Dessa Rose

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LINKS

Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Based on the novel by Sherley Anne Williams
Orchestrations by William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke

STARRING
Rebecca Eichenberger , Tina Fabrique , Michael Hayden , David Hess , LaChanze , Kecia Lewis , Norm Lewis , William Parry , Soara-Joye Ross , James Stovall , Rachel York , Eric Jordan Young

Based upon the lives of two real women living in the antebellum Deep South, DESSA ROSE explores the fictional meeting of these women and the impact they have on each other. Dessa Rose (LaChanze) is a pregnant slave condemned to death after leading an uprising. Her captors, choosing not to destroy "perfectly good property," delay her sentence and keep Dessa imprisoned until she gives birth. As she awaits her hanging, Dessa is interviewed by Adam Nehemiah (Michael Hayden, of LCT's Henry IV, Far East, and Carousel), who is writing a book on slave rebellions.

Ruth Sutton (Rachel York) is a white woman abandoned by her slave-owner husband on an isolated farm in Northern Alabama. When Dessa and her companions escape, they make their way to Ruth, who has begun to provide sanctuary to fugitive slaves. Initially distrustful of each other, Dessa and Ruth form an unsteady alliance after a bold scheme is devised to win the slaves' freedom by fleeing to the West. Through hardship and humor, the two women slowly become united, discovering greater strength by being together than by being alone.

DESSA ROSE, perhaps Ahrens and Flaherty's most ambitious musical to date, is almost entirely sung through. The score and its extended musical themes reveal the rarely told story of the strong-willed American women from whom our country derives much of its strength, character, and identity. The authors have structured DESSA ROSE as an oral history being passed down from Dessa Rose and Ruth to their children and grandchildren.

tracklist

CD ONE		DIGITAL DOWNLOAD / PREVIEW
1]We Are Descended 4:39 2]Comin' Down the Quarters 3] Ol' Banjar 1:25 Eric Jordan Young 4] Oh Slavery Didn't Do Away 0:55 Rachel York 5] Something of My Own 2:16 LaChanze 6]Watch You Step, Mr. Nehemiah 1:04 Michael Hayden 7] Ink 2:51 Michael Hayden 8] Hey...Hey... 0:26 LaChanze 9] You Had No Call to Break That 0:49 Eric Jordan Young 10]Why You Kill Him 0:08 Company 11]The Gold Band 3:46 Norm Lewis 12] See Them Stars 0:23 Norm Lewis 13] Little Stars 1:34 Norm Lewis 14] Hey, Pretty Girl 0:37 David Hess 15] The Gold Band (reprise) 0:52 LaChanze 16] Ladies 2:40 Rebecca Eichenberger 17] Bertie's Waltz 3:25 Rachel York 18] At the Glen 4:49 Rachel York 19] Good Afternoon, Odessa 0:33 LaChanze 20] Observations On the Famed Devil Woman 0:36 Michael Hayden 21] Capture the Girl 3:04 Michael Hayden 22] Janet? Phillip? 0:26 Rachel York 23] The People On Her Place 0:31 LaChanze 24] Miss We Was Only 0:55 Norm Lewis 25] Fly Away 3:17 LaChanze 26] That's the First Time 0:53 Michael Hayden 27] I'm Sorry, Master 0:29 Kacia Lewis 28] Fly Away (conclusion) 1:15 LaChanze 29] Dessa Rose Escapes 1:09 Michael Hayden 30] Terrible 2:58 Michael Hayden 31] Mmm...Hmm 0:57 Rachel York 32] Obstinate Little Fool 0:30 Rachel York 33] Their Eyes Are Clear, Blue Like Sky 2:25 Tina Fabrique 34] This Baby Don't Need No Name 1:27 LaChanze 35] Twelve Children 6:20 LaChanze		This album is available for preview and download on iTunes Music Store. Click the link below to be taken to this album in iTunes.
CD TWO
1] Noah's Dove 8:02 Norm Lewis 2] Through Talking to Nathan 0:33 LaChanze 3] Why Y'all Call Her Devil Woman? 0:34 Rachel York 4] It Was Then I Knew 0:32 Rachel York 5] Fly Away (reprise) 1:00 Kacia Lewis 6] Ah, Look Here! 1:58 Norm Lewis 7] The Scheme 3:04 Norm Lewis 8] Nathan Thinks We Might Could 0:24 James Stovall 9] Why Miz Ruth 2:41 Norm Lewis 10] In the Bend of My Arm 5:44 LaChanze 11] Miz...Nathan! Nathan... 0:08 LaChanze 12] Better If I Died 2:25 Rachel York 13] Ten Petticoats 1:46 Rebecca Eichenberger 14] We Organized to Go 0:26 LaChanze 15] Just Over the Line 4:51 Rachel York 16] Now Things Was Going 1:01 LaChanze 17] A Pleasure 2:22 Rachel York 18] That, Mr Oscar Is... 0:18 Rachel York 19] Not If You Tongue Gets Loose... 2:24 LaChanze 20] I Understood 0:34 LaChanze 21] White Milk, Red Blood 3:12 Kacia Lewis 22] They Tell You About the Gloried South 1:13 LaChanze 23] Anna, I Swear You Are As Slow As Molasses... 1:50 Rachel York 24] It Was Just Like Her 1:13 LaChanze 25] Master, Master 0:51 LaChanze 26] 'S'caped 2:48 David Hess 27] I Don't Want Your Money Child 0:41 Tina Fabrique 28] Sheriff, This Girl Ain't Got... 0:18 Tina Fabrique 29] Sheriff, I Got... 0:37 Michael Hayden 30] Master, Master... 0:35 Michael Hayden 31] Mistriss, I... 1:13 Rachel York 32] Epilogue: We Are Descended 4:07 LaChanze 33] Over the Line (Exit Music) 1:08 David Holcenberg
CD ONE