The Dutch singer and multi-instrumentalist Wende (center) stars in The Promise, which plays through Sunday, January 14 at HERE Mainstage in New York City. Photo by Raymond van Olphen.

Rarely have I seen a show to recommend so strongly as The Promise. What starts as an intimate concert experience unfolds into a genre-crossing tour de force spanning an hour and a half, leaving you on the edge of your seat and yearning to hear the songs and performance again.

Billed as a “modern song cycle”, The Promise certainly traces a broad emotional arc like the famous German song cycles of the 19th century – Die schöne Müllerin, Winterreise, etc. Casting performers who can traverse its steps well is much more daunting, with songs crossing over into genres like hip hop, country stylings reminiscent of Dolly Parton, classic rock ballads, and more. The heart of The Promise is the Dutch singer Wende, here seemingly a breath of adrenaline and emotion given human form, backed up by four talented multi-instrumentalists playing complex arrangements that are alternately tugging at the heart-strings and heart-pounding.

Originally developed at The Royal Court Theatre in London with a team of five female writers, The Promise traces something of an emotional arc exploring, among other things, the male gaze and motherhood. That is a vast oversimplification, as is this: the tightly written show is thrilling from from start to finish, each musical number delivered in a different style, aesthetic, and performance style that leaves you wildly excited for whatever comes next. At the end of the show, audience members repeated lyrics and hummed tunes from the penultimate number as they filed out, a testament to the many lingering moments.

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The Promise plays through Sunday, January 14 at HERE Mainstage in New York City, as part of the 11th Annual PROTOTYPE Festival co-produced by Beth Morrison Projects and HERE Productions. 

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Basil Considine

Basil Considine was the Editor of the Twin Cities Arts Reader from 2018-2022. He served as Performing Arts Editor and Senior Classical Music and Drama Critic for the Arts Reader's first five years, before succeeding Hanne Appelbaum. He was previously the Resident Classical Music and Drama Critic at the Twin Cities Daily Planet and remains an occasional contributing writer for The Boston Musical Intelligencer and The Chattanoogan. He holds a PhD in Music and Drama from Boston University, an MTS in Sacred Music from the BU School of Theology, and a BA in Music and Theatre from the University of San Diego.

Basil was named one of Musical America's 30 Professionals of the Year in 2017. He was previously the Regional Governor for the National Opera Association's North Central Region and the 2021-2022 U.S. Fulbright Faculty Scholar to Madagascar.

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