Race relations have come awfully far since 1964 in the American south when “The Secret Life of Bees” is set. The bestselling novel is getting a powerful and heartfelt adaptation by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage with original music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead. The story concerns a young white teenage girl who runs away from her abusive father and ends up in a kind of bee-keeping sanctuary run by an independent black woman and her two sisters, all of them struggling in a world infected by the twin plagues of prejudice and injustice. 

Director Sam Gold has assembled a bravura multi-talented company — many of them doubling and tripling as musicians, actors, and singers. Standouts include Eisa Davis as the guarded June and Anastacia McCleskey, the sweetly sensitive May; Saycon Sengbloh as Rosaleen the maid who runs away with Lily,  and Brett Gray as Zachary, Lily’s forbidden love interest.   

The divine, golden-voiced LaChanze has a grounded elegance as August, the compassionate mother figure to Lily, played beautifully by the young powerhouse Elizabeth Teeter.  

As much as I was moved by this production and Sheik’s music is his best since Spring Awakening, the book still needs some work. One more draft and I predict it will have a long sweet life.