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.
On the heels of President Barack Obama breaking into 'Amazing Grace' during a eulogy, a well-meant but embarrassingly uninteresting musical depicting the life saga of the hymn' writer has opened. Watching it, you keep thinking, 'How in the world did this get to Broadway?'...Resembling an old-fashioned adventure novel, 'Amazing Grace' is packed with changes of fortune, sentimentality and one-dimensional characters. Smith's mushy, forgettable songs sound like the work of someone who loves 'Les Miz' but has little talent of his own...Too bad they couldn't just sing 'Amazing Grace' at the start and save everyone 2 1/2 hours.
Sneer if you must, but it could be argued that in 2015, on Broadway, it's more irreverent to promote such beliefs than it is to satirize their practice. The much-celebrated Hand to God uses a demonic sock puppet to send up rigid distinctions between good and evil in a Christian community. And at last check, The Book of Mormon wasn't having any trouble selling tickets. If Grace has the courage of its convictions, it shows less daring, and little invention, as a creative work. With its mostly generic, sometimes bombastic score and stilted dialogue, this account of the pre-American Revolution U.K. can recall some of the more hot-air-filled musicals that invaded us from abroad (and some homegrown ones) in the '80s and '90s.
2014 | Chicago |
World Premiere Production Chicago |
2015 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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