Music by: Jasmine Barnes
Libretto by: Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton
Duration: 2 hrs
Commissioned by: American Lyric Theater
Premiere: upcoming 2025
She Who Dared re-centers the spotlight on the courageous women who helped desegregate the Montgomery bus system. These Civil Rights pioneers pay homage to the quiet struggle for justice that has often gone unknown - further amplifying the effects of the historic case of Browder V. Gayle. While often riotous and sometimes hilarious, these women demonstrate how everyday people have the power to challenge the systems around them and affect tangible change - if only they dare.
FORCES
Singers:
Jo Ann Robinson/Fred Gray; 43 year old, light-skinned Black, female. Activist and Educator - Dramatic Mezzo-soprano
Claudette Colvin; 15 years old, dark-skinned. Student and activist - Coloratura Soprano
Aurelia Browder; 36 years old, dark-skinned. Mother of 21, seamstress, and activist - Zwischen Mezzo-soprano
Jeanetta Reese/Classmate 1/Officer/Judge; 20’s-30’s, Black female. Maid - Mezzo-soprano with lower extension
Susie “Mama Sue” MacDonald; 70 years old, White passing Black Female, heir to the MacDonald farm - Full Lyric Soprano
Mary Louise Smith/Classmate; Two 18 years old/15 years old Black female. University
student/Claudette’s classmate - Lyric Soprano
Rosa Parks/Ms. Nesbitt/Prosecution Attorney/Claudette’s Teacher; 42 years old, light-skinned, Black Female, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement - Full Lyric Soprano
Ensemble- All women or all non-featured women in the scene.
Orchestration:
Clarinet
Oboe
Percussion
Piano/Organ/keyboard
Strings
MEDIA
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