The Women Who Kept the Movement Moving: Inside Cadillac Crew
Discover the story behind Cadillac Crew — the groundbreaking civil rights play at The Studio@620, created in partnership with Powerstories Theatre. Listen to the podcast, meet the artists, and explore how this play brings forgotten heroines of the movement into focus.
Presented in partnership with The Studio@620 and Powerstories Theatre
Two Theatres. One Powerful Story.
This November, two of Tampa Bay’s most groundbreaking theaters are joining forces to spotlight the women who carried the Civil Rights Movement from behind the scenes.
Cadillac Crew by Tori Sampson runs November 6–16, 2025, at The Studio@620, presented in partnership with Powerstories Theatre as the culminating production of Powerstories’ 25th anniversary season — and the first show in The Studio@620’s season, under Artistic Executive Director Erica Sutherlin.
What the Play Is — and Why It Matters
Set in Virginia on the day Rosa Parks is scheduled to speak, Cadillac Crew follows four women activists working in a civil rights office. As they prepare for the event, they confront the realities of being sidelined in a movement they helped build.
The play is inspired by real “Cadillac Crews” — interracial groups of women who drove through the Jim Crow South to support desegregation and voting rights.
“This play asks us to reckon with a question that is still urgent today: whose voices do we amplify, and whose labor do we overlook?”
— Erica Sutherlin, Artistic Executive Director, The Studio@620
“Closing our 25th season with Cadillac Crew is both intentional and deeply meaningful. This play embodies everything Powerstories stands for — amplifying women’s voices that history tried to silence.”
— Fran Powers, Founder, Powerstories Theatre
The production stars Ivy Sunflower (Rachel), Marjorie Joseph (Abbey), Jai Shanae (Sarah), and Andresia Moseley (Dee), bringing fire, humor, and vulnerability to a story that’s as much about friendship and survival as it is about politics.
🎧 Cadillac Crew, Collaboration, and the Cost of Courage
A Tampa Bay Arts Passport Podcast Conversation
Listen in: Erica Sutherlin (The Studio@620) and Clareann Despain (Powerstories Theatre) join host Avery Anderson to unpack what it means to collaborate across organizations during a funding crisis, tell women’s stories beyond trauma, and lead with joy in Florida’s current cultural climate.
👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts
👉 Listen on Spotify
🎬 Watch the video version
Key Highlights
- Frederick the Field Mouse: a metaphor for sustaining artists through “a long winter”
- Beyond Black trauma: centering joy and nuance in storytelling
- The blueprint city: why St. Pete might be leading the next wave of cultural innovation
- Joy and survival: the one-word hopes both directors have for Tampa Bay’s arts community
“Small orgs have latitude. We can take creative risks because the financial stakes are smaller. I can curate for my actual community — and if someone says, ‘This isn’t for me anymore,’ that’s okay. We’ll find who it is for.”
— Erica Sutherlin
“Lean times call for living together. There’s literally a bridge between our organizations, and we wanted to build a figurative one too — shared resources, shared power, shared audiences.”
— Clareann Despain
When Theaters Join Forces, the Story Gets Bigger
Across the country, regional theaters are in the same boat — and sometimes the boat is on fire. Ticket sales are unpredictable, philanthropy is shrinking, and costs keep climbing. The old model of “every theater for itself” is cracking.
That’s what makes Cadillac Crew more than just a local show — it’s a case study in adaptation.
Earlier this year, The Studio@620 and Powerstories even began sharing staff, with Director of Production John Millsap splitting his time between them. While other cities consider mergers to avoid collapse, Tampa Bay theaters are experimenting with collaboration to grow.
“Cadillac Crew is more than history on stage. It’s a mirror. It shows us how progress is often built on women’s invisible labor — and it challenges us to ask how much of that truth still holds today.”
— Clareann Despain, Artistic Director, Powerstories Theatre
Avery Anderson
🎬 Leading Events and Conversations
In true Arts Passport fashion, Cadillac Crew isn’t just a play — it’s the centerpiece of a month-long civic dialogue.
Community Events Leading Up to Cadillac Crew:
- 🖼️ The Unseen Thread: Women Art as Movement — Opens Oct. 30 at The Studio@620
A visual art exhibition exploring weaving, resistance, and memory.
RSVP → - 🎟️ Cadillac Crew Performances — Nov. 6–16 at The Studio@620
Get tickets →
Why It Matters Now
Florida’s artists are operating in an age of austerity and uncertainty. State arts funding was gutted two years in a row, and organizations across Tampa Bay are reimagining survival from the ground up.
By dramatizing the unseen work of women who made the Civil Rights Movement possible, Cadillac Crew offers a mirror — and a challenge:
What struggles are still being carried by unseen hands today?
“Cadillac Crew is a reminder that the fight for justice was—and still is—driven by women whose names we may never know,” said Powers. “Their courage paved the way, and this play ensures their stories are finally heard.”
If You Go
Cadillac Crew
by Tori Sampson
📅 November 6–16, 2025
📍 The Studio@620, 620 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg
🎟️ Tickets available here
Presented By
The Studio@620 & Powerstories Theatre
Sponsored feature by The Arts Passport.