Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...The entire ensemble brings rich full-throated glory to the songs here under music director Brian Scott. And the brilliant backdrop mural by Sholo Beverly adds visual nuance and depth to a show that feels perfectly suitable for Juneteenth and beyond."
Talkin Broadway - Recommended
"...Northwestern University, is opening its 2024 season with the original musical, 1619: The Journey of a People. Written by Ted Williams III and co-directed by Tim Rhoze and Williams, the show combines music, dance, and spoken word, moving between the past and present of African Americans. The undertaking, although a bit uneven in some ways, is successful on the whole in being both celebratory and thought-provoking."
Buzznews.net - Recommended
"...The music was amazing, comingling hip-hop, jazz, blues, spirituals, wonderful West African drumming by Ozivell Eckford and eight original songs. Marchello Lee’s choreography was marvelous, and masterfully danced by all players: Williams, Lee, and Stiles, with Eckford, Nicole Ross, Vanessa Love, and Lucy Maura. I think it was cool to see the playwright and choreographer on stage with the others; and Williams showed himself to be the consummate multi-tasker by also co-directing, with Fleetwood-Jourdain’s Artistic Director Tim Rhoze."
Chicago Theater and Arts - Recommended
"...“1619: The Journey of a People” by Ted Williams III is an entertaining and informative chronology highlighting essential events in the progression of the African American experience."
MaraTapp.org - Highly Recommended
"...Any play with this many raised Black fists warms my revolutionary heart. Any performance that offers a mix of history, candor, intellect, politics and beauty sufficient to transform one seems to me the ideal artwork. 1619: The Journey of a People does all of that. Creator Ted Williams III, who also stars in the show, calls it a musical but it goes beyond the stereotypes or confines of that genre. This piece has many scenes. Some are short; some long. Some are spoken; some silent. Some are sung; some danced. Some are funny; some break your heart."
Evanston Roundtable - Highly Recommended
"...Everything about 1619: The Journey Of A People works. Credit goes to co-director Tim Rhoze for making all the parts hold together. The intensity is magical. People will leave thinking, What just happened on that stage?"
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre’s “1619: The Journey of a People,” is an edutainment musical covering the history of the Black American experience, from the first landing of enslaved Africans in North America up to the present day. Written and directed by Ted Williams III and co-directed by Tim Rhoze, the show features well-written narrations of historical events interspersed with songs and dance numbers accompanied by a three-piece band."
