I DREAM Workshop Will Make UK Premiere at the Other Palace
The new musical follows civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy at the end of his life as he reflects on his lifelong friendship and memories with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
A workshop of a new musical ‘I Dream' will have its UK premiere at The Other Palace on Monday 27 April at 7.30pm. ‘I Dream' follows civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy at the end of his life as he reflects on his lifelong friendship and memories with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., all set against a contemporary score rooted in gospel and soul. Tickets are on sale from £15.
‘I Dream' book, music and lyrics are by Douglas Tappin, with additional writing by Jonathan Payne. The workshop will be directed by Annabel Mutale Reed with music direction by Keith Williams and casting by Heather Basten CDG CSA. Cast and further creative team are to be announced soon.
‘I Dream' premiered in Atlanta in 2010, on the Alliance Stage, directed by Jasmine Guy. A concert version of the musical was performed in 2017 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. The musical was performed as an opera between 2017 and 2021, before further musical and concert presentations in the USA, including at NYC's Apollo Theater. This workshop marks the first presentation of the work to UK audiences.
As civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy slips away from this life, his lifelong friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. rises into sharp and haunting focus. Memories collide as Ralph is pulled back into the rallies, jails, and private moments where their partnership was forged and tested. A sharp young voice of conscience from within challenges him to face the rivalries and regrets he has long tried to bury.
I DREAM brings the civil rights movement's inner circle to the stage and reveals the personal stakes behind the public history. The musical offers an intimate look at the friendship at the heart of the movement, and what it truly cost to dream of a better world.
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