"We've Got a Story to Tell"
We’ve Got a Story to Tell is a 45-minute immersive theatrical and cultural experience anchored in the life and legacy of Captain André Cailloux — the first Black military hero of the Civil War and a son of New Orleans. The experience unfolds in two movements: A 15-minute conductor-led docent experience that guides audiences through the lobby of the André Cailloux Center, the sacred ground of Bayou Road, and the visual triptych by artist Langston Alston that tells the Captain’s story. The Conductor anchors the journey through call and response, historical narrative, and communal reflection. A 30-minute one-man show written and directed by Lauren Turner Hines, Founding Envisionist and Executive Lead of the André Cailloux Center and Producing Artistic Director of No Dream Deferred NOLA. The show centers Captain Cailloux himself — a free man of color, boxer, cigar maker, husband, father, and Union soldier — and asks us what it means to carry a legacy.
2 roles
The Conductor is the soul of the tour’s first movement. This artist serves as guide, griot, and presence — leading audiences from the lobby of the André Cailloux Center through the history of Bayou Road, the founding of the building, and into the story of Captain André Cailloux. The Conductor uses call and response, oral tradition, and physical command of the space to create a shared moment of memory and reflection.
Captain André Cailloux was born enslaved on August 25, 1825, in Plaquemines Parish. He came to New Orleans at age five. He learned to read in secret. At twenty-one, he was granted his freedom. He became a master cigar roller, a skilled boxer, a devoted husband to Félicie Louise Coulon, and a father of four. He was known throughout the Tremé and 7th Ward as a man who lifted others.When the Civil War broke out, André Cailloux joined the 1st Regiment Louisiana Native Guards.
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