It all Begins on Broadway
Laurie Edwards was a Broadway child.
Her father was a Broadway ticket-taker, so Laurie was raised in the theatre.
She was there for the debut of The Wiz, offering her own critiques to its director, the actor and Bond villain Geoffrey Holder.
At 14, she became an usherette, following in the family’s footsteps, and that passion followed her throughout her life.
Laurie spent much of her career as president of a theatre company in New Jersey before coming south for warmer winters. Here, she served as executive director of Arts of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City from 2018 to 2022.
Now, she’s the director of the brand-new musical Spill the Tea!
How the show started
Spill the Tea! began in 2021, when local legend, Edenton native, and historian Sally Frances Kehayes asked Laurie to write a play about the Edenton Tea Party, Edenton’s claim to fame.
So she applied for grant funding through America 250 NC, the state’s program for the nation’s 250th anniversary, and heard… nothing for months.
Then, one day out of the blue, she got word that her grant had been approved.
So it was time to get writing.
“I wanted to challenge expectations and tell the story in a new and different way,” says Laurie.
The question was, how do you tell this particular story on stage?
At the heart of the story are 51 women who, on October 25, 1774, signed their names to a resolution pledging to stop buying British tea and cloth. It’s recognized as one of the first public political acts by women in America, led by Penelope Barker.
But that wasn’t the whole story.
At the time, Penelope’s husband, Thomas Barker, was living in London, where he had been North Carolina’s colonial agent since 1761. The women mailed their resolution to England, and in January 1775 a London newspaper printed an account of it, along with a drawing mocking these upstart women. Thomas was still in England then, and he wouldn’t make it home until 1778.
Then, there was the Revolutionary War itself.
So, the Edenton Tea Party is more than a single event. It represents a tumultuous time with layers of bravery, comedy, fear, and, for Penelope’s husband, Thomas, shock and surprise.
It’s a multidimensional story that rarely gets the airtime it deserves.
Why tell it on stage?
So often, we tell these stories by recounting years of struggle in a sentence or two, listing only a couple of the most famous names, never giving full attention to the weight, danger, and struggle the people involved actually experienced.
But these 51 women had families, husbands, and children who were at risk because of their audacious action.
That’s what makes a musical play such a good way to tell this story.
Musicals, from Les Misérables to Hamilton, have an equally audacious way of capturing not just events of the story but people, their motivations, struggles, fears, and hopes, allowing us to peer into the souls of these characters, real and fictional, that shape our world and imagination.
In the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Musical storytelling has no limits.”
This era, and the American men and women who lived through it, faced the biggest navy and one of the most intimidating armies in the world.
This generation was “outmatched” in virtually every way.
And yet, these women stood up.
Spill the Tea! tells this story through pop, rock, ballads, and more, capturing it in a dynamic, new way and exploring not only what happened, but how it affected the people at the center of it.
“With this production, we get to go beyond the bare facts of events, and explore more about the people at the center of this story,” says Laurie.
This show is an audacious echo, exploring this story in a way that only musical theatre can.
The show
Now, five years later, her vision is finally becoming a reality.
Spill the Tea! is coming to the stage in Elizabeth City and Edenton this October.
The musical blends pop, hip-hop, orchestral, and classic Broadway styles, and it’s been described as “Les Misérables meets Hamilton.” It’s produced by Center Stage Musical Theatre and features a cast of local and national actors.
An official cast recording is in the works, and the production may also travel to New York!
This is your chance to experience this dynamic new story in a unique way.
Showtimes and tickets
All performances are free, but reservations are required. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult, and parking is free.
Elizabeth City: Arts of the Albemarle, 516 E. Main St.
- Friday, October 16, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, October 17, 7 p.m.
- Sunday, October 18, 3 p.m.
Each Elizabeth City performance includes a post-show discussion with the cast. Reserve Elizabeth City tickets
Edenton: John A. Holmes Performing Arts Center, 600 Woodard St.
- Saturday, October 24, 7 p.m.
- Sunday, October 25, 3 p.m.
The Sunday show falls on October 25, 252 years to the day after the women of Edenton signed their resolution. Reserve Edenton tickets
Come on out!
