NEW LIGHT IN AN OLD CHURCH
A peek inside a colonial church that helped to feed young Robert Singleton's soul | september6.2023
Among the Virginia leaders who attended Bruton Parish Church were Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, George Wythe, Patrick Henry, and George Mason. For more on the church’s history, visit this link.
By DOUGLAS JOHN IMBROGNO | september6.2023
Bruton Parish Church, built in the early 18th century in Williamsburg, VA, is something of a character in the ‘HOUSE IN THE CLOUDS: The Artistic Life of Robert Singleton,’ the AmpMediaProject documentary that Bobby Lee Messer and I are cooking up for the Clay Center stage Sunday, Sept. 17 in Charleston, W.Va. (And beyond — including two screening Oct. 14 and 15 at Gradient Project Space in Thomas WV).
This is an organ fairly recently installed some years ago in Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg. It was crafted on site.
Young Robert Singleton was desperate to feed his soul as he fled aggression at home as a boy. He'd walk to this church near where he grew up in Williamsburg. There, he found organ music to lift the soul and was blessed to briefly be taken under wing by international pianist Dagny Solheim Nordbo, who introduced him to playing piano.
Robert — known as ‘Bobby’ back in his short-pants days — had good historic company in the pews: Thomas Jefferson; George and Martha Washington, Patrick Henry and others were among those who frequented the church in its early history.
Bruton Parish Church, according to its Wikipedia page, was established in 1674 by the consolidation of two previous parishes in the Virginia Colony and was built between 1711 and 1715. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970, described as “a well-preserved early example of colonial religious architecture.”
All these shots are from an October 2021 photo shoot for ‘HOUSE IN THE CLOUDS.” From the balcony in Bruton Parish Church where I took this panoramic scene note the camera equipment and panning zoom rails at the front of the church.
YOU CAN STILL SUPPORT US
I’ve received some notes from folks who still wish to contribute toward the many — and there are many — costs of our self-funded guerilla filmmaking for “HOUSE IN THE CLOUDS: The Artistic Life of Robert Singleton,” since our successful $12,000 SEED&SPARK campaign concluded on Aug. 31. I assure you that all donations remain welcome — I will be happy only to lose only a small boatload of cash and not a yacht’s worth — on this project. Truth.
But Robert and the story of his remarkable life are worth telling and sharing
FOR MORE ON 'HOUSE IN THE CLOUD’, VISIT: houseintheclouds.movie.
BUY TICKETS TO SEPT. 17 WORLD PREMIERE in CHARLESTON, WV.: Call the box office during business hours at: 304-561-3570. Or click this link: secure.theclaycenter.org/9971
READ THE FIRST ARTICLE ON THE FILM
IF YOU'VE NOT YET DISCOVERED the new online West Virginia feature publication The Real WV, tune in with this very nice profile by Matthew Young on Robert Singleton and the upcoming biopic on his life. It's good to see the growth of new online media in West Virginia, especially ones willing to focus on features such as "HOUSE IN THE CLOUDS." The documentary's Sunday Sept. 17 Clay Center world premiere in Charleston WV, presented by the West Virginia International Film Festival, will recount highlights from the zig-zag life of this remarkable 85-year-old human, whose life has gone from trauma and deep loss, to artistic success and hard-nosed joviality. He paints onward in his 'house in the clouds' in the West Virginia highlands. Deep thanks for this shoutout to 'The Real WV.'
