By Neil Armstrong

In high school in Barrie, Ontario, Alinka Angelova, was never taught anything about Black History in Canada. She had no interest in history until a company approached her in 2019 to write something about the Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church, a designated national historic site.

She knew nothing about the community of African Canadians who built it between 1846 and 1849. But when her husband told her that it was the last stop for the Underground Railroad, that lit a spark.

“I never thought I would ever write anything about history. It seemed a dark time for me when you talk about slavery.”

As someone who usually writes about things uplifting, she decided to add an inspirational element to her script of “Lost Heroes of Oro,” which will be featured at the historic Elgin Theatre in Toronto from February 6-8.

The founder, writer and director of Infinity Arts Productions wants to educate students in Barrie about the church and the role that Richard Pierpoint, an enslaved African who became an early leader in Canada’s Black community, played alongside the Coloured Corps to build it.

“That’s why the Black community was able to build up then; he was a big part of it and that’s what I found out about his passion. He let nothing stop him and kept going with the petitions,” she said, noting that the former member of the Loyalist militia, community leader and storyteller petitioned for an all-Black unit to fight for the British in the War of 1812, and fought with the Coloured Corps, a militia of free Black men.

The musical that was supposed to be about the church turned into a production about the journey of Pierpoint.

 “I made it a way that others can feel that it was connected to them because it is their history, whether they are Black or white or wherever they’re from.”

‘Lost Heroes of Oro’ has been running for over a year and Angelova continues to tweak aspects of it. She plans to do so even when it gets to Broadway which is her mission.

The writer loved Pierpoint’s determination to create change and “fight for us” especially considering that he was taken from his home when he was a teenager and built himself up. She said even when he came to Canada without a family, he still went from community to community telling stories.

Angelova said she writes all the time and needed to branch out beyond her local community, so she opted for a bigger venue in Toronto. Initially, she approached Mirvish Productions, but they only do long-running shows and recommended the Elgin Theatre as a space commensurate to theirs.

“I see myself in him [Richard Pierpoint], nothing stops me so I will take any risks because to me it’s like what do I have to lose. My work is bigger than just money so there’s a lot of insightful stuff in my work that needs to get out there.”

One of the songs in the show was written by her brothers, Robert and Jerome, — a song she first performed when she was 12 years old, that has now found a home in the musical.

Her niece is among the cast of 27; initially the production had 12 and the number subsequently grew to 17. ‘Lost Heroes of Oro’ fuses song, drama and dance that connects the inspiring story of Pierpoint with the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Oro-Medonte.

Angelova is using her vlog, “My Journey to Broadway,” to document the course she is taking to get to Broadway. “Every time I see people’s journey of how they get there, it’s always when they’re already there and they tell the story. But I wanted to tell the story as I’m going there just to show that I’m actually going to make it and they’re following me.”

The writer and director was born in Canada to Jamaican parents, now deceased; her father was from St. Elizabeth and her mother, Spanish Town.

When she produced the show in 2022, the Simcoe County District School Board was interested and in February 2024 she presented it again in Barrie. She said the school board wants to make it a yearly mandatory show.

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