When Nova Scotian Jeremiah Sparks won the role of Maurice Ruddick in Beneath Springhill, he didn’t know who the Canadian hero was.
But his mother did.
“The Singing Miner?” she asked the actor.
“We all know he helped those men get out of that mine,” she told her son.
Generations have passed since Ruddick rose to international fame for his efforts in keeping six other men alive 4,000 ft. below the surface.
Older Canadians may remember the eight days in 1958 when a “bump” — an underground earthquake — killed 74 miners in Springhill, N.S.
Ruddick, who was one of the seven saved in the disaster, was later celebrated for using his words and music to lift up their spirits.
About seven years ago, Historica Canada honoured Ruddick and his bravery with a Heritage Minute broadcast segment to educate the public.
In Beneath Springhill, Sparks shares the story and tunes in a one-person show; the musical play — a touring production by the Arts Club Theatre in Vancouver — stops in Coquitlam for six performances from Jan. 23 to 27.
In an interview with the Tri-City News today, Jan. 12, the Toronto resident spoke about what it’s like to perform solo and portray 10 different characters.
At first, he said, being on stage alone for the Beau Dixon-created work was nerve-wracking.
“In fact, the first time I did it was extreme pressure,” he said. “I wasn’t used to it and I realized, ‘I can’t make a mistake.’ It was terrifying to play all these characters.”
“But I got through it,” he continued. “Now, those things don’t bother me at all. The pressure is off because I’ve done it so many times. And I’m the only one who really knows if I make a mistake, so it’s just pure joy now.”
Sparks said each time he performs in Beneath Springhill, he gets deeper into the layers of each persona and he's able to feel the raw emotions of the tragedy.
His audiences — from coast to coast — feel it, too: He’s been in the production a few dozen times in Vancouver, Ontario and Nova Scotia, the latter once with Ruddick’s daughter in the crowd.
“I’d like to say that when they leave, they go with hope,” Sparks said. “The story highlights what hope does and how it can bring us out of bad situation.”
Still, the audience also gets a reality check about how African Canadians were treated then and the discrimination they faced.
After the seven miners came to the surface, the governor of the U.S. state of Georgia invited 19 of the surviving men and their families to vacation on an island reserved for millionaires; however, once he got wind that Ruddick was Black, he was excluded.
His fellow miners protested, and Ruddick and his family were eventually allowed to come on the trip — in a racially segregated location, due to the American Jim Crow laws. They stayed in trailers built by the governor for their trip and attended different ceremonies from the White miners.
Sparks said he could relate to the prejudice as he grew up “an angry boy” in a Black community in Nova Scotia. He credits his mother, his faith in God and music for bringing him out of dark places and guiding his way.
As for his next gig, Sparks said he’s booked to perform in My Fair Lady at the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
Tickets for Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story are $50/$42/$16 by calling the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam (1205 Pinetree Way) at 604-927-6555 or visiting the facility’s website. The shows are at 7:30 p.m. and there is a 3 p.m. matinee on Jan. 27. A Talk Back is on Jan. 25 with Jeremiah Sparks.
