Vivian B. Kline

Let Freedom Sing: of 19th Century Americans: an Historical Novel or Could It Be a Musical? Vivian B. Kline

Or Could It Be A Musical?

When a class in Cincinnati, Ohio, hopes to make a musical about nineteenth century Americans, they begin by reading autobiographies from the period. They choose a group of young black ex-slave singers, and follow their progress as they move from Tennessee to New York, singing in churches to raise money for their school, destined to become Fisk University. Their white chaperone Susannah becomes the heroine of the journey, as she meets a cast of characters which include Nicholas Longworth, Horace Greeley, P. T. Barnum, Mary Todd Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Robert Duncanson, Susan B. Anthony, Vicky Woodhull and many others.

Letters between Susannah and her good friend, Maria Longworth, in Cincinnati, along with entries from the diary of Ella, the black pianist accompanying the singers, provide a great picture of the 1860s and 70s. The Cincinnati students have done a lot of homework.

But will it make a musical