Tom and Sally – Musical

Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings had a clandestine, illicit, and loving relationship; and Thomas allegedly fathered six of Sally’s children.  Sally Hemings’ mother, Betty, was biracial, and Betty’s father, Captain John Hemings, was white.  Sally’s father was John Wayles, who was the father of Jefferson’s wife, Martha.  Sally Hemings was half-sister to Jefferson’s wife and three quarters white.

When Jefferson served as United States Minister to France, Sally Hemings joined Jefferson in France to care for his daughter along with Sally’s elder brother, James.  At the age of 16, Sally became pregnant.  Sally was about 16 years old, and Jefferson 44.  Although Sally and her brother James were free in France (which had abolished slavery), Sally agreed to return to Monticello with the understanding that Jefferson promised to free her children when they became of age at 21.

Tom & Sally: A Slave to Love is a fictional account of the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings.

Songs:

Act One
When I Cross That River (Song 1) Chorus

Looking for an Angel (Song 2) Sally solo

Down Slavery’s Road (Song 3) Chorus

Monticello (Song 5) chorus with duets

Down-Home Hoedown (Song 5) Chorus

 (Happily) Never After (Song 6) Tom Solo

As Old as the Hills (Song 7) Betty & Chorus

The River Styx (Song 8) Tom solo

The Good Lord is Comin’ for Me (Song 9) Chorus

One Nation, Fair and Free (Song 10) Tom, Sally & Chorus

She’s a Woman (Song 11) Tom Solo

Declaration of Independence (Song 12) Jefferson & Male Chorus

Passage to My Heart (Song 13) Tom & Sally Duet

Virginia’s Real (Song 14) Square Dance

 

Act Two

Jump the Broom (Song 15) Chorus

Evening Love (Song 16) Sally Solo

A Human Soul (Song 17) Male Solo, James Hemings

Callender’s Revenge (Song 18) Male Solo, Callender

A Mother’s Lullaby (Song 19) Sally Solo

A Slave to Love (Song 20) Sally Solo

Many Thousands Gone (Song 21) Male & Female Solo

A Yankee Doodle Scandal (Song 22) Male Solo

Love is the Loneliest Thing (Song 23) Tom & Sally Duet

Jefferson, the Virginian (Song 24) Chorus

I’ll Head for a New Horizon (Song 25) Madison Hemings Solo

America, The Promised Land (Song 26) Chorus, finale

 

Cast of Characters

Thomas Jefferson

Hemings:

Sally, slave and mistress of Thomas Jefferson

Betty, mother of Sally, slave and mistress of John Wayles

James, brother of Sally

Madison, son of Sally and Tom

Slaves:

Caleb

Sam

Sukie

Martha Wayles Jefferson

Concerned Gentlemen (3)

Virginia Statesmen (4)

Richard Henry Lee

George Wythe

Carter Braxton

Thomas Nelson Jr.

James Callender, a journalist and local political figure

Aide (or Virginia Statesman)

 

Setting

Mid 1770s.  Monticello, the Virginia estate of Thomas Jefferson.

 

Act One

Scene 1: on the road to Monticello from the Wayles’ Plantation

Scene 2: the main hall of Monticello, with private room off to one side

Scene 3: the grounds of Monticello, including slave quarters, graveyard

Scene 4: the hall at Monticello

 

Act Two

Scene 1:  the grounds and hall of Monticello

Scene 2: twenty years later, a public road

Scene 3: a few years later, the grounds and hall of Monticello