Here are three orchestrated demo recordings, giving a sense of how we imagine the music to ultimately sound.
Tomorrow
SHIRLEY ROBELING, a young Black woman, has arrived at a Brooklyn boardinghouse, having arranged rooms for her family, but has the door slammed in her face when the landlady sees that she is Black. She decides to build her own house in the vacant lot next door.
Down To You
WASHINGTON ROEBLING, the Chief Engineer, spends most of his time atop the single tower they've already built, planning and dreaming. He is deeply in love with his wife, EMILY ROEBLING, and sings to her of how she is the only reason he feels a need to return to earth.
Our American Soul
Towards the end of the musical, the great Bridge is at last complete and revealed in all its glory. EMILY, singing from the Manhattan side, and MR. GREENE, a Black apothecarist who has helped SHIRLEY build a community on the Brooklyn side, together lead the company in a rapturous ode to its beauty and wider significance.
Below is the piano-vocal (unorchestrated) demo in its entirety. Please feel free to listen to it as a continual playlist, or scroll through and play individual tracks below, alongside a plot summary setting up each song.
ACT ONE
PROLOGUE
Various characters sing directly to the audience about the great bridge that is under construction .
Track 1. Road Across the Sky
In order of appearagnce, we hear from:
WASHINGTON ROEBLING, 30s, white, the Chief Engineer of the bridge
AUGUSTA ROBELING, 40s, Black, who is traveling to Brooklyn with her two children:
SHIRLEY ROBELING, 18, Black and
PERCY ROBELING, 14, Black
EMILY ROEBLING, 24, white, wife of Washington
MR. O’BRIEN, 30s, white, Deputy Chief Engineer
MRS. TATE, 40s, white, owner of a boardinghouse
MR. GREENE, 40s, Black, an apothecarist
MR. JENKINS, 70s, Black, a barber
EWELL GORDON, 20s, Black, a knife grinder
SCENE ONE
SHIRLEY, AUGUSTA, and PERCY have arrived at the Brooklyn boardinghouse of MRS. TATE, after a long journey from Owen Sound, Canada. SHIRLEY and TATE have exchanged letters arranging rooms, but when TATE sees that SHIRLEY is Black, she turns them away and slams the door. SHIRLEY decides to build her own house in a vacant cul-de-sac adjoining the boardinghouse
Track 2. Tomorrow
SCENE TWO
A newspaper column in The Herald by the journalist J. WALTER PENBREAK, white, 40s. There have been a number of mysterious deaths at the bridge, where they are using a new technology called a caisson, an underwater chamber used to dig for bedrock under the river bed, upon which the towers are built.
Track 3. Dear Reader #1
SCENE THREE
WASHINGTON spends most of his time atop the single tower they’ve already built. He enters by rappelling down to the stage. O’BRIEN meets him with a warning that PENBREAK’s columns against them are swaying public opinion, and need to be addressed. WASHINGTON dismisses him and instead goes dancing with EMILY.
Track 4. Down to You
After the song, EMILY convinces WASHINGTON that he must take the threat of PENBREAK’s influence seriously, and personally lead his men into the caisson to finish the work, as a demonstration that it is safe.
SCENE FOUR
SHIRLEY and her family are selling “Momma’s Fish Cakes,” cooked by AUGUSTA, and they attract a crowd: EWELL, GREENE, and JENKINS. They discuss the bridge: SHIRLEY predicts that since white workers are dying in the construction, the bridge will inevitably hire Black workers to do the dangerous jobs. This could provide economic opportunity for all of them if they are able to capitalize. Led by SHIRLEY, the tradesmen agree to come together and build a community in the cul-de-sac under the bridge.
Track 5. So Do We All
SCENE FIVE
There has been an explosion and fire in the caisson, and two more men have died. WASHINGTON was injured, and is badly shaken. He blames EMILY for sending him into the caisson, and lashes out at her. EMILY goes for a walk by herself to gather her thoughts.
Track 6. Keep Moving
SCENE SIX
PENBREAK writes a column reacting to the explosion.
Track 7. Dear Reader #2
SCENE SEVEN
The tradespeople in the cul-de-sac are selling their wares, separately and together.
Track 8. Fish Cakes
This song is interrupted by TATE, who is irate at their presence and their noise, and who threatens them with the police. To diffuse the situation, AUGUSTA approaches TATE. Recognizing that they have something in common—they are both widows—she attempts to forge a connection.
Track 9. With What I Got
SCENE EIGHT
WASHINGTON’s recovery is going poorly, his condition worsening, and he hasn’t been able to get back to the worksite. EMILY is trying to get him to eat, until he reveals to her that he can no longer lift his arm to feed himself.
Track 10. Help With a Spoon
After the song, WASHINGTON exits, and O’BRIEN approaches EMILY to discuss the serious matter of a staffing shortage at the bridge. Workers have quit en masse due to the dangerous conditions. EMILY decides they must hire Black workers. O’BRIEN protests, but EMILY fills out a work order in WASHINGTON’S name, and O’BRIEN agrees to carry it out.
SCENE NINE
EMILY’S plan has been put into motion, and the Black workers on the bridge have certainly been noticed by PENBREAK
Track 11. Dear Reader #3.
SCENE TEN
As SHIRLEY predicted, the Black workers on the bridge have brought commerce for the now-thriving community, and the tradespeople have newfound wealth. TATE, in response, has converted her boardinghouse into a public house catering to the Black community, serving alcohol, and JENKINS and GREENE are frequent customers. SHIRLEY is enraged that the white woman is profiting off of them, and demands that the community stop patronizing her establishment.
Track 12. Free Man O’ Color
All exit except EWELL and PERCY, who has stayed out of the argument over the public house. EWELL asks PERCY what he thinks, and why he is always playing his harmonica. PERCY explains his thoughts.
Track 13. The Harmonica Knows
SCENE ELEVEN
WASHINGTON’S condition has deteriorated even further, and he is incapacitated. O’BRIEN approaches EMILY with a warning: PENBREAK’S columns are stoking unrest, and there is a real threat of racial violence that will endanger the bridge. He argues that they should fire the Black workers. However, EMILY insists that they need to stand by their principles, and that all will be well.
Track 14. Need Not Apply
SCENE TWELVE
But O’BRIEN was right, and there was a race riot, in which the cul-de-sac was burned to the ground. In this song that closes Act One, we hear the incendiary column written by PENBREAK, interspersed with each of the characters singing about their memories of that terrible day.
Track 15. A Crossing
At the song’s conclusion, we learn that PERCY has gone missing in the riot, his abandoned harmonica found on the ground.
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
SCENE ONE
Act Two opens with a lengthy musical sequence beginning the morning after the riot.
Track 16. Soldier On & 17. Tracking Time
During the opening sequence we hear:
EWELL, GREENE, and JENKINS are out searching for PERCY.
PENBREAK writes a column demanding WASHINGTON answer for the riot.
EMILY writes a response to PENBREAK in WASHINGTON’S name, dictating to O’BRIEN.
EMILY goes to WASHINGTON in their parlor. He is now nonverbal and just stares out the window. She brings him his old telescope from the Civil War, which he once used to spy on General Lee from a hot air balloon.
PENBREAK responds to “Washington’s” letter (actually written by EMILY).
EWELL, GREENE, and JENKINS are still searching.
EMILY stages a scene. She instructs O’BRIEN to dress in WASHINGTON’S clothes and they dance together at the bridge, so that the public will believe that WASHINGTON is well, and still in control.
PENBREAK responds to this public display with skepticism.
EMILY returns to the parlor and to WASHINGTON, who has been obsessively using the telescope to stare out the window.
WASHINGTON as he hallucinates that he is back in the Civil War, in his spy balloon.
This sequence ends with the sudden appearance in the parlor of PENBREAK, who catches EMILY off guard. He has now discovered the truth of WASHINGTON’S condition and EMILY’s fraud, and vows to expose them.
SCENE TWO
In the cul-de-sac, PERCY is still missing and AUGUSTA has not left her room in weeks. Having searched for him in Manhattan, the other men have discovered evidence of growing Black communities there, and GREENE and JENKINS suggest they all should move to Manhattan. SHIRLEY, in contrast, is defiant that they all stay in Brooklyn and rebuild their community after the fires and the riot. EWELL takes her side, and in response SHIRLEY gets down on a knee and proposes marriage to a confused-but-delighted EWELL. GREENE performs the ceremony on the spot. The community celebrates, and even AUGUSTA gets out of bed to join in.
Track 18. Shirley May, Shirley May
SCENE THREE
PENBREAK threatens EMILY that he will write a column exposing her fraud and the truth of WASHINGTON’s condition to the world. EMILY decides to call his bluff.
Track 19. Who Would Believe It
SCENE FOUR
The men of the community are still feeling the pull of a move to Manhattan, but SHIRLEY continues to resist. AUGUSTA will never leave Brooklyn because she is waiting for PERCY to come home. SHIRLEY remains at her side vowing to rebuild, but AUGUSTA tells her that she needs to go to Manhattan with the men and leave her behind
Track 20. Ghosts
SCENE FIVE
At long last, the New York and Brooklyn Bridge is complete, and is revealed in all its glory. EMILY and GREENE lead the company in a rapturous ode to its beauty and significance.
Track 21. Our American Soul
SCENE SIX
PENBREAK finally publishes his column after his confrontation with EMILY. He reveals the truth of WASHINGTON’s condition to the world, and tries to set the historical record straight.
Track 22. The Wrong Roebling
SCENE SEVEN
The bridge is complete and as a result the cul-de-sac beneath it is now perpetually in shadow. The community is startled and somewhat shaken by the appearance of a young drifter named JONAH, who bears an eerie resemblance to PERCY (and is played by the same actor). When JONAH tells them how they have grown somewhat famous as “The people under the bridge,” this sparks a new understanding in SHIRLEY. She decides that she must lead her community to Manhattan and to higher ground, no matter the costs and what they must leave behind.
Track 23. The People Under the Bridge
AUGUSTA decides to stay in Brooklyn to wait for PERCY’s return.
SCENE EIGHT
EMILY is walking the bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn, knowing she successfully completed the bridge against all odds, but also knowing her husband will never recover. SHIRLEY is walking the bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan, leading her community onward, but having left her mother behind. Each of them is deep in contemplation about what they’ve been through and where they’re going next. As they move closer to each other, their music begins to intertwine. Finally, they see each other. The musical concludes as the two women meet in the center of the bridge
Track 24. On the Other Side
END OF ACT TWO
The Bridge – Demo Recording Track List
ACT ONE
Road Across the Sky (COMPANY)
Tomorrow (SHIRLEY, AUGUSTA, PERCY)
Dear Reader #1 (PENBREAK)
Down to You (WASHINGTON, EMILY)
So Do We All (SHIRLEY, EWELL, JENKINS, GREENE, AUGUSTA, PERCY)
Keep Moving (EMILY)
Dear Reader #2 (PENBREAK)
Fish Cakes (AUGUSTA, SHIRLEY, PERCY, GREENE, JENKINS, EWELL)
With What I Got (AUGUSTA)
Help With a Spoon (WASHINGTON, EMILY)
Dear Reader #3 (PENBREAK)
Free Man O’ Color (SHIRLEY, JENKINS, GREENE, AUGUSTA, EWELL)
The Harmonica Knows (PERCY)
Need Not Apply (EMILY)
A Crossing (COMPANY)
ACT TWO
Soldier On (EWELL, GREENE, JENKINS, PENBREAK, EMILY, O’BRIEN)
Tracking Time WASHINGTON)
Shirley May, Shirley May (EWELL, SHIRLEY, AUGUSTA, GREENE, JENKINS)
Who Would Believe It (EMILY)
Ghosts (SHIRLEY, AUGUSTA)
Our American Soul (EMILY, GREENE, O’BRIEN, JENKINS, and COMPANY)
The Wrong Roebling (PENBREAK)
The People Under the Bridge (SHIRLEY, AUGUSTA, EWELL, GREENE, JENKINS)
On the Other Side (EMILY, SHIRLEY)
These demo recordings were made between July and October 2023, with the following cast:
Emma Ashford (EMILY)
Amanda Bailey (AUGUSTA)
Jalen Bunch (PERCY)
Jordan Donaldson (EWELL)
Patti Goettlicher (TATE)
Jason Howard (PENBREAK)
John-Andrew Morrison (JENKINS)
Aaron Ramey (O’BRIEN)
Jacob Ryan Smith (WASHINGTON)
Ebrin Stanley (GREENE)
Maria Wirries (SHIRLEY)