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| Vol. 17, No. 19 | Feb. 12, 1998 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 19 | Feb. 12, 1998 |
Freedom Train, the acclaimed Theatreworks/USA musical about the life of Harriet Tubman, will be performed at 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 21, in Mitchell Hall. Part of the UD Performing Arts Junior Series, the program is Theatreworks' longest-running production.
Tubman was born a slave, but when she was 25, she made a perilous escape from a Maryland plantation, leaving her family behind.
Pursued by dogs and relentless slave catchers, she followed an escape route laid out by Quakers-secret hiding places in churches, barns, cellars and homes.
The escape route that she followed soon became known as the Underground Railroad, and Tubman quickly became one of its most celebrated "conductors." Up creek beds, through swamps, over hills in the dark of night, on 19 secret trips Tubman guided more than 300 slaves, including her aged parents, to freedom.
"I never run my train off the track," she said, "and I never lost a passenger."
Freedom Train, written by the late Marvin Gordon, a New York director, choreographer and writer, tells Tubman's thrilling story in a series of highly theatrical scenes that use dance, dialogue and the music of the period.
This story of self-sacrifice, dedication and survival, laced with warmth and a sense of humor that celebrates the human spirit, is a universal story for all.
Tickets are $10 for the general public, $8 for UD faculty, staff, alumni and senior citizens and $5 for students and children.
For more information, call 831-2204.
The Performing Arts Junior Series is sponsored by the Office of Alumni and University Relations.
Special funding for Freedom Train was provided by Greenwood Trust Co.
