-staged rock musical commissioned by the Dallas Street Choir. Palant founded the group in 2014 as a musical outlet for people without a place to live.
Based on interviews with choir members, Shelter Me: An Original Rock Oratorio was written by Atlanta-born, New York-based composer Jacob Ryan Smith. It tells the fictionalized story of a young homeless man helped by an older mentor entrenched in the unhoused experience himself. Palant is the producer and conductor.
The leads include Darian Sanders (Simba in the national tour of The Lion King), Bryan Terrell Clark (George Washington in Hamilton and Marvin Gaye in Motown: The Musical on Broadway) and Dallas legend Denise Lee.
“Shelter Me is more than a performance — it’s a call to action,” Palant says. “Through this oratorio, we aim to inspire empathy, understanding, and meaningful conversations about the realities of homelessness in our communities.”
Details
April 12-13 at 2351 Performance Drive, Richardson. Tickets at dallasstreetchoir.org and eisemanncenter.com.
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