DESSA ROSE Book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Music by Stephen Flaherty. Premiere: March 21, 2005. Lincoln Center Theater, New York A thrilling new musical based on the novel of the same name by Sherley Anne Williams. Told as an oral history by two women, Ruth and Dessa Rose, this powerful tale of an unlikely friendship takes place in 1847, fourteen years before the outbreak of the American Civil War. Variety called it “An absorbing story of two strong women in the pre-civil war south. Played with grit and conviction… beautiful songs, strongly etched characters and soaring emotions—in the story of these proud independent women.” And the London Financial Times said: “The work of Ahrens and Flaherty …achieves overwhelming power. The friendship of Dessa Rose and Ruth may not be joined sexually but their friendship is the most affecting love story currently on a New York stage." Based on both fact and fiction, the musical weaves together the stories of two real women who struggled for different kinds of freedom in an era defined by men. Ruth Sutton is a white woman abandoned by her husband and living on an isolated farm. Dessa Rose is an escaped slave on the run from a bloody slave rebellion, with a newborn infant to protect, who seeks refuge on Ruth’s farm. Hidden in this Alabama backwater, the two women’s uneasy alliance ultimately transcends any racial barriers as they find the strength to confront the world on their own terms. Their dangerous journey to freedom and self-realization makes for a musical that is by turns comic, tragic, uplifting and inspired. Cast: tbc Instrumentation: tbc			OTHER TITLES BY AHRENS & FLAHERTY
Study Guide RehearScore Video Broadway in Concert