The highly anticipated musical adaptation of Kwame Alexander’s Newbery medal-winning novel, The Crossover, is officially underway. The dynamic creative team — which includes one of the stars from the original Hamilton cast as composer and the Tony Award-winning Director of Hamilton as creative consultant, is now in place to bring the award-winning novel to the stage at Chautauqua Institution.  

Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), the professional theater company of Chautauqua Institution, led by Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll and Managing Director Emily Glinick, commissioned the musical. CTC has been working to assemble this award-winning creative team with music and lyrics by Christopher Jackson, book by Candrice Jones and Kwame Alexander, and additional lyrics by Jones. Carroll will be taking the helm of this production as director and Tony Award-winner Thomas Kail will be joining as creative consultant. 

Of this first-of-its-kind commission by CTC, Alexander says, “As I was writing the novel, I’d read out loud, to hear the rhythm, the musicality, the poetry of the storytelling. I believe this musical adaptation is a natural next step in its creative evolution. And I believe that Jade’s innovative and familial approach to directing is just gonna blow the roof off this piece.”   

The Crossover is a critically acclaimed and New York Times best-selling novel that Alexander, who is also the Chautauqua Institution’s Michael I. Rudell Artistic Director of Literary Arts and writer-in-residence, turned into an Emmy award-winning series on Disney+.  

The Crossover tells the story of twin brothers navigating the pressures of adolescence, family and basketball, all through a lyrical blend of poetry and rhythm. The musical promises to bring the heart and energy of the original story to life on stage in a bold new way.   

“In The Crossover, we enter a world full of dreams, melodies and rhythms — the dribble of a basketball, the shriek of a sneaker, the whoosh of a game-winning 3-pointer from deep, and the clicking of the clock as it counts down to that final buzzer,” composer Christopher Jackson said. “We’re bringing a high-energy, jazz- and hip-hop-laced score to the musical theater stage, infusing the brilliance of Kwame Alexander’s poetry and the many characters that inhabit our hero Jordan Bell’s world.” 

Jackson, who won a Grammy for his work as a composer on Sesame Street, is known for his Tony Award nominated performance in the original cast of Hamilton as George Washington and is currently on Broadway starring in Hell’s Kitchen. Playwright Candrice Jones, a rising voice in American theater, brings her poetic sensibility and powerful storytelling to the adaptation. Jones is best known for writing FLEX, which premiered at Lincoln Center Theater in New York City. 

“As a writer and someone who learned so much about life through the game of basketball, reading Kwame’s poetry reminded me of the joy that comes along with being able to navigate life with athleticism and the written word,” Jones said. “Yet, The Crossover goes even further, answering the question: What happens when a ballplayer needs more than words and skill to survive? I can’t wait to show young readers, who already love the book, how well Jordan Bell — aka Filthy McNasty — leaps off the page and onto the stage. I’m equally excited to translate this world with such an intelligent, vibrant team.”

This musical adaptation will be developed and workshopped both in Chautauqua and NYC, and premiere in Chautauqua especially now that this exceptional team is in place.  

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA THEATER COMPANY   
Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC) stands at the forefront of American theater, playing a pivotal role in shaping its future. While the Chautauqua community has embraced theater for over a century, CTC was officially founded in 1983 by Artistic Director Michael Kahn at Chautauqua Institution. For more than 40 years, CTC has been a vital launchpad for the next generation of theater artists, bridging the gap between training and professional success. CTC champions new voices in theater, serving as a national hub for commissioning, developing, and producing works by both established and emerging American playwrights. One of its major achievements includes Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles, which was originally developed at CTC and later had a celebrated run on Broadway. CTC has entered a new era of artistic excellence under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll, commissioning plays by Kate Hamill (The Light and The Dark, 2024 CTC World Premiere), C.A. Johnson (The Witnesses, 2025 CTC World Premiere), and Sharyn Rothstein, and developing new works by Chisa Hutchinson, Mike Lew (tiny father, 2023 CTC World Premiere), Harrison David Rivers, Hilary Bettis, and more. CTC further deepens its commitment to new play development with the Roe Green Theater Center, construction beginning in late 2024. The state-of-the-art black box theater and flexible rehearsal spaces will complement the beloved Bratton Theater and solidify CTC’s status as one of the nation’s premier accelerators of theater talent and new work.  

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION     
Chautauqua Institution is a not-for-profit, 750-acre community on Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State, where approximately 7,500 people are in residence on any day during a nine-week season, and a total of more than 100,000 attend scheduled public events and even more engage online via the streaming channel CHQ Assembly. Chautauqua is dedicated to the exploration of the best in human values and the enrichment of life through a program that explores the important religious, social and political issues of our times; stimulates provocative, thoughtful involvement of individuals and families in creative response to such issues; and promotes excellence and creativity in the appreciation, performance and teaching of the arts.      

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