Broadway alums Anthony Chatmon and Brynn Williams performed a song from Freedom Riders: the Civil Rights Musical ahead of its July 10 live stream presentation. Check out their performance of "You Are the Wind" above.
Freedom Riders tells the true story of the activists who challenged the legality and optics of the Jim Crow South in 1961 by riding buses in mixed groups in a nonviolent protest.
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The musical features music and lyrics by Taran Gray with a book by Richard Allen. The upcoming reading, directed by Allen with music direction by Steven Cuevas, is part of the Allen+Gray Theatre Festival July 7–10, which also includes Walt and Roy with Jonah Platt and Payson Lewis.
Chatmon (Hadestown) returns to Freedom Riders as John Lewis, having previously played the role at the New York Musical Festival in 2016. Williams (SpongeBob SquarePants, 13) plays Diane Nash. Joining the duo are Deon’te Goodman (Hamilton) as Bernard Lafayette and Payson Lewis as John Siegenthaler.
The cast is rounded out by Jennifer Sun Bell, Kevin “Blax” Burroughs, Tyla Collier, Meagan Flint, Eboni Muse, Michael William Nigro, Leonard Patton, Ebony Pullum, Scott Redmond, Nygel Robinson, Clayton Snyder, Davon Williams, Erin Vaderhyde, and Joy Yandell.
For more information about the festival and tickets, click here. Proceeds from the event will benefit Broadway Cares and Broadway for Racial Justice.
André De Shields in the original Broadway cast of Hadestown
