A new musical. Libretto by Chris Cragin Day. Music and lyrics by Don and Lori Chaffer
The Burn Vote
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The Burn Vote, a new musical
Music and lyrics by Don and Lori Chaffer, Libretto by Chris Cragin Day
Director - Amelia Peterson
Choreographer - Casey Sams
Music Directors - Katy Wolfe and Wade Jenkins
Scenic Designer - Christopher Pickart
Props Designer - Jason Ammons
Lighting Designer - Angelyn Baer
Projections Designer - Allison Leigh Bucher
Costume Designer - Magdalen Zinky
Stage Manager - Jade Arnold
Photos courtesy of David A. Johnson
Katie Wolfe as Feb Burn
“I want my brown leather boots on that cobblestone, to be arm and arm knowing that I’m not alone, and though the air blows freezing and cuts through my dress, I want to stand there with the heat of a fire in my chest…I wanna march with my sisters in a common cause. If you want to change the country, then change the laws…” Feb Burn, Act 1, Scene 1
Robert Parker Jenkins as Harry T. Burn and Katy Wolfe as Febb Burn
Through Americana folk music, ensemble-driven storytelling, and a whopping dose of humor, The Burn Vote reminds audiences that the work of justice is almost never grand and sweeping but small and seemingly insignificant. Seventy long years of protests and advocacy, imprisonment and violence, can come down to a few words exchanged between a mother and son.
Left to right: Celeste Peletier as Richard, Robert Parker Jenkins as Harry T. Burn, Emma Tate as Carl
Karen Nickell as Lizzie Crozier French
THE BURN VOTE is a world premiere original musical about the true story of Tennessee’s role in the ratification of the 19th amendment. No one expected that the final step in securing women’s voting rights would come down to the state of Tennessee, much less to the tie-breaking vote of a 24-year-old junior legislator, Harry T. Burn. In the heat of a third round of voting, after voting against ratification previously, Representative Burn turned to a letter he had received from his mother, Febb Burn, in which she ever-so-gently urged him to vote for suffrage. This tiny nudge turned into a tipping vote that swayed national momentum and changed history.
