Sign My Name To Freedom
The Unheard Songs of Betty Reid Soskin
Music and lyrics by Betty Reid Soskin
Script by Michael Gene Sullivan
How do you chronicle 102 years of life?
Flood survivor, racial integrator, World War II defense worker, business owner, activist, revolutionary, songwriter, and… park ranger? Bay Area icon Betty Reid Soskin has survived it all.
In this World Premiere musical based on her life, acclaimed playwright Michael Gene Sullivan weaves Soskin’s original music in and out of dialogue between The Four Bettys - Little Betty, Married Betty, Revolutionary Betty, and Ranger Betty as they take us through a century of the Negro, Colored, Black, and African-American experiences of this amazing woman.
Conceived by Jamie Zimmer, the production boasts choreography direction by laura elaine ellis, aerial choreography by Joanna Haigood, and direction by Elizabeth Carter.
Okay, so...
Two years ago I was approached about writing a biographical play based on the life of Betty Reid Soskin, the 102 year-old Medal of Freedom recipient who had until recently been the oldest living national park ranger. I'd seen news reports about Ms. Soskin, but beyond those I really didn't know much about her.
Then one night, after seeing my play “The Great Khan" at SF Playhouse Jamie Zimmer (who I was also performing with in "Twelfth Night at the time) told me they wanted to create a play using the music of Betty Reid.
I had no idea Betty had been a singer/songwriter.
Jamie had already created a performance piece based on a few of the songs, but thought there should be much more. Jaime then asked me if I might be interested in writing an entire play based on Betty’s life. Rodney Jackson of SFBATCO was already onboard for at least some sort of production, so we set up a meeting with Betty to see if she and I were a good match. The meeting was amazing,, and I signed on to write the script.
I researched, I interviewed, I watched documentaries, and then I hit on the idea of how to tell this particular life story…
That became this musical.
~ Featuring ~
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