WE SHALL SOMEDAY

Uplifted by a sweeping, jazz-infused score, We Shall Someday is an original musical following three generations of a southern Black family as they each encounter and confront acts of racial injustice. Offering an exploration of our past to propel us forward with conviction and hope, We Shall Someday ​​examines how we​ continue the fight ​for freedom and justice.

The show begins in 1961 when Julius makes the decision to join the Freedom Rides. The second act follows his daughter, Ruby, as she wrestles with how to respond when Jay, her teen son, is brutally attack​ed by the police. The third and final act continues in 1992, on the heels of the Rodney King verdict, with Jay, as he weighs his choice to join the movement.

At a moment when uncertainty, political chaos, and rising discrimination threaten to rule the day, We Shall Someday asks how do we keep going when moving forward at times feels like going back? How do we avoid despair and instead find hope in our collective strength? It also asks how we might challenge our own complacency, our instinct for comfort over disruption. How might we practice courage in the  realization of conviction?

With this production, we eagerly step inside the hearts and minds of everyday people fighting to overcome fear and take their own steps towards hope, healing, and change. We do so alongside an incredible team of collaborators and partners, all of whom have been essential aids in lifting up essential American history. 

Book & Lyrics by Harrison David Rivers
Music & Additional Lyrics by Ted Shen

Directors: Tyler Thomas & Ryan Dobrin
Music Director: Dr. Joel Jones
Executive Producer: Mandy Hackett

Production Stage Manager: Marshall Lee Smith Jr.
Scenic Designer: Tanya Orellana
Lighting Designer: Emma Deane
Costumes Designer: Devario D. Simmons
Sound Designer: Tye Hunt Fitzgerald
Projection Designer: South Bloom Media

Assistant Stage Manager: Molly Foy
Orchestrator: Michael Starobin
Music Supervisor: Deborah Abramson
Music Copist: Emily Grisham
Keyboard Programmers: Randy Cohen, Sam Starobin, Juan Matos
Assistant Costume Designer: Travis Chinick
Assistant Scenic Designer: Danielle DeLaFuente

Ensemble: John Edwards, Danyel Fulton, Jake Loewenthal, Cole Thompson

Production: Alabama Shakespeare Festival in association with the We Shall Someday Project, April-May 2025