Two members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida are making their off-Broadway debuts this fall in the musical Distant Thunder, featuring a cast that’s entirely Indigenous or Native American.
One of the first musicals that tells a Native American story authentically, Distant Thunder focuses on a young lawyer from the Blackfeet Nation who returns to his reservation in Montana to strike a major business deal that would damage land near a reservation school.
Aubee Billie plays Aiyana Buck, a young Blackfeet woman trying to flee her abusive home. Billie grew up on Brighton Reservation, near Lake Okeechobee.
She shares the stage with Spencer Battiest, another member of the Seminole Tribe. Billie said she grew up seeing Battiest as a role model and has always looked up to him.
Billie has been performing in musicals for nearly a decade, but she says for most of her productions, she’s been the only Native American person in the rehearsal room. She said with Distant Thunder, the biggest difference is the feeling of community.
“I’ve never been part of a cast where it actually feels like home,” she said. “It's really cool for us to be highlighting topics that are important to not only me, but my people.”
For Billie, being cast in Distant Thunder is a full-circle moment. Her father took her to a reading of the show when she was 12, and that is what inspired her to pursue a career in musical theater.
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Years later, when a friend told her that an off-Broadway production of the musical was seeking a young Native American woman for the cast, Billie auditioned and got the role.
She is currently a student at Elon University in North Carolina, studying in its highly selective musical theater program. She is taking the fall semester off to perform in Distant Thunder.
For Billie, taking a break from school to work on this project was a no-brainer.
“I love storytelling. I love singing. I love acting,” Billie said. “That is the dream, [to be] singing silly little songs on a stage for people in New York City.”
The musical opens with a drum circle, and powwow dancers fill the stage, stepping and spinning to the beat of the drum. Billie grew up going to powwows, and she performs in the opening number.
“Once I hear that drum beat, my heart soars, and I get chills every single time,” she said, “because that energy is something that you cannot get from any other type of music."
“What a lot of the powwow people say is that energy from the drum goes up to the Creator, so you always have to have good energy when you're at the drum.”
Billie said she and her fellow cast members worked to make sure the musical was as authentic as possible.
“If something’s wrong with a cultural aspect … they’re not afraid to speak up for themselves,” she said. “I’ve never really seen that anywhere else. That’s always a hard thing to do within theater.”
Distant Thunder is on stage at A.R.T./New York Theaters through Oct. 27.
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