Alice Ripley To Lead New Musical FALL OF '94 Industry Reading

A private industry reading of Fall of '94 will be produced by Alabama Shakespeare Festival with a grant from the Shen Family Foundation on March 17th, 2022.

A nostalgic and irreverently funny true crime musical, Fall of '94 is the coming-of-age story of five twelve-year-olds in rural South Carolina.

Susan Smith, a white woman, accuses a black man of abducting her children in her car on national television, turning the eyes of the world on their tiny mill town.

The kids focus on perfecting their annual Halloween "spook house," but all around them, the excitement of a media frenzy is unfolding, bringing the town's dark secrets to the surface.

The show's conceit and book are by Ashley Robinson (Brokeback Mountain, 5&Dime), the music by Joseph Thalken (Harold and Maude, Was), and the lyrics by Tony-nominee Ellen Fitzhugh (Grind, Myths and Hymns). Shawne Rene Graham is the dramaturge.

The cast features Tony Award winner Alice Ripley (Next to Normal, Side Show), Wyatt Cirbus (Whisper House, Finding Neverland), Audrey Bennett (Frozen, Amelie), Robbie Crandall (Les Miserables, Chronicles of a Serial Killer), Kaden Anderson (Caroline, or Change; HBO's Show Me a Hero), and Brayden Bratti (HBO's White House Plumbers, Nickelodeon's Anna & Friends).

The reading will be directed by Rick Dildine, the artistic director of Alabama Shakespeare Festival. James Lowe is music director. Mary Kathryn Flynt is stage
manager.

The musical was previously presented at Red Mountain Theatre's Human Rights Festival in Birmingham, AL.

For more information: www.fallof94musical.com