Amazing Grace
Two hours and 30 minutes, with one intermission
Amazing Grace - 2015 Broadway History , Info & More
Nederlander Theatre (Broadway)
208 W. 41st St. New York, NY 10036
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.
Amazing Grace - 2015 - Broadway Cast
PREVIEW Amazing Grace - 2015 - Broadway
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FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Amazing Grace
'Grace' Traces Path of Slave Trader Who Would Write a Celebrated Hymn
7 / 10
More to the point, 'Amazing Grace' focuses on Newton as a bratty young man in the 1740s, when he was truly the self-proclaimed 'wretch' of that hymn's first stanza. The spiritual -- recently sung by the president at a eulogy for the Charleston shooting victims -- isn't heard until the musical's final moments. Writer Smith (sharing book credit with Arthur Giron) piles on a lot to explain why John is a rebellious man: His mother died when he was young ... His love interest, Mary (the appealing Erin Mackey, of 'Chaplin'), comes from a broken family that wants to marry her off to a pompous British major (Chris Hoch)...Because most of the relationships are musical theater tropes, they tend to drag on the pacing. The tone of scenes in the first act oscillates wildly, from striking and severe -- particularly the difficult images of chained slaves being branded -- to overly smug and smirky (Hoch is fun, though he seems to be channeling King George from 'Hamilton'). The songs are confident, if not quite memorable -- the best being 'Truly Alive,' early on.
Review: ‘Amazing Grace,’ the Story of a Slave Trader’s Moral Awakening
6 / 10
Unfortunately, while aspects of Newton's tale are indeed noteworthy, maybe even amazing, the musical itself unfolds as an overstuffed history lesson trimmed in melodrama, with a standard-issue romantic subplot and some dutiful attempts to explore the lives of the slaves (although the focus remains squarely and maybe a little uncomfortably on the British characters)...Smith's score is pleasant and serviceable...'Amazing Grace' isn't particularly subtle when it comes to psychology, or, for that matter, exposition...Nor does the plot avoid some faintly preposterous excesses...r. Hewitt and Mr. Cooper, both stalwart musical theater veterans, give forceful renderings of their minimally drawn characters. Ms. Mackey's pure, radiant soprano delights the ear...Mr. Young's tenor matches Ms. Mackey's in its bright, limpid richness - although I couldn't help but imagine that if a Ken doll could sing, its timbre would be similar...The song is simple, beautiful, immortal; the musical, not so much.
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Amazing Grace History
Other Productions of Amazing Grace
| 2014 | Chicago |
World Premiere Production Chicago |
| 2015 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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