To commemorate the 10th anniversary of September 11th, Walt Whitman’s America will be brought to life throughout his beloved New York in a stirring music-theater adaptation of “Song of Myself,” the poet’s eloquent tribute to a nation’s ideals on the brink of civil war.    

From September 8-11, Compagnia de’ Colombari will present More or Less I Am for free in venues throughout the city, starting at Pier 46 in Hudson River Park (September and culminating at the Old Stone House, a colonial-era landmark in Park Slope (September 11).

The play is conceived and directed by company founder Karin Coonrod and features original music composed by Colin and Eric Jacobsen, members of the genre-defying string ensemble Brooklyn Rider, and Kyle Sanna. The cast includes David Patrick Kelly, Michael Rogers, and Jorge Rubio.

An international mix of actors, musicians, and children will speak and sing Whitman’s words. Members of the audience will also be encouraged to play a role. Following all performances, audiences are invited to join the cast and crew for a celebratory reception, with food and drink for all to share.

Coonrod has received numerous awards for her innovative staging of classical plays for the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Public Theatre and Theatre for a New Audience.  This fall, she will direct William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost at the Public Theater in New York.