Sally and Tom, A Musical About the Jefferson and Hemings Affair, Plays Oct. 7-Dec. 4

By: BWW News Desk Oct. 07, 2005

Sally and Tom (The American Way), a new musical, will explore the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings. The show, which will open at off-Broadway's Castillo Theatre (543 W. 42nd Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues) on October 7th and run through December 4th, will put to music an historical liaison that is a lightning rod for discussion even today.

With a book and lyrics by Castillo's artistic director Fred Newman and music by the Country Music Award-winning Annie Roboff (Faith Hill's hit "This Kiss"), the musical concerns "the 35-year love affair between Sally Hemings, a slave, and Thomas Jefferson — the author of the Declaration of Independence, third president of the United States and, as the master of Monticello, Sally's owner." It will be co-directed by Newman and Gabrielle L. Kurlander, and feature David Truskinoff's musical direction.

Kalia Lynne will play Sally Hemings, while Johnnie Moore will portray Jefferson. The cast will also feature Jonathan Frank as the scandal-mongering journalist James T. Callender, J.T. Michael Taylor as James Madison, and Melvin Shambry Jr.as Madison Hemings.

Newman stated, "For generations, many people have known that Jefferson fathered children by Sally Hemings. The much publicized results of DNA tests several years ago simply corroborate what had been common knowledge. Over the years, certain highly regarded scholars defended Jefferson's 'purity,' categorically denying claims that there had been a sexual relationship between master and slave. Since those 'revelations,' some of them have retreated from their former position of 'It didn't happen' only to insist that the affair between Hemings and Jefferson was an exception. But in fact such affairs, far from being exceptional, were fairly commonplace. That's part of what I wanted to convey by 'the American way' of the title." According to Newman, the show will examine "our country's uniquely conflicted and contradictory history of intimacy and separatism — America's love/hate relationship with itself."

The mission of the Castillo Theatre is to "produce cutting-edge political theatre that challenges as it entertains...Castillo has staged over 100 productions by many of the world's leading political playwrights, with a focus on the theatrical works of Newman and German avant-gardist Heiner Müller." Newman's plays produced for the company include a piece about Billie Holiday and Malcolm X--Billie and Malcom (A Demonstration) and Stealin' Home, which is about Jackie Robinson. Sally and Tom (The American Way) is the sixth musical that Newman and Roboff have penned together.

At 3:30 PM on October 23rd, after the 2 PM matinee performance of the musical, a conversation with descendants of Jefferson and Hemmings will take place. "Several years ago, DNA testing confirmed that America's third President, Thomas Jefferson, fathered children by his slave, Sally Hemings. Over the last 200 years, the Hemings-Jefferson relationship lived on in the oral histories of many generations of descendant families. These personal and family histories will be among the many subjects discussed in the conversation," according to notes.

Performances of Sally and Tom (The American Way) are Thursday, Friday, Saturday evenings at 7:30 PM and Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM. Tickets are $40 ( TDF, group, student and senior discounts are also available). Tickets are available by calling the Castillo Theatre box office at (212) 941-1234 or by visiting www.theatermania.com. The after-show chat is free, but space is limited. To reserve a space, call the box office.

For more information on the show and on the company, visit www.castillo.org.

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Sally and Tom, A Musical About the Jefferson and Hemings Affair, Plays Oct. 7-Dec. 4

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