the genesis

My journey with Ms. Anderson’s story began about 20 years ago as a volunteer at my children’s co-op. On this particular day the teacher pulled out the children’s book, “When Marian Sang” by Brian Selznick and Pam Muñoz Ryan. As she began reading, I found myself captivated by Marian Anderson as a woman, an artist and an icon. I couldn’t believe that I had never heard her story, and I immediately ordered her autobiography. I’m not an avid reader, so the fact that I quickly absorbed her book spoke volumes. I put the children’s book and the autobiography on the shelf, and told myself that one day I wanted to turn Marian’s story into a musical. 

CUT TO September 2015. I had spent the last 18 months working with some talented collaborators to secure the underlying property rights for a new musical version of “It’s a Wonderful Life”. I just found out that a mystery artist from London had secured the rights over us. (I later learned that the mystery artist was Paul McCartney.) But at that time, I was heartbroken. I had poured all my creative energy into the development of this musical. 

Despite the painful disappointment, something inside me knew that I couldn’t give up. I had to keep creating for the musical stage. So I pulled “When Marian Sang” off the shelf and placed the book on my kitchen table. The next day, Chelsea Marie Davis, my dear friend and a powerful singer/songwriter, came to my house for lunch. Chelsea walked into the kitchen and picked up “When Marian Sang" with awe and enthusiasm. She announced that for years she had been singing through this book with her students as a teaching artist, and shared moving stories of their response to racism. I told Chelsea that I wanted to turn Marian’s story into a musical. She said, “Can I help!?” I said, “Yes!!” 

At that moment in time, Amy E. Gewirtz and I bonded over “It’s a Wonderful Life" and started to talk about becoming producing partners. I told Amy about Marian Anderson. Having grown up in Philadelphia, Marian’s home town, Amy immediately saw the beauty and cultural relevance of bringing MARIAN’s story to the musical stage. And the journey began…..

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”  First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt 

Yours truly, 
elkin antoniou g
MARIAN writer | producer

development to date

• Spring 2017, the development team traveled to the University of Pennsylvania and reviewed Marian Anderson’s extensive archives. 

• Summer of that same year, Chelsea Marie Davis and Elkin Antoniou began developing initial story and character concepts with NAACP Image Award Winner, Michael Genet. This work served to start translating the source material into musical form.

• Soon after, Co-lyricist, Emily Ruth Hazel, joined the creative team.

• In the meantime, Liquid retained the theatrical law firm, Sendroff & Baruch, to represent the musical and secured the Exclusive Stage Rights to Marian Anderson’s archival estate. A consultant agreement was also signed with noted biographer, Dr. Allan Keiler. 

• Fall 2018, five-time Helen Hayes Award nominee, Caleen Sinnette Jennings was commissioned as the musical’s co-bookwriter.

• Summer 2019, the team met in Washington DC and held a first-time, closed reading of the rough draft. The next day they were honored to have a high-ranking official from the Smithsonian Institute accompany them to the National Museum of African American History and Culture & Anacostia Community Museum to view the ensemble and mink coat Marian wore at the historic 1939 concert. They were also escorted to the National Portrait Gallery to view a special exhibit featuring Marian Anderson. The team then made a personally profound visit to the Lincoln Memorial.                

• That same Summer, Caleen and Elkin worked together to rewrite the book, while Chelsea created a contemporary musical theater score, weaving in classical music & spirituals from Marian’s repertoire, with the help of friend and classical music expert Jessie Flasschoen.

• October 2019, the team celebrated the work by hosting a closed, successful reading in New York.

• November 2019, esteemed composer, arranger, music director, Victoria Theodore, joined the MARIAN family of collaborators. 

• January 2020, the creative team completed rewrites on the script, recorded 15 rough song demos, and submitted MARIAN to the National Alliance of Musical Theatre (NAMT) Festival of New Musicals.  

• November 2020, MARIAN was featured as a Semi-Finalist in the NAMT 32nd Annual Festival of New Musicals. With 343 original musicals submitted, MARIAN was one of 22 that made it into the final round of competition. The dramaturgical notes received from NAMT were transformative, so the creative team embarked on a rewrite to make Marian’s character more active.  

• May 2021, Laura Cronin and Scott Newsome from Brierpatch General Management joined the MARIAN family.

• June 2021, the creative team hosted their first fully sung through reading of the new script and score.    

• April 2022, twelve Broadway and Opera performers were invited to an Artist Retreat in New York City, where they learned a total of 38 songs as part of a fully sung, closed read thru of MARIAN. It was a monumental moment in the 6 years of the musical’s development.   

• June 2022, we hosted our first Industry Reading in NYC, directed by Tamara Tunie.

• November 2022, we collaborated with City College Center for the Arts to present two private readings at the Marian Anderson Theatre in Harlem, NY.