“Let the People Sing”: A Creative Tribute to Zora Neale Hurston at Rollins College

Back in 1933, Zora Neale Hurston, famed writer and anthropologist from Eatonville, Florida, tried to stage a play rooted in Black folklore at Rollins College in Winter Park. She had friends among the professors, but that didn’t open the doors she hoped. The Annie Russell Theatre wouldn’t have her work. Instead, she put on her show in the Rec Hall, and the audience? All white.

Now, nearly a century later, history circles back. A new play about the making of Hurston’s 1933 production is about to open right on the Annie Russell stage, the very place she was once turned away.

“Let the People Sing” is a documentary drama that draws from scattered historical records, old letters, and playbills tucked away in the Rollins archives. Theatre Program Director Marianne DiQuattro and four of her students co-wrote the script.

One of those students, Connor Chaumley, says the play does more than just tell a story—it challenges and uplifts everyone watching.

“This was a really great way to learn about history, especially Black history, and a story that needs to be told,” Chaumley said. “It definitely speaks up for Black voices. It also puts a spotlight on students of color in our department. It feels really important.”

This is a milestone, too: “Let the People Sing” marks the first student-written play to ever make the Annie Russell’s main stage season.

“You couldn’t have an integrated audience anywhere in Winter Park back in 1933,” DiQuattro said. “Our show digs into the politics and structures of racism at that time, but also the hope Hurston found in her relationships with professors. We look at that moment and, channeling a bit of Zora’s spirit, imagine what could have happened if integration had been possible.”

The play is pieced together from real archival research: letters between Hurston and Rollins professors, the original program from her play, even a glowing review in a 1933 student newspaper.

“I thought, this could be great theater—using historical research and the skills our students gain in a liberal arts education,” DiQuattro said. “We explore how barriers—both in what gets shown on stage and in who gets to sit in the audience—can limit creativity and weaken our communities, holding us back from a more just society.”

And yes, it’s a musical. DiQuattro says the audience gets invited to join the singing. “When you open your voice and sing with others, you make yourself vulnerable, but you also move toward the same goal—community, and creating something new.”

Now, the Annie Russell Theatre’s sign displays Zora Neale Hurston’s picture for “Let the People Sing.” Nearly four miles from her Eatonville hometown, on a stage that once shut her out, her story finally takes center stage.

"Let the People Sing" playing Nov. 13-17, 2025 Annie Russell Theatre