Directed by PTC artistic director Karen Azenberg, the cast includes Colleen Baum as Emily Wheelock Reed, Max Robinson as Senator E.W. Higgins, Michael Johnson as Thomas Kincaid, Christopher Duval as Garth Williams, Carleton Bluford as Joshua Moore and Emilia Stawicki as Lily Whitfield. Here's how PTC bills the new work: "In 1959 Alabama, a segregationist state senator wants a controversial children's book purged from the state library, but a fearless librarian refuses, putting both of their worlds at risk in a time of extraordinary social change. Inspired by real events, Alabama Story is a highly theatrical new play about tests of character in the Deep South of the Imagination."

Playwright Jones is based in New York City and is also a lyricist and librettist. His works for the stage include the play Alabama Story (seen in a 2013 Southern Writers' Project reading, directed by Azenberg at Alabama Shakespeare Festival) and book and lyrics for the musicals Voice of the City (music by Elaine Chelton) and Naughty/Nice (music by Gerald Stockstill), as well as songs with composers Roger Anderson, Marek Norman, Brad Ross and more. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, BMI and the advanced BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. His work as a journalist includes 15 years as a writer, associate editor and managing editor at Playbill.com and 10 years as a theatre reporter and critic for The Detroit News.

The Utah Museum of Fine Arts' Dumke Auditorium is located at 410 Campus Center Drive at the University of Utah. For more information and tickets, call (801) 581-6961 or visit Tickets.PioneerTheatre.org.