A version of this show artwork is available to purchase with your license!

Broadbend, Arkansas

A Black family grapples with decades of inequality, violence, and suppression in the South. Benny, an orderly at a nursing home, delicately balances his role as a caregiver to an ornery white resident who shares a contentious past with his white boss, while at the same time caring for his own family as the fight for equality grips the nation in the midst of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Twenty-seven years later, his daughter, Ruby, struggles to understand an incident of police brutality against her 15-year-old son. This unique musical, spanning three decades and three generations, asks us to contemplate the cycle of violence in this country and how we will find hope and create change against the backdrop of hate that plagues America.

Roles
1F, 1M

Musicians
6

Acts
2

Duration
1 hour 25 minutes

Creators

Ellen Fitzhugh

Book & Lyrics Ellen Fitzhugh‘s credits include Musicals: with the inimitable Harold Prince: Grind with Larry Grossman, Diamonds and Paradise Found; Herringbone with Tom Cone and Skip...

Harrison David Rivers

Book & Lyrics Harrison David Rivers is a St. Paul-based playwright. Selected credits: When Last We Flew (NYFringe, GLAAD Award); Sweet (NBT, AUDELCO nom.); And She Would Stand Like This, Look Upon...

Ted Shen

Music & Additional Lyrics Ted Shen is a musical theatre composer, having retired in 1999 from a 30-year business career to return to his music roots developed as a jazz musician and composer in high school and college. In 2002, through The...

Photos

Reviews

"Stunning!"

New York Stage Review

"A beautifully realized two-person chamber musical."

BroadwayWorld

"A gripping meditation on identity and parenthood."

Slant Magazine

Orchestration

6 Musicians

PIANO/CONDUCTOR (Keyboard)
PIANO/VOCAL (For Rehearsal Only)
REED 1 (Soprano Sax, Flute, Clarinet)
REED 2 (Clarinet, Alto Sax, Oboe)
VIOLIN
CELLO
BASS (Acoustic)

Casting

Ruby
Female - 30
A Black single mother

Benny
Male - 30s
A Black nursing home orderly

Production Materials

The required production package will include the materials listed below. These materials will be shipped upon receipt of payment if your license request is approved.

2 Cast Script/Vocal Books

A combination of the show’s full script and the full vocal book. All dialogue within each song is printed in the score to prevent flipping back and forth during rehearsals. All books are spiral-bound and double-sided.

2 Director’s Scripts

A single-sided, spiral-bound script designed with plenty of space for the director to take notes and add blocking during the rehearsal process.

1 Stage Manager’s Script

A single-sided, three-hole punched script that can be inserted into your three-ring binder.

1 Piano/Conductor Score

A keyboard score that is a key part of the show’s actual orchestration. This score contains both vocal parts and a cue staff, which guides the conductor through the full orchestration by informing them when instruments enter the song, as well as providing specific part lines when necessary.

1 Piano/Vocal Score

This piano score includes all vocal parts. It can be used during the rehearsal process and during performance.

Orchestration Set

Bass, Cello, Reed 1, Reed 2, Violin

Production Resources

Additional Printed Books

Additional books (Cast Script/Vocal, Piano/Conductor, etc.) are available.

$25 each

Digital Orchestration PDFs

Prefer playing or rehearsing from your tablet? All of our orchestration scores (including PC and PV) are available in digital copies.

Digital PC or PV $50
Full Digital Orchestration Set $150

Broadway Plus

A workshop experience in which a Broadway artist speaks and works with students in an educational setting through our partnership with Broadway Plus.