The story behind one of the best-known hymns in the English language is the subject of the unusual Broadway musical "Amazing Grace." The prove tells the story of the man who wrote,I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, and but now I see.”John Newton worked in the English slave trade before changing his ways and fitting a spokesman for abolition in Great Britain — and a hymn writer. The production at the Nederlander Theatre features a score by Christopher Smith,a newcomer to musical theater, and a book by Smith and Arthur Giron. unusual York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood reviews it in this conversation.
Source: wnyc.org