If you’ve followed the New York Theatre Festival circuit the last five years, or you’ve seen the viral social media rehearsal footage of high notes and harmonic excellence on TikTok, chances are you’ve been patiently waiting for the FREEDOM RIDERS: The Civil Rights Musical to come out with an album that we can finally listen to on repeat! Thanks to Broadway Records and New York Theatre Barn Records, the wait is over.
Richard Allen and Taran Gray, the creators of the award-winning FREEDOM RIDERS: The Civil Rights Musical will be releasing the 18-song world premiere recording in its entirety on November 19th.
“This is a dream come true for us.” Richard Allen says, “both Taran and I grew up listening to musical soundtracks. It was a pillar of our theater community growing up to be able to experience a show in this way when a ticketed performance wasn’t readily available. It’s how we fell in love with so many productions.”
Allen and Gray’s FREEDOM RIDERS: The Civil Rights Musical tells the true story of the college age activists who boldly challenge the legality and optics of the Jim Crow Laws in 1961 by riding buses in mixed groups through the South; a soaring portrait of the fearless voices who used nonviolent direct action to initiate change. The show won the 2016 Beta Award at the New York Musical Festival. The show returned to the festival the following year and took home the award for “Outstanding Music” as well as a special honors award for “Social Impact and Relevance”. The 2017 Festival production was visited by Congressman John Lewis who said of the show, “extremely accurate. It brought tears to my eyes.”
Allen and Gray, the writers of Freedom Riders: The Civil Rights Musical with Rep. John Lewis at the 2016 NYMF production.
“We’re honored to carry the legacy of the freedom riders forward with this musical.” Taran Gray explains, “Shows like Hamilton do so much to elevate the history of a movement. This one is absolutely worth elevating and we’ve met with many of the original freedom riders to make sure this story is a true account of history.”
The 18-song world premiere recording features a stunning 15 person ensemble including Brynn Williams (The SpongeBob Musical / Bye Bye Birdie / 13) playing Diane Nash, Anthony Chatmon II (Hadestown, Be More Chill) as John Lewis, Deon’te Goodman (Hamilton) as Bernard Lafayette, and Payson Lewis (“The Sing-Off,” NBC) as John Siegenthaler.
The rest of the superb ensemble includes Jennifer Sun Bell (Comfort Women), Kevin “Blax” Burroughs (In The Heights), Aja Downing (Legendary), Eboni Muse (Hairspray), Patrick Ortiz (West Side Story / Tarzan) , Scott Redmond (Oklahoma!), Erin Vaderhyde (Legally Blonde the Musical), and Joy Yandell (Jersey Boys).
The album will be released digitally on all streaming services November 19th in partnership with Broadway Records and New York Theatre Barn Records. More information available at www.BroadwayRecords.com.
Richard Allen is a Writer/Director and Producer based in beautiful Burbank, California. Richard’s credits include two feature films The Musician and Suite that he wrote and directed. He is an award winning writer of seven musicals that have played around the country including Off-Broadway. Richard sold and directed two pilots with The Walt Disney Company/ABC. He has also worked with Universal Studios, Warner Bros, and Sony. Richard is currently producing and directing Frederick, a romantic biopic centered on Frederick Douglass’ life before his escape from slavery. Richard’s newest short, The Last is an official selection at the Montreal International Film Festival.
Taran Gray grew up in the theatre community of San Diego sitting on the lap of his father, Nathan Peirson, a career theater professional. His love for theater and storytelling led him to songwriting and music production; including working for Rick Knowels (credits: Anita Baker, Lana Del Rey, Adele) and producing for independent LA artists. Taran found his way back into theatre in 2015 with the creation of FREEDOM RIDERS: The Civil Rights Musical. He now focuses on arranging/composing for musicals and has worked with theatres such as La Jolla Playhouse and Lambs Players Theater. As a music artist, his songs implement his theatrical DNA which are blended with his deep experience of pop/rock. His latest single, “Become My Wife” was created to propose to his now fiance, Jo De La Rosa.
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Broadway Records is the leading, Grammy® winning record label dedicated to releasing the most popular and current Broadway cast recordings, as well as preserving legacy musical theatre and theatre vocalists repertoire. Under the leadership of Broadway Records’ president and founder Van Dean, recent releases include: If The Fates Allow: The Hadestown Holiday Album, Lea Salonga Live In Concert with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Breathe with an all-star cast including Tony Award-winners Kelli O’Hara and Brian Stokes Mitchell, the Broadway star-filled concept albums of In The Light, Little Black Book, In Pieces and Stone Crossed, Legacy: Two Song Cycles by Ahrens and Flaherty, Georgia On My Mind with an all-star Broadway cast, Tony Award-winning revival of The Color Purple, the Tony Award® winning and Grammy® nominated revival of Once On This Island, the Grammy® nominated Matilda The Musical, Fiddler on the Roof (2015 revival) and My Fair Lady (2018 revival), Anastasia, Bandstand, Groundhog Day, The Lightning Thief and NBC’s television events, “The Wiz Live!” and “Peter Pan Live!”. The label’s critically-acclaimed “Live at Feinstein’s/54 Below” series features top Broadway stars including Patti LuPone, Aaron Tveit, Annaleigh Ashford, Norbert Leo Butz, Sierra Boggess, Laura Benanti, Emily Skinner & Alice Ripley, Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp, Micky Dolenz and many others. Broadway Records has partnered with the Black Theatre Coalition to create Black Writers Amplified (to be released in late 2021), an album consisting entirely of new works by Black musical theatre writers. This project to immediately take steps toward significantly increased representation of Black writers in musical theatre and support new voices and emerging Black talent. Broadway Records philanthropic endeavors also include the “Broadway For Orlando: What The World Needs Now is Love”, “We Are The World” by Broadway United and “Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice” music videos and From Broadway With Love benefit concerts for Sandy Hook, Orlando (Emmy Award for Sound) and Parkland. www.BroadwayRecords.com
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