New 'Hastings Street' musical explores Detroit's Black Bottom community

Downtown Detroit’s Music Hall was bustling. Piano and trumpet melodies ricocheted off the walls during sound check as crew members polished a brick wall backdrop onstage. In the hour before their afternoon rehearsal, two days before opening night, these local artists were bringing to life a historic, dismantled Detroit neighborhood — the focal point of their show.

Plowshares Theatre Company on Thursday will present the world premiere of "Hastings Street," a new musical centered around Detroit’s Black Bottom community, a historically segregated Black neighborhood that was transformed in the 1950s into the Lafayette Park housing development, primarily for white residents. Set in 1949, the show follows the Carson family’s fight for their home and identity as thecommunity is erased amid highway development and "urban renewal" initiatives.

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More than 70 years after the neighborhood’s transformation, Plowshares Theatre Company, Michigan’s only African American professional theater company, is bringing the story to the stage. The show’s creators say its themes of displacement and cultural erasure remain relevant today.

“Those communities were erased, torn down, devastated, our people were forced to move,” said John Sloan III, writer and co-creator of "Hastings Street."

“Now, in 2022, depending on what part of the city you drive to and who you ask, a lot of those same forces are at play.”

The creative team behind "Hastings Street" share a common passion for telling the story of Black Bottom. For director and producer Gary Anderson, it’s personal. He initiated the concept for the show, calling the story near and dear to his heart, since his wife was born in Black Bottom to parents who owned a boarding house that was wiped out with the rest of the community.

“There’s a lot of exciting things about this show,” said Anderson, who is also the producing artistic director of Plowshares Theatre Company. “I think it opened up people’s eyes about the circumstances of development and how sometimes development is challenging to people of color. Invariably, in the history of this city, there has been a consistent pattern of losers. Black Bottom was an example of that.”

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"Hastings Street," which has been in the works since 2019, also marks Plowshares’ return to the stage, after the pandemic halted their production for more than two years. Not only is it the group's first show back, but Anderson hopes it will shape what the company stands for going forward.

Even in the exploration of the neighborhood’s troubling demise, however, the show isn’t all doom and gloom. No one wanted “another story about how the white man took advantage of Black people,” said Sloan.

The creative team promises a heartfelt, spirited look into family dynamics and the colorful lives of Detroit’s Black community.

“A lot of the time, Black history is often taught through the lens of oppression,” said musical director and co-creator Kris Johnson. “We wanted to talk about a story just based around people who have lives just like anyone else. Sure, there’s a tragedy that takes place, but it’s not the main focal point of the musical, by any means.”

Detroit pride is seen not only in the show’s content but in the way it was brought about. Anderson called the musical “the first original musical by Black creators in this city in decades,” and said everyone involved in the production either moved to or is from Detroit. It was an intentional choice by the creative team.

“We spend a lot of time denigrating this city, its institutions and the individuals,” said Anderson. "They start thinking they can only be successful going away. Detroit has a plethora of talented artists, and we hope this show is evidence of that. I know this show is evidence of that. The talent that’s here needs to know they can do their best work here. They don’t have to leave.”

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After all, the story they tell may hit close to home for many in the audience.

“We're telling a story that's about a very particular community, and we're telling a story that's going to resonate with the community in a very specific way,” said Johnson. “To me, it would be a shame for this to not premiere in Detroit and to not feature Detroit artists because it's telling a very vital story about where we are right now.”

"Hastings Street" will play at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, 350 Madison Ave. from July 21 to 31. Tickets, starting at $29, are available at musichall.org.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit's Black Bottom explored on stage in 'Hastings Street' musical