Richard Allen and Taran Gray’s FREEDOM RIDERS: The Civil Rights Musical tells the true story of the college age activists who boldly challenge the legality and optics of the Jim Crow Laws in 1961 by riding buses in mixed groups through the South; a soaring portrait of the fearless voices who used nonviolent direct action to initiate change. The show won the 2016 Beta Award at the New York Musical Festival. The show returned to the festival the following year and took home the award for “Outstanding Music” as well as a special honors award for “Social Impact and Relevance”. The 2017 Festival production was visited by Congressman John Lewis who said of the show, “extremely accurate. It brought tears to my eyes.”

The 18-song world premiere recording features a stunning 15 person ensemble including Brynn Williams (The SpongeBob Musical / Bye Bye Birdie / 13) playing Diane Nash, Anthony Chatmon II (Hadestown, Be More Chill) as John Lewis, Deon’te Goodman (Hamilton) as Bernard Lafayette, and Payson Lewis ("The Sing-Off," NBC) as John Siegenthaler. The ensemble includes Jennifer Sun Bell (Comfort Women), Kevin “Blax” Burroughs (In The Heights), Aja Downing (Legendary), Eboni Muse (Hairspray), Patrick Ortiz (West Side Story / Tarzan) , Scott Redmond (Oklahoma!), Erin Vaderhyde (Legally Blonde the Musical), and Joy Yandell (Jersey Boys).

Release Date: November 19, 2021

A Center Stage Records Release 

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