A Musical Opera
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Sample Poster above | Select Music Recordings and Extracts below
This is a story of hope, LOVE and home…
Grace, an African Princess - fleeing a devastating war in her homeland, arrives penniless, in the freezing, grimy docklands of an American city.
The underworld of this city is ruled ruthlessly by the evil gang lord Ivan who, after an unexpected encounter, has set his sights on Grace - her spectacular beauty has dazzled him!
But another has already captured her heart...
The street smart Rafael, a young construction worker with bold ambitions, is determined to win her love. But will his dreams lead only to tragedy…
Forced to adapt to a very different world, Grace becomes friends with Rafael’s feisty and reckless twin sister Isabella. Together they must survive and keep their dreams alive until Grace can find a way to return to her beloved homeland…
overture - Grace’s theme
This story might break your heart. It is a story about love… A love so strong that it tore the night sky apart. A love so true that it set the stars alight and made all darkness in this world a lie.
winds of war
A Train Station Crowd is seething and shoving with barely contained anxiety and around them Nelson's Squad of Soldiers are greeting each other and grimly getting ready to move out – each of them someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s father. Nelson feels his idealism like a glow of embers through his veins. He lifts his head proudly, his clear certainty infecting the other Soldiers. The Squad start to parade - their powerful movements pulsing with strength.
The anxious Crowd are watching - these young men are their first line of defence, their last hope.
TOMORROW
It is just before dawn and millions of stars stretch across the sky - the great misty arc of the Milky Way carves its majestic pathway across the heavens. The dew lies silver on the grass and the air has the metallic tang of the damp, red earth of Africa. In the distance early morning lights from the Village can be seen. Soon the morning will begin, but for now, Grace stands alone in the Village Courtyard
Soon her journey will begin…
handfuls of dragonflies
Standing in the dark in the empty Mantis Club, Isabella looks around her and feels a sense of utter desolation. All the hope of the last few hours, that her dreams were starting to come true, drains out of her like water down a sink. So much for her beautiful future... It’s all in smashed pieces now. Ivan will never let her perform after the fight.
But slowly she gathers up her courage and starts to sing, as if an audience is listening with spellbound attention. She is performing like a star - she is magnificent! Charismatic, seductive, sensual, confident. She knows that her 'crowd' would be hanging on her every word.
trail of stars
High up under the smog filled sky Grace and Rafael unexpectedly find each other on the same rooftop.
Intrigued and enchanted by her, Rafael asks her to tell him an African story of how the stars will always lead you home…
land of the free
The slam of knives and the crunch of ice chips blasts through the air.
The Factory Girls are working hard. Sharpening their knives, stacking boxes, manoeuvring crates and laying out their next batch of fish. Around them industrial fans whir, the florescent lights flicker and hum and the air is crisp and sharp.
learn to love
The day is winding down and, finally free from work, the Community are spilling out onto the street. Some gather for a quick chat together on the corner - some with a shopping bag on hip.
There is a sense of breathing out. Streetlights flicker to life and the shop fronts glow in the slow gathering gloom.
Walking together, Grace and Rafael are still awkwardly shy of each other. So close and yet so far... Rafael begins to show Grace his neighbourhood. Perhaps if she could learn to love it then…
not alone
Grace is staring in shock at a bank of TV screens in an appliance shop. All of them are showing the same devastating images of a war torn country, far away on the other side of the world. Her home.
The community on the street notice her distress and begin to gather around her. Time and space dissolve and across the world they are united in their grief, their hope, their empathy with others who are also experiencing displacement. Distances converge and they become one global Community.
It is a battle cry of hope and strength and unity.
wait
Rafael and Grace have run back to her apartment through the rain. Heartbroken and in shock after seeing her homeland burning on the news, Grace lies down on the couch and curls up like a child.
After having left the room to fetch her a glass of water, Rafael walks back into the cramped space and stops short when he realises that she has fallen asleep.
Softly he reaches out his hand to touch her face, but pulls back before he does…
calling us home
For so many months Mother has watched and waited for her children, Grace and Nelson, to return safely home. Like her ancestors before her she raises her voice in an ancient call that can be heard far across the seas. And then she sings them a lullaby, a song of home.
ashes to ashes
With tears streaming down her face, Isabella watches as a Priest emerges from the mist, leading the funeral procession.
The morning is grey and bitterly cold and the Mourners shiver as the mist swirls around them. Her guilt stricken heart is broken.
fire in his kiss
Grace has just witnessed Rafael, being unfairly arrested for a murder he did not commit. Shocked she tries to tell the police that they have the wrong man, but they refuse to listen. Suddenly he breaks free from the policemen and pulls Grace into his arms and passionately kisses her. Moments later he is wrested away and Grace is left stunned and alone… It is in this moment that she realises she is in love with him.
not alone
Grace is staring in shock at a bank of TV screens in an appliance shop. All of them are showing the same devastating images of a war torn country, far away on the other side of the world. Her home.
Time and space dissolve and the African Community - Soldiers and Villagers - also feel Grace's lament from afar. Across the world they are united in their grief, their hope, their empathy. Distances converge and they, together with those on the other side of the world become one global Community. It is a battle cry of hope and strength and unity.
do you think about me?
Watching the stars from her village courtyard in Africa, Grace is filled with longing for the man she loves and has left behind, while back in America Isabella stands in misery on the street outside the jail where Rafael is being held. Rafael is in his jail cell, missing Grace. The moon throws a shaft of light through the bars across a high window.
Together, as their voices reach across the world, they sing their longing for the people they have lost…
Alice at Milestone Studios (Cape Town, South Africa) 2025
‘Calling Us Home’ is written by
Alice Gillham
Written by prominent South African composer Alice, Calling Us Home was begun in 2016 and written through a period of the largest human migrations in our planet’s history.
“Calling Us Home is a love story. Set within the context of a human migration that is so incredibly emotional, firestorm topical, highly controversial and deeply impactful that I have discovered it resonates with a bell clang in todays world…
The challenge was to never stray from its human, heartfelt centre. I will forever be grateful for the journey that these characters have led me on. This work and the intense response of its audiences has shaped me as a composer in a way that I could never have predicted.”
The piece is written for a cast of 24 - 26, ensemble is in 6 voice parts. The work is orchestrated for a 65 piece classical Orchestra as well as Latin & African percussion and combines neoclassical, African, Latin and Jazz elements. (Orchestral Pit size 8 - 12).
Music, Lyrics, Libretto, Vocal & Instrumental Arrangements, Orchestrations, Music Production & Programming by Alice.
The story is written by Alice & Antonia Gillham.
Alice is signed to Sony Music Publishing
Hope | Love | Home
#CallingUsHome
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The Music, Lyrics and Libretto of Calling Us Home are written, composed, arranged and orchestrated by Alice Gillham
Calling Us Home original story by Alice & Antonia Gillham.
Copyright (c) 2011 - 2026 Alice Gillham, Antonia Gillham, Sony Music Publishing, Calling Me Home (Pty) Ltd
Sony Music Publishing and Alice Gillham own all Grand Rights, Music and Lyrics
Gallissas Theatre Publisher and Media Agency (Berlin) holds Worldwide staging rights.
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