DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

Shelton Becton and Ruth Fennessy Moss met for the first time in a little cafe near Carnegie Hall. They were brought together by Tony Award-winning choreographer George Faison -- and sat down over coffee to discuss an idea that had sprung to life from the pages of the Life In Times of Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass’ life was of mythical proportions. There was tragedy, triumph, struggle, defeat, resilience and hope. It was almost inconceivable that his story had not yet been told on the musical stage. And yet, in a way, Shelton and Ruth understood why. They knew Douglass was a giant of American history, unquestionably on a par with Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson. Yet he had been shuffled to the sidelines of history books. The partners felt strongly that all Americans deserved to bask, proudly and largely, in this man’s life and accomplishments.  From the start, the goal was to create a musical smart enough for adults yet approachable enough for older children and teenagers. A collaboration was born.
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Within a few years, the new partners staged their first full equity-cast reading, primarily of Act 1, at the Cell Theatre in New York City. The title at the time was MR. DOUGLASS and the production was directed by choreographer Vincent deGeorge. Although the response was enormous, it was also clear more work needed to be done, especially on structure. The collaborators went back to the drawing board to rework the architecture of the show.  

Many songs and table readings later, a second full-equity cast reading was held at Pearl Studios in Manhattan. The show was titled WORDS ON FIRE and the production was directed by A. Dean Irby with casting by Michael Cassara. Since this last exhilarating and promising outing, the creative team changed the title to DOUGLASS The Musical and continued to develop the work on paper and piano. After an extended time period that took in the BLM movement and the pandemic — Shelton and Ruth are now ready to take this amazing project to the next step so that the luminous life of Frederick Douglass may finally be sung.

They Heard Him Speak

“He was more than six feet in height, and his majestic form, as he rose to speak, straight as an arrow, muscular, yet lithe and graceful, his flashing eye, and more than all, his voice, that rivaled Webster’s in its richness, and in depth and sonorousness of its cadences, made up such an ideal of an orator as the listeners never forgot.”  
- David N. Johnson, Sketches of Lynn (Lynn, Mass, 1880)

“…the magnetism and melody of his wonderfully elastic voice…”  
- Christian Recorder (January 18, 1862)

“No printed sentences can convey any adequate idea of the manner, the tone of voice, the gesticulation, the action, the soft, swelling pronunciation with which Frederick Douglass spoke, and which no orator we have ever heard can use with such grace, eloquence and effect as he.”  
- Christian Recorder (January 18, 1862)