COMING SOON

Book, Music & Lyrics by Markeisha Ensley

Exploring the themes of love, loss, rebirth, and legacy, Beneath the Surface: A New Musical honors the forgotten history of the people of Seneca Village, a once-thriving, largely African American community that was razed to build New York’s Central Park. With a score that combines contemporary musical theatre, gospel, and R&B, Beneath the Surface tells the story of Elisabeth and Andrew, a young couple who marry and raise a family in Seneca Village.

Over the years, Elisabeth and Andrew share in life’s joys and challenges, facing adversities as their lives flourish. But in 1855, the now integrated Seneca Village community of African Americans and Irish immigrants must come together to confront impending devastation as the city plans to seize their land via eminent domain to build Central Park. Strong-willed and ever defiant, Elisabeth and Andrew will do whatever it takes to keep fighting— to protect their home and leave a legacy for their children and their future descendants. Beneath the Surface celebrates the lost voices of Seneca Village and our own shared humanity between the past and present.