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NEWorks Productions

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS AS A LEADING PRODUCER OF IMPACT-ARTS PROJECTS

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS AS A LEADING PRODUCER OF IMPACT-ARTS PROJECTSCELEBRATING 20 YEARS AS A LEADING PRODUCER OF IMPACT-ARTS PROJECTS

GRACE, the Musical

NEWorks Productions is proud to produce this award-winning new American musical.


Music & lyrics by Nolan Williams, Jr.  

Book by Nolan Williams, Jr. & Nikkole Salter

Directed & choreographed by Robert Barry Fleming


"...a mouth-watering dish... served with super-charged music"

-David Friscic, BroadwayWorld


Take one family. Add a dash a hope, a sprinkle of spice, and a heaping handful of love, and you’ve got a recipe for pure theatrical joy. 


Packed with an eclectic mix of styles including jazz, R&B, rousing up-tempos and raise-the-roof ballads, GRACE is a musical feast inspired by the little-told history of African American culinary tradition and the challenges faced by Black-owned businesses. 


The musical captures a day in the life of the Mintons, a Philadelphia family who gather to mourn the loss of their matriarch while facing the uncertain future of their family restaurant in a changing neighborhood.

Photo credit: André Chung

GRACE, THE MUSICAL WInS 11 BROADWAY WORLD D.C. AWARDs!

The votes are in and GRACE is clearly the people's choice! Special thanks to the 20,000+ patrons who flocked to Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. last spring for the world premiere of this show and the many fans and industry insiders who have now named it Best Musical and Best New Musical!

Access Awards Announcement

Check out the WETA Arts/PBS feature story on GRACE

VIEW VIDEO

grace REVIEWS

"...a mouth-watering dish... served with super-charged music"

"...a mouth-watering dish... served with super-charged music"

"...a mouth-watering dish... served with super-charged music"

David Friscic, BroadwayWorld

READ REVIEW

"...a knockout of a musical"

"...a mouth-watering dish... served with super-charged music"

"...a mouth-watering dish... served with super-charged music"

Andre Hereford, MetroWeekly

READ REVIEW

"...unstoppably entertaining"

"...a mouth-watering dish... served with super-charged music"

"...a rich tapestry... with a wonderful score"

Gregory Ford, D.C. Metro Theatre Arts

Read REVIEW

"...a rich tapestry... with a wonderful score"

"...some of the best music I've heard in a long time"

"...a rich tapestry... with a wonderful score"

Jordan Wright, The Zebra Press

READ REVIEW

"...a delectable delight"

"...some of the best music I've heard in a long time"

"...some of the best music I've heard in a long time"

Gail Choochan, The Free Lance-Star

READ REVIEW

"...some of the best music I've heard in a long time"

"...some of the best music I've heard in a long time"

"...some of the best music I've heard in a long time"

Brenda Siler, The Washington Informer

READ REVIEW

GRACE PRESS

Washingtonian

Broadway World

Broadway World

"How DC Nourished a New Musical About Black Food Traditions" | April 19, 2022

Broadway World

Broadway World

Broadway World

"BWW Exclusive: First Look at the World Premiere of GRACE" | March 21, 2022

WTOP News

Broadway World

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts Guide

"Ford's Theatre presents world premiere musical ';Grace' on Black culinary tradition" | March 18, 2022

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts Guide

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts Guide

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts Guide

"New musical ‘Grace’ at Ford’s to celebrate African American food and family" | February 3, 2022

Playbill

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts Guide

Let's Talk D.C. - WJLA/ABC7

"Playwright Nikkole Salter Joins Nolan Williams, Jr. as Co-Book Writer for Grace" | January 27, 2022

Let's Talk D.C. - WJLA/ABC7

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts Guide

Let's Talk D.C. - WJLA/ABC7

"New musical by D.C. composer 'Grace' coming to the Ford's Theatre" | June 9, 2021

WTOP Radio

Broadway World

Washingtonian

"Ford’s Theatre plans world premiere of Black culinary musical for Spring 2022" | May 18, 2021

Washingtonian

Broadway World

Washingtonian

"A DC Composer Will Debut a Musical About African American Food Traditions at Ford's Theatre" | May 6, 2021

Broadway World

Broadway World

Broadway World

"New Musical GRACE to Have World Premiere at Ford's Theatre in Spring 2022" | April 20, 2021

Playbill

The Washington Post

Broadway World

"Nolan Williams Jr. Explores the Intersection of African American Food Traditions and Theatre in Grace" | April 20, 2021

Broadway World

The Washington Post

The Washington Post

"Brian Stokes Mitchell and More to be Featured in Online Engagement Initiative #ByGrace" | May 4, 2020

The Washington Post

The Washington Post

The Washington Post

"In a Pot Of Black-eyed Peas, One Family’s New Year’s Day Tradition and Creative Muse" | January 1, 2020

stirring the waters across america

Conceived by Nolan Williams, Jr. 

Directed by Eric Ruffin

Choreographed by Kiana Ebone'


"Electrifying. Awakening. ...Exquisitely bold and utterly holy."  

-David Siegel, D.C. Metro Theatre Arts


STIRRING THE WATERS ACROSS AMERICA is our 90-minute multimedia concert production highlighting key events of the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968, making vital connections between then and now.  

- National tour launched at Vanderbilt University's Langford Auditorium, Nashville, TN, February 2020 


- Workshopped at The Kennedy Center REACH, October 27, 2019


Photo credit: Quentin Cox

Find out more

"Stirring the Waters" Open Rehearsal during The Kennedy Center REACH Opening Festival, September 7, 2019

PRESS: STIRRING THE WATERS ACROSS AMERICA

VisitMusicCity.com

The Washington Informer

The Washington Informer

"Nashville is first stop for national tour of 'Stirring the Waters Across America'" | January 30, 2020

The Washington Informer

The Washington Informer

The Washington Informer

REVIEW: "A Civil Rights Journey with 'Stirring the Waters Across America': Stories Told Through Song, Dance and Historical Readings" | October 30, 2019

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts

REVIEW: "‘Stirring the Waters Across America’ at The REACH is a powerful musical exploration of resistance to racism" | October 29, 2019

The Washington Post

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts

"A D.C. Composer channels his social conscience into art" | October 22, 2019



devine hamer gray

Composed & Written by Nolan Williams, Jr. 


DEVINE HAMER GRAY: A New American Musical (in development) tells the story of how three heroic American women, Annie Devine, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Victoria Jackson Gray, ran for congress in 1964 and nearly defeated the Mississippi congressional delegation. Their courage—and that of their daring Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party—is an untold, important narrative of the Civil Rights Movement.


On Wednesday, September 25, 2019, NEWorks partnered with the March On Washington Film Festival to co-present a musical reading of this project at George Washington University's Jack Morton Auditorium. The presentation was headlined by award-winning actress of stage and screen, Ebony Jo-Ann, and attended by: Jacqueline Hamer-Flakes, Pastor Cecil Gray, Julie Henderson, Reuben Adams, Nettsanett Gray, Barbara Devine Reed, Tiffany Wilson, William Ryan, Mary Carroll (Mac) Ryan, and Elizabeth Ryan, family members of Annie Devine, Fannie Lou Hamer, Victoria Jackson Gray and William Fitts Ryan.  

- Workshopped at the March On Washington Film Festival, September 25,  2019

PRESS: DEVINE HAMER GRAY

BroadwayWorld.com

"Powerful New Musical Devine Hamer Gray Heralds Untold Civil Rights Story" | September 30, 2019

ARCHIVAL PRODUCTIONS

Go, Tell It!

Conceived & Directed by Nolan Williams, Jr. 


Starring Grammy-award-winning singer BeBe Winans, the late gospel recording artist Lecresia Campbell, and the NEWorks Voices of Inspiration—along with an amazing cast of storytellers, dancers, and musicians—GO, TELL IT! was a family holiday show produced in partnership with the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and in association with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

- Presented at the Historic Lincoln Theatre, Washington, D.C., December 19, 2014

NOLAN WILLIAMS JR.'S CHRISTMAS GIFT, THe musical

Book, Music & Lyrics by Nolan Williams, Jr. 

Directed by Eric Ruffin

Choreographed by Torens Johnson


CHRISTMAS GIFT, the Musical traces a precocious 13-year-old girl's journey towards self awareness and identity. Along the way, she encounters mystical griots who challenge and inspire her. This family-friendly holiday musical charms and delights.

 - Presented at The Clarice, Kay Theatre,  University of Maryland-College Park  

  • Fri, Dec. 13, 2013 - 8:00PM
  • Sat, Dec. 14, 2013 - 3:00PM
  • Sat, Dec. 14, 2013 - 8:00PM

CHRISTMAS GIFT!

Conceived & Directed by Nolan Williams, Jr. 

Co-directed by Raquis Petree

Choreographed by Torens Johnson & Jakari Sherman


"The premiere was, as they say, 'all that.' ...I strongly recommend this...!"  

-D.C. Metro Theatre Arts 


"Soul-stirring" 

-Metro Weekly 


"Christmas Gift!... Gets Rave Reviews" 

-Washington Informer


CHRISTMAS GIFT! features new and time-honored Christmas music — from African-American spirituals and gospel to jazz and R&B — woven together with selected readings from African-American poets like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Inspired by the groundbreaking publication, Christmas Gif’: An Anthology of Christmas Poems, Songs, and Stories, written by and about African-Americans, this is an inspiring holiday production for the entire family featuring musical performances by R&B legend Shirley Murdock, singer/songwriter John Stoddart and the NEWorks Voices of Inspiration. 

- Presented at The Clarice, Kay Theatre,  University of Maryland-College Park

  • Fri., Dec. 14, 2012 - 8:00PM
  • Sat., Dec. 15, 2012 - 8:00PM 

Christmas Gift Musical Revue EPK

Prince George's Community Television (CTV) CHRISTMAS GIFT! Feature

Creator Nolan Williams, Jr. and R&B legend Shirley Murdock discuss "CHRISTMAS GIFT!" premiere following FOX-5 promo appearance

PRESS: CHRISTMAS GIFT!

The Washington Post

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts

"Opening performance of “Christmas Gift!” at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center" | December 12, 2012

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts

D.C. Metro Theatre Arts

REVIEW: "‘Christmas Gift!’ at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center" | December 15, 2012


Copyright © 2023 NEWorks Productions - All Rights Reserved.

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