The Living Room Series Presents: Charmagne Tripp and The High
Theaterworks
Hartford
March 14, 2024
I’ve known Charmagne Tripp for several years, because I’ve been friends with her wife. We’ve exchanged pleasantries at different events that we’ve all attended, and I had no idea I was talking to a Grammy award-winning singer.
I learned that fact at The Living Room Series, a concert series hosted by Theaterworks. The lobby of the theater was transformed into a hip, intimate performance space with only a couple of feet between the front row and the stage. Purple lighting contributed to the mood of the evening, which felt like a private concert for friends and family.
In fact, that’s kind of what it was. I saw plenty of old friends in the audience, some that I hadn’t seen in years. We milled about and caught up before the show started.
When she took to the stage, Charmagne called the evening a “reboot,” as she’d taken a break from performing for the past few years. She told the audience that many people had reached out to her during her time off, and she simply wasn’t interested. “I didn’t want to give them less than my best,” she said before her first song. “I realized that if I don’t want to do it, then I probably shouldn’t do it.”
It’s a simple idea, but it resonated with me that evening. There’s a lot of pressure on creative people to constantly be performing, presenting, staying relevant. Choosing to buck those expectations is not a small decision, especially when everyone is trying to push you forward to the Next Big Thing.
As she explained the creative process behind the evening and the songs themselves, her decision to take some time to herself made perfect sense. This was an evening of original music that Charmagne had written over the years. Some of the songs had been gestating for decades, and it was a privilege for us to be the first live audience to hear them performed.
When she started singing, there was no doubt that Charmagne was as good as advertised, and then some. Her voice was clear and full, with warm overtones that didn’t dull the edge that her sound carried. Calling music “raw” is a cliche at this point, but it was clear that she had dug deep into her own experiences and expressed them as songs.
The song that stayed with me the most was her final one of the evening, “Choose You.” Love is often characterized as a force outside of our control, and love songs treat people as if they’re at the whims of their emotions. Treating love as a choice is a beautiful concept because it shows true commitment — if love is as automatic as breathing, then what does it actually mean to love someone? It’s simply a rote response to stimuli. Choosing love is the result of deliberation and consideration, and reveals a human connection that is built on an expression, not a necessity.
“People always say to me that I should be in New York or LA, making the big bucks,” Charmagne said between songs. “But I want to stay here in Hartford and interact with all of you.” Hartford is enriched so much by Charmagne Tripp staying here, and I am too. I came out to support my friend’s spouse; I left impressed and inspired to make my mark on the city I call home.
NEXT
Theaterworks hosts its next Living Room concert on May 9.
Charmagne Tripp and The High perform next at the Hartbeat Music Festival on June 22.
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