An outcast minister leads a young street singer and a ragtag band of orphans as they struggle
to make music and find their place in the world amid the bigotry and poverty of the 1930’s south.

“Dream big,” could be the tagline for Sweetee: a new musical by Gail Kriegel set for a limited premiere engagement at The Pershing Square Signature Center. Directed by Tony nominee and two-time Emmy Award winner Patricia Birch, Sweetee tells the story of a free-thinking reverend and his band of orphans in the Depression-era South. “Band” isn’t figurative; Reverend Dan’s orphans are young musicians, initially playing jazzed up hymns but eventually transitioning to New Orleans style swing numbers. Following his impulse to “dream big,” Reverend Dan takes his group on the road, trying to show the world that children from the streets can rise above their backgrounds. The first step is shaking free of backwoods Claytonville, where the reverend’s white congregation objects to his “almost all colored orphanage band.” Another step is enlisting Sweetee: a young street singer with the vocal talent to propel the little band to stardom. Something like a cross between School of Rock and Dreamgirls in the 1930s and ’40s South, Sweetee is a fun, heart-warming musical with a score drawn from Dixieland style jazz. Instruments include everything from a washboard and kazoo to a saxophone and violin. A …Read more