Adapting The History

John Newton's life story is recorded in one autobiographical work: An Authentic Narrative of Some Remarkable Particulars in the Life of John Newton published in the late 1700s. Conveying these perils and adventures in a coherent way without confusing the audience or making them feel as though they are in a history class is at the heart of making the musical deep without being tedious.

In order to convey the emotional turmoil, romantic tension and moral struggles that transformed our characters, it was necessary to condense certain areas and expound upon others. Some of these were for the sake of brevity. Events that occurred on four separate ships, for example, have been condensed to just two.

The characters have also been developed to answer logical questions. The person of Mary Catlett, with whom John fell breathlessly in love, has very few historical references that we are aware of. It was for this reason that Chris made certain artistic decisions to answer questions such as: "Why did Mary wait for John when he was lost in Africa? Did her parents pressure her to marry? How did she explain her persistence in waiting?"

Musical theatre is about entertaining and engaging an audience and the musical is not meant to be a substitute for the knowledge which can be gained from Newton's own memoir.

Our musical bears no relation to the Amazing Grace: The William Wilberforce Story which was released a few years ago. That story is about another man, a pupil of Newton's, who was also instrumental in ending the slave trade. Our story happens before Wilberforce was born and deals with the events which led his mentor to work against the slave trade in the first place.

Why a musical?

Early in the life of the piece (before many of the songs were written) many people asked Chris, who was a video producer/director at the time, why he didn't want to write the story as a film. He explains:

"Musicals have a much longer lifespan than films. They circulate, tour, have CD versions, then move into college and high school settings. You can actually participate in a musical. When I was a teenager, I would sit by the record player and listen to West Side Story. I would sing it, hum it, and think about what it meant. When I started acting in shows, I became immersed in their meaning. I want Amazing Grace to get into peoples thoughts and dreams." - Chris Smith