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.
in the deeply emotional performance from Chuck Cooper, who plays Newton's personal slave and surrogate father in this new musical, there is profound longing, pain and hope for the future...Very little of that was evident in the show's Chicago tryout last fall. Much good work has been done on 'Amazing Grace'...'Amazing Grace' wants to tell the story of a conversion...But it feels rushed and unsatisfying, although not as sudden as the appearance of the title song at the conclusion of the night, even though we are hungry for more exploration of its genesis and legacy...he book, an overly linear piece of storytelling never better than serviceable that lacks nuance and ambiguity, even as the production it accompanies lacks a truly vibrant theatrical metaphor.
There's no questioning the sincerity of Amazing Grace... Heartfelt sentiments relating to the nation's shameful history of slavery and racism no doubt contribute to get audience members standing at the conclusion of this musical, as the full ensemble's voices unite in an uplifting rendition of the title song. But that emotional release is a long time coming in a 2½-hour show in which the stories of the secondary black characters are invariably more involving than those of the blandly drawn, white central figures...Young and Mackey both give committed performances, but their singing has no emotional range - he's all one-note intensity while her light soprano is pretty and period-appropriate but short on passion - and their romance is the stuff of trite melodrama...The most affecting moments come from Cooper's Thomas and Michelle's Nanna, both of them figures of great dignity and contained sorrow; and oddly enough, from Hewitt's Captain Newton...
2014 | Chicago |
World Premiere Production Chicago |
2015 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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