New Musical AMAZING GRACE Begins Previews on Broadway Tonight

Broadway's new musical Amazing Grace begins previews tonight, June 25, 2015 at Broadway's Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street) with an opening slated for Thursday, July 16.

The cast features Tony Award nominee Josh Young, Erin Mackey, Tony Award winner Chuck Cooper, Tom Hewitt, Chris Hoch, Stanley Bahorek, Harriett D. Foy, Laiona Michelle, Rachael Ferrera and Elizabeth Ward Land.

The ensemble features Leslie Becker, Sara Brophy, Rheaume Crenshaw, Miquel Edson, Mike Evariste, Sean Ewing, Savannah Frazier, Christopher Gurr, Allen Kendall, Michael Dean Morgan, Vince Oddo, Oneika Phillips, Clifton Samuels, Gavriel Savit, Dan Sharkey, Bret Shuford, Evan Alexander Smith, Uyoata Udi, Charles E. Wallace, Toni Elizabeth White, Hollie E. Wright.

The new musical features music and lyrics by Christopher Smith and a book by Christopher Smith and Arthur Giron, directed by Gabriel Barre (Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party) and choreographed by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli (Newsies).

Amazing Grace is a new original musical based on the awe-inspiring true story behind the world's most beloved song. A captivating tale of romance, rebellion and redemption, this radiant production follows one man whose incredible journey ignited a historic wave of change.

John Newton (Tony Award nominee Josh Young), a willful and musically talented young Englishman, faces a future as uncertain as the turning tide. Coming of age as Britain sits atop an international empire of slavery, he finds himself torn between following in the footsteps of his father - a slave trader - or embracing the more compassionate views of his childhood sweetheart (Erin Mackey). Accompanied by his slave, Thomas (Tony Award winner Chuck Cooper), John embarks on a perilous voyage on the high seas. When that journey finds John in his darkest hour, a transformative moment of self-reckoning inspires a blazing anthem of hope that will finally guide him home.

Brimming with emotion and adventure, Amazing Grace is an unforgettable musical saga that captures the spirit of history's sweetest and most powerful sound: freedom.

Additional members of the creative team include Eugene Lee and Edward Pierce (scenic design), Toni-Leslie James (costume design), Ken Billington and Paul Miller (lighting design), Jon Weston (sound design), Robert -Charles Vallance (hair design), David Leong (fight and military movement), Gillian Lane-Plescia (dialect coach), Kenny Seymour (orchestrations), Michael Keller (music coordinator), Joseph Church (music director, arranger, incidental music), and McCorkle Casting LTD (casting).

Amazing Grace is produced by Carolyn Rossi Copeland and Alexander Rankin.

The production premiered last October in Chicago and was embraced by theatre critics and played to sold out houses.