The Story of Hope

by Matthew Vaky and Isabell Monk
with music by Gary Rue

Hope is teased for being “mixed”, but by exploring her family’s history she comes to realize that she is created by love and a hope for a better world. Follow Hope and Jacqui’s journey along the branches of their family tree, through their family history and the history of our nation. On this journey Jacqui gives Hope insight into who she is and how her name speaks of a positive future. “I am generations of faith mixed with lots of love! I AM HOPE!”

Regular price $12.00
Apply for a Performance License

Quick Details

  • Type: Musical
  • Estimated Run Time: 60 minutes
  • Availability: Available for productions worldwide
  • Cast Size: 28 roles | Can be doubled or expanded
Music Preview

Full Details

Roles:

  • Hope, a light-skinned African American girl, aged 9
  • Vicky, a dark-skinned African American girl, aged 9
  • Maria, a Latino girl, aged 16
  • Jacqui, a dark-skinned African American girl, aged 16
  • Tony, Italian boy
  • Margaret, Irish girl
  • Simon, African slave boy
  • Lacey, African slave girl
  • Jane, African American girl
  • Jack, African American boy
  • Vince, American boy of Italian heritage
  • Kate, American girl of Irish heritage
  • David, White American boy
  • Eve, African American girl
  • Boy from Greece
  • Boy from Spain
  • Boy from Russia
  • Girl from Russia
  • Girl from Sweden
  • Joshua, a slave
  • Matthew, a slave
  • Sarah, a slave
  • 3 young African American civil rights activists
  • Alice, disruptive White kid
  • Allen, disruptive White kid
  • Sammy, disruptive White kid

The following resources are included in each performance license:
  • Permission to photocopy the PDF script/score for your production so there is no additional cost for these assets.
  • Vocal demo tracks for rehearsal

The following resources may be added to you license for an additional fee:
  • Professionally recorded performance tracks for backtracking, underscoring, and sound effects.
  • Logo/Media package

Gary Rue

A performer and composer, Gary Rue has been playing music for audiences throughout the western hemisphere since the mid-’60s, beginning with various town halls in the upper Midwest and graduating to East Coast “tent” tours that included the Big Apple (Carnegie Hall as music director and duet partner for Gene Pitney) and on to far-flung points in Canada and the Caribbean. Early along the way, Rue began writing music of his own and was rewarded with some of his songs being recorded by (among others) Nick Lowe and Helen Reddy, as well as many prominent regional artists. He is the author of nearly 80 scores for music theatre, including The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fair(l)y (Stoopid) Tales, which toured the U.S. and China with Dallas Children’s Theater. Rue is also a 2010 Minnesota Music Hall of Fame inductee and an active touring musician and educator.

Originally commissioned and produced by Steppingstone Theatre