In this serious-mined work original Island star La Chanze plays the title character - a pregnant slave in the antebellum Deep South - who meets a white woman who hides runaway slaves on her farm while she's on death row for leading a deadly slave uprising.
At left, cast members Michael Hayden (Henry IV) and Norm Lewis are seen above co-star Rachel York, Flaherty, Ahrens and LaChanze at the opening night party for Dessa Rose, held at O'Neal's Restaurant on West 64th Street in New York City.
Dessa Rose is playing at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center and is scheduled to end its run on May 29.
Photos by Aubrey Reuben