Freedom Riders | Opening Night - Invite Only
October 9
Harlem Stage presents the groundbreaking theatrical concert reading of Freedom Riders: A Journey with No End in Sight, premiering at Harlem Stage after a landmark tour. Inspired by the seminal work 12 Angry Men: True Stories of Being a Black Man in America Today, published by The New Press in 2012, and first brought to the stage by The Billie Holiday Theatre in 2015, Freedom Riders marks the 10th anniversary of this work—reimagined, expanded, and more urgent than ever. The tour will present this work, retracing footprints of the Great Migration from Montgomery, AL to Atlanta, GA to Greensboro, NC, culminating in Harlem, NY with its premiere and limited run at Harlem Stage. A crucible of survival, testimony, and resistance, this bold theatrical work fuses electrifying first-person monologues with soul-stirring live music to confront the brutal truths of racial profiling, the systemic violence against Black Trans lives, unchecked police brutality, and the unrelenting history of racial injustice.
Directed by Indira Etwaroo with a renowned cast:
Lisa Arrindell* (Disappearing Acts, Saints & Sinners)
Russell Hornsby* (Fences, The Hate U Give, Grimm)
Billy Eugene Jones* (A Soldier’s Play, Purlie Victorious)
Angelica Ross* (Pose, American Horror Story)
Stephen Tyrone Williams* (A Master Builder, The Knick)
A live musical score is seamlessly woven through these first-person stories of survival, loss, resistance, and love—collaboratively composed and performed by piano virtuoso Arden Altino, genre-defying violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain, and Grammy-nominated bassist and former Beyoncé musical director, Divinity Roxx. The result is a powerful fusion of word and sound, culminating in a stirring finale that reverberates with hope, courage, and the collective will to rise. This original sound score is made possible through Harlem Stage’s signature commissioning initiative WATERWORKS. The theatrical concert reading includes lighting and projection design by Devin Cameron, costume design by Jorge Rosario and sound design by Gaines Legare with LED Special Effects. Sydney Cusic* is the Production Stage Manager.
“Freedom Riders: A Journey with No End in Sight is a reckoning with our collective history and a call to this moment,” said Dr. Indira Etwaroo, CEO & Artistic Director of Harlem Stage. “As we journey from Montgomery to Atlanta to Greensboro, and ultimately return home to Harlem, we are in conversation with the courage of those who risked everything for freedom, and with the generations still carrying that torch. At Harlem Stage, our mission is to set untold stories free. This work is a marker of our evolution, as an institution - expanding our footprint nationally, while deepening our covenant with New York City audiences - because the struggle for justice demands both a local sanctuary and a national stage. To witness this production is to be reminded that freedom is unfinished, and it asks something of each of us.”
Buy 1, Give 1: Each ticket purchased sends an NYC student to the show for FREE
For information on FREE Student Matinees at 1PM on OCT 8 – 9 and OCT 15 – 17, email bcintron@harlemstage.org
*This is an Actors’ Equity Association Production. Actors’ Equity Association Members.