The cast of Unveiled with choreographer, Jesee Smart (center in white shirt). Courtesy: Glenna Bowman

By Allison Teegardin   

Unveiled, a musical inspired by the story of Queen Esther, will be presented in March 2025 at the historic Austin Scottish Rite Theater. As described on the play’s website, the story is set in Ancient Persia and “follows a young woman whose carefully planned life unravels when she is thrust into the king’s service. Desperate for freedom, she forms an unexpected bond with the king, igniting hope as she is crowned queen. But when her people are threatened, she must risk everything – defying the king in a dangerous bid to save them – one that could cost her life.”   

Unveiled is produced by Sound Beacon Entertainment, LLC. and with a true sense of community involvement, it is supported by the Dell Jewish Community Center as well as ATX Theatre, Austin Creative Alliance and Manchaca United Methodist Church.    

Bringing Esther’s story to life in a new way are Executive Producer, Lyricist, Composer Glenna Bowman, Theater Director Mark A. Lit, Assistant Director, Bookwriter Matthew Shead, Music Director, Composer Dr. Ellie Jarrett Shattles, and a cast of more than 20 remarkable actors, singers.   

The journey to the stage in Austin dates back to 2015 when Bowman first held a reading of Act 1 in New York with the help of her son, a Broadway actor. Over the years, the show continued to develop and in 2018, a public reading was held on the Kleberg stage at ZACH Theatre in Austin and was well-received. A City of Austin grant was awarded and helped support an audience survey. The results of the feedback survey along with various reworkings and review by a professional dramaturg, resulted in a new, exciting draft of the play which will debut soon.    

“We decided the best approach for the show was to do our own production in Austin and build a following for this show because we think we are doing something very different from what anyone else has done with the story of Esther,” Bowman said.    

Lit, former CEO of Jewish Community Association of Austin, now known as Shalom Austin, is no stranger to theater direction. With an educational background in theater, he led the theater at the JCC in Houston. His journey led him to San Antonio where he was the JCC director for 10 years, producing one show each year there, many winning awards.    

Lit came to Austin when the Dell Jewish Community Campus was opening in 2000 and by the second or third year of his leadership, the JCC was putting on shows that were very popular with the community. Now retired, Lit returned to the theater scene to assist with Unveiled.    

It was important for the writers to keep the story true to the biblical account of Esther though they say they did do something a little different with a twist at the end. Without giving anything away, “they created an Esther that was a strong woman who is going to serve her people,” Lit said about the writers.    

In considering the unique way in which they tell her story, the message they hope the audience will leave the theater with is “G-d uses us where we are,” Bowman said. “Esther ended up in a place and G-d said, ‘I can use this, but Esther had to decide if she was going to remain veiled or if she was going to show who she truly was in an effort to save her people and frankly, the odds were against her. The message is for all of us, especially young women, that we all have a voice. We need to use whatever influence we have in our sphere; if you are given an opportunity to step up and speak out then you need to find the courage to do that.”    

“In the sayings of the fathers, Pirkei Avot, they say, ‘If I am not for myself, who will be for me, and if not now, when?’ Glenna has a song she wrote called ‘The Moment Is Now’ and the first time I heard this song I thought this is a musical version of Pirkei Avot,” Lit added. “It’s exactly what this story says; when you need to step up, step up.”    

Bowman, Lit and Shead shared about some of the challenges to bringing the story to the stage. “One of the unique challenges was this is a story that has been told many times before, although I wasn’t familiar with it,” Shead said. “In writing the story I thought this is what we know on the surface, but what’s below the surface? What could have happened? One of the qualities I love about the Esther we have written is I think of her as resourceful.”    

While the show will debut in Austin, Broadway is their dream. “We have big plans. We’ve been working on this for a long time and finally decided to produce it ourselves, we’re going to do it here in Austin and it’s going to be amazing, and then everyone will want to do it,” Bowman Said.  

For more information and tickets visit: scottishritetheater.org/all-shows/activeshows/unveiled-a-musical/ or soundbeaconent.com/unveiled-a-musical