Musical Adaptation of Chelsea Clinton's Book 'She Persisted' Sets New York Debut

The Atlantic for Kids production will bow Feb. 22, 2020.

The Atlantic Theater Company's Atlantic for Kids division on Wednesday announced that She Persisted — the musical adaptation of Chelsea Clinton's children's book She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World — will debut in New York next year. Performances will begin Feb. 22 at Atlantic's Linda Gross Theater in Manhattan.

She Persisted centers on a fourth-grader named Naomi, whose field trip to a Women’s History Museum turns into a time-travel adventure where she encounters inspirational women who have overcome barriers and made waves throughout U.S. history. The musical features the stories of female trailblazers such as Harriet Tubman, Helen Keller, Clara Lemlich, Nellie Bly, Virginia Apgar, Maria Tallchief, Claudette Colvin, Ruby Bridges, Margaret Chase Smith, Sally Ride, Florence Griffith Joyner, Oprah Winfrey and Sonia Sotomayor.

The Atlantic for Kids production will be directed and choreographed by MK Lawson, with casting to be announced at a later date.

She Persisted — previously seen at the BACT Berkeley Center on the West Coast — features a book and lyrics by Adam Tobin and music by Deborah Wicks La Puma. The world premiere of the show, based on the former first daughter's book and directed by Khalia Davis, was presented by Bay Area Children's Theater in Berkeley, Cailfornia, earlier this year. The musical was then seen at the Creativity Theatre in San Francisco and the Sunnyvale Theatre.