Seminole Tribe Members Make Off-Broadway Debut

Two members of the Seminole Tribe from Florida will make their Off-Broadway debut in a musical this fall. Distant Thunderfeaturing an all-Indigenous or Indian cast.

One of the first musicals to faithfully tell the story of Native Americans. Distant Thunder focuses on a young lawyer from the Blackfeet Nation who returns to his reservation in Montana to negotiate a major business deal that will damage land near the reservation’s school.

Obi Billy plays Aiyana Buck, a young Blackfoot woman trying to escape an abusive home. Billie grew up on the Brighton Reservation, near Lake Okeechobee.

She shares the stage with Spencer Battieste, another member of the Seminole Tribe. Billie said she grew up seeing Battiste as a role model and always looked up to him.

Billie has been performing in musicals for almost a decade, but she says for most of her productions, she was the only Native American in the rehearsal room. She said with Distant ThunderThe biggest difference is the sense of community.

Musical "Distant Thunder" addresses serious issues such as reconnecting with culture and missing and murdered indigenous women. — The musical Distant Thunder addresses serious issues such as reconnecting with culture and missing and murdered indigenous women.

“I’ve never been part of a cast where I really felt at home,” she said. “It’s really great for us to cover topics that are important not only to me, but to my people.”

For Billy, who stars in Distant Thunder this is a full circle moment. Her father took her to a reading for the play when she was 12, which inspired her to pursue a career in musical theater.

Years later, when a friend told her that an off-Broadway production of the musical was looking for a young Native American woman to join the cast, Billie auditioned and got the part.

She is currently attending Elon University in North Carolina in a highly selective musical theater program. She is taking the fall semester off to perform at Distant thunder.

For Billy, taking a break from school to work on this project was a no-brainer.

“I love telling stories. I love to sing. I love acting,” Billie said. “It’s a dream to sing silly songs on stage for people in New York.”

Sampwe Tarrant performs a powwow dance. Tarrant danced in powwows from a young age.

The musical opens with a drum circle and powwow dancers fill the stage, stepping and twirling to the beat of the drum. Billie grew up going to powwows and performs in the first act.

“As soon as I hear that drumbeat, my heart goes up and I get chills every time,” she said, “because you can’t get that energy from any other type of music.”

“A lot of powwows say that the energy from the drum goes up to the Creator, so when you’re at the drum you should always have good energy.”

Billie said she and her fellow cast members worked to make the musical as authentic as possible.

“If there’s something wrong with the cultural aspect… they’re not afraid to speak up,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere else. This is always difficult to do in the theater.”

Distant thunder will be on stage at ART/New York Theaters until October 27th.

Distant Thunder takes place on the Blackfoot Reservation. Actor Obie Billy says the musical is one of the few authentic representations of Native Americans in musical theater.

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