MISSION STATEMENT: Powerstories is a nonprofit professional theatre whose mission is to stage true stories of women and girls to open minds and hearts
and inspire action worldwide.
POWERSTORIES & STUDIO@620 PROUDLY PRESENT
November 6-16, 2025
Cadillac Crew by Tori Sampson
Cadillac CrewCast & Creative TeamThe Unseen Thread - October 30 - November 29Beyond the Story - October 19 FREE Pre-Show ConversationHidden Figure Movie Screening & Talkback - October 12
On the day of a much-anticipated speech by Rosa Parks during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, four activists working in a Virginia civil rights office ponder whether the proclamation of equality amongst mankind includes women. With remarkable insight and unexpected humor, Cadillac Crew, written by Tori Sampson, reclaims the stories of the forgotten leaders who blazed the trail for desegregation and women’s rights, asking: when will the world be ready to embrace women in all their capacity? From the Civil Rights Movement to the present day, Cadillac Crew illuminates these forgotten leaders and explores what happens when Black women refuse to be written out of history.
Performance dates at The Studio@620, 620 1st Ave S, Saint Petersburg.
- Thursday, 11/6 – 7:30 PM
- Friday, 11/7 – 7:30 PM
- Saturday, 11/8 – 7:30 PM
- Sunday, 11/9 – 3 PM
- Thursday, 11/13 – 7:30 PM
- Friday, 11/14 – 7:30 PM
- Saturday, 11/15 – 7:30 PM
- Sunday, 11/16 – 3 PM
Tickets
- General Admission: $40
- Studio Member/Senior: $35
- Groups (10+): $30
- Student/Preview: $25
November 6 – 16, 2025
The Studio@620, 620 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg 33701
Ivy Sunflower
Rachel
Marjorie Joseph
Abbey
Jai Shanae
Sarah
Andresia Moseley
Dee
CREATIVE TEAM
Erica Sutherlin
Director
Alexa Perez
Assistant Director
John Millsap
Director of Production
Hillary Brown
Stage Manager
Clareann Despain
Scenic Designer
Karla Hartley
Lighting Designer
J’Kera Shamburger
Sound Designer
Jordan Jeffers
Costume Designer
Tyrese Pope
Video/Projection Designer
Tanya Brown
Hair & Makeup Designer
Meyah Fortier
Props Master
Michaela Dougherty
Scenic Painter
Freddie Hughes
Curation/Exhibition
The Unseen Thread Art Exhibition
The Studio@620 Presents in collaboration with the
2025 Tampa Bay Urban Futures Festival
OPENING RECEPTION
October 30 from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
EXHIBITION RUN
October 30 – November 29
GALLERY HOURS
Tuesday – Friday, 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Free Admission, Please RSVP
There is a thread that stretches across time—invisible, yet unbreakable. Woven from silence, song, memory, and movement, it binds daughters to grandmothers, revolution to ritual, and the future to its origin.
The Unseen Thread is an exhibition that honors the presence, power, and complexity of women across generations and cultures. Inspired by Cadillac Crew by Tori Sampson, this show invites viewers to trace the fibers of identity, justice, and imagination. It is a celebration of the women who have shaped history quietly and loudly, and a declaration from those still shaping what is to come.
Too often, women’s contributions are left out of the frame. The Unseen Thread centers them.
The thread is not just a metaphor—it is memory and prophecy. This show seeks to honor what has been passed down, lost, protected, and reborn. It is a place to gather what was once scattered and to stitch a new pattern forward.
Together, through art, we begin to see the thread.
There will be an opening reception for the exhibition on October 30th from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP below if you plan to attend.
BEYOND THE STORY: WOMEN IN THE MOVEMENT
October 19 – The Studio@620
Journalist and playwright Jake-Ann Jones led a community conversation on women’s roles in the Civil Rights Movement and the erasure of their contributions from mainstream history.
“Reclaiming Our History: A Community Conversation”
Thank you to everyone who joined us for a powerful community conversation centered on the themes of Tori Sampson’s thought-provoking play, Cadillac Crew. Set on the eve of a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement, the play bravely reclaims the stories of the Black women who were the engine of social change, yet whose contributions were often pushed to the margins of history.
This event gave us a space for us to explore the essential work and profound sacrifices of women in the Civil Rights and Women’s Movements. We delved into the historical context of these intertwined struggles and discuss the ongoing—and intentional—erasure of women’s voices from our collective narrative. Thank you for being part of an open dialogue about whose stories are told, whose are forgotten, and how we can work together to ensure that our history is told in its entirety.
About Guest Speaker
Jake-ann Jones’ writing for stage includes Portrait of The Artist as A Soul Man Dead (Penumbra Theater), Under Frank Observation (New York Theater Workshop), and Magic Kingdom (New Georges). She began her career as a performing artist working with writers, composers, and directors, including Butch Morris, Laurie Carlos, Robbie McCauley, and Greg Tate, at venues including New York Shakespeare Festival, Dixon Place, and Penumbra Theatre. The 2022 Artist Laureate for Creative Pinellas, she has been developing her music and media work, Brother Fire, Sister Fly; the author of the biography Sometimes Farmgirls Become Revolutionaries, she is co-founder of Pinellas Diaspora Arts Project and Afroflorida Media Collective. She organizes the Tampa Bay Afrofuturism Festival and is a program director for the nonprofit youth project Artz 4 Life.
HIDDEN FIGURES MOVIE SCREENING & TALKBACK
October 12 – Green Light Cinema
Arts Passport Night
Thank you to everyone who joined us at Greenlight Cinema for a special screening of Hidden Figures, the acclaimed film celebrating the groundbreaking Black women mathematicians whose brilliance helped launch America into space. After the film, we had a conversation with artists from The Studio@620 and Powerstories Theatre, exploring the film’s resonances with Cadillac Crew—our upcoming production about the unsung women who shaped the Civil Rights Movement. Together, these stories highlight the courage, brilliance, and resilience of women rewriting history in their own voices.
