Row

By: Daniel Goldstein, Dawn Landes

Narrated by: Grace McLean, John McGinty, Kerstin Anderson, John Ellison Conlee, Nehal Joshi, Tamika Lawrence, Kathryn O'Rourke, Lance Roberts, Sean Stack, Sally Wilfert

Tori (Grace McLean) aims to be the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic. As a child, she raised her younger brother Lamar (John McGinty), defending him against discrimination and neighborhood bullies. Now, with nothing but her body and a hand-built boat, she squares off with her own tormentor: the ocean. Inspired by A Pearl in the Storm by Tori Murden McClure, this uplifting world premiere musical, directed by Tyne Rafaeli with a book by Daniel Goldstein and music and lyrics by Dawn Landes, interrogates and reveals the resilience, fear, and ambition inside one individual undeterred by the odds.

For over six decades, Williamstown Theatre Festival, recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and the Commonwealth Award for Achievement, has brought emerging and professional theatre artists together to create a thrilling summer festival of premiere work alongside fresh, new productions of the western canon, accompanying cultural events including COMMUNITY WORKS and Late-Night Cabarets, and readings and workshops of new plays. Under Artistic Director Mandy Greenfield, WTF launched the Andrew Martin-Weber New Play and Musical Commissioning Program, through which theatre artists, including Jocelyn Bioh, Nathan Alan Davis, Halley Feiffer, Justin Levine, Matthew Lopez, Jiehae Park, Benjamin Scheuer, and many others, create new work supported by a year-round play development program. WTF runs unmatched training programs for new generations of theatre talent, and artists and productions shaped at WTF fill theatres in New York, London, and around the country each season. Williamstown Theatre Festival’s productions of The Bridges of Madison County, The Elephant Man, Fool for Love, Living on Love, and The Visit enjoyed critically acclaimed runs on Broadway, with The Elephant Man and The Visit receiving Tony Award nominations for Best Revival of a Play and Best Revival of a Musical, respectively. WTF's world premiere productions of Cost of Living (winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama), Actually, Paradise Blue, and Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow played acclaimed Off-Broadway runs. In the abbreviated 2019-20 theatrical season, Williamstown Theatre Festival was represented or scheduled to be represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally by The Sound Inside and Grand Horizons, both of which received Tony Award nominations for Best Play, The Rose Tattoo, Seared, Selling Kabul, Unknown Soldier, and Lempicka. Visit us at www.wtfestival.org.

Williamstown Theatre Festival would like to thank 321 Theatrical Management, Telsey & Company and DKC/O&M.

©2020 Daniel Goldstein and Dawn Landes (P)2020 AO Media LLC

Really good

I was pleasantly surprised! I am not one for musicals but this was really entertaining.

Perfect.

Thank you Torrey for telling your story.
Thanx Audible for your expert presentation. I will listen to this presentation repeatedly.

Amazing! Can’t wait to see the WTF premier!

It broke my heart and left me hopeful, happy and inspired. I’m not sure how they gave you the rush of the ocean in this format and made the flashbacks so clear. Brava!

Mind blown!

A musical on Audible? YES! The performance of this real-life inspired story was amazing. The music was epic, and I HOPE that they choose to put out an album with this version of the music. A powerful story! Will be keeping this in my library so that I can listen to it again!

Stunning and powerful.

This play/musical keeps you on the edge of your seat, especially if you don’t already know the story and ending. I cannot imagine it would be any more powerful in a theater with staging and sets, because the audience is forced to use its mind’s eye, immersing one into the experience.
Beautifully written and acted, poignant and tender. Now I’m off to read the book upon which it was based.

Oh yes - do yourself a favor and listen to the discussion at the end.

Inspiring in every level!

What a brilliant story to bring to life and to Audible! Kudos to the folks who gave us this gift of live theater in the pandemic. The power of the music stays with you and makes you want to listen again and again. Dawn Landes creates music and lyrics that move your heart and soul through emotions you can’t name, and leaves you with a spirit of determination and celebration of life!

inspiring, creatively presented

An amazing and uniquely presented memoir. The music and acting brought me in the boat with Tori. I want to see a picture if it now and look forward to seeing this book go even farther into unique amd creative presentation forms.

Wonderfully Engaging

Wonderful! More incredible since it is based on a true story. The music, especially during the first storm really captures the movement and pattern of the waves.

Gripping and inspiring

For me it’s the music. Loved learning this story. The music is beautiful, not a dull moment. Fabulous start to finish. Wish there was more. Total depression now that i have finished it and the audible musical story catalogue is so limited. Maybe we could get a prequel about Tori trekking the pole????

Great book but needs disclaimer

It was good and entertaining book. I wish there would have been a disclaimer about her disabled brother being raped. It may not be thoroughly described but it can be a trigger.