ACT I

("Swing Low Sweet Chariot") Jeremiah’s mother bleached the red clay out of their white button-downs Sunday evenings while the boys shared their secrets in the other room. They ironed out rough spots in their performance ("Friends"). Singing in church led to singing for tips, which led them to singing for girls for free. They grew up like brothers; then they just grew older ("Friends"). Simon chased fame and fortune, but what he really wanted was fans. He wanted to escape their small Southern town and go from the ‘music of praise’ to the ‘music that pays.’ Jeremiah was content with where he was. And with Sarah.

Jeremiah’s mother passes away ("Swing Low Sweet Chariot"). He is lost ("Abba Father"). He isn’t even interested when Simon signs them up to audition for summer jobs as backup singers for a touring pop group. Simon gets cut, and Jeremiah surprisingly takes the gig. Promising a quick return, Jeremiah goes on tour to fill in for a few weeks. It would be some years before Simon and Sarah would see him again ("Friends").

When Simon’s dream is shattered, he finds unexpected happiness in the broken pieces. He already knows, however, that happiness is fragile, too.

Jeremiah quickly sails from backup singer to boy band celebrity. He’s rushed away from a crowded arena full of screaming fans while nearby, a forgotten and ignored man on the street belts out the blues ("Jesus in the USA"). The stark contrast of the sudden success of his manufactured boyband to the genuine passion of this man singing out just because it feeds his soul makes Jeremiah realize he was chasing a dream that wasn’t his own. He appreciates not all that he has, but all that he’s lost.

They haven’t spoken in years when Simon asks his old friend to perform with him at Mabrey’s Centennial Celebration ("Soul Doctor"). Jeremiah is relieved, but reluctant. He wants to go home to the life he left in a sleepy Southern town, and to Sarah, but is it love or just nostalgia? Jeremiah returns to the place where everything is familiar, and finds that nothing really is ("Set Me Free").

Streaming decorations, rehearsing, all of Mabrey is happily gearing up for the festival – except Jeremiah’s Aunt Leona. She resents being relegated to tearing tickets and cooking casseroles, passed over in a celebration of the town’s history for people who are too young to remember any of the town’s history. Leona schemes to enlist her famous nephew’s help ("Good Livin’"). On his way to lobby for his aunt’s veteran gospel group The Peaches, he runs into Sarah, and unresolved feelings begin to stir.

The Peaches are rehearsing at Leona’s when Jeremiah breaks the news that there is no room for them in the festival the next day ("Everybody Said").

Committed to Simon, but tempted by her dangerous attraction to Jeremiah, Sarah is tormented. She views this as a personal failing and a crisis of faith ("We Are One"). Late that night, she fights the desire to go to him. She loses that fight.

ACT II

The hometown crowd is treated to a powerhouse performance as the local boy-turned-pop star reunites with Simon and the other Aca-Dukes at the 100th Anniversary Celebration ("Ride The Chariot"). The unexpected consequences of Jeremiah’s leaving are exposed as Simon’s motives for bringing him back home are revealed and Sarah is in the middle of it all. Tensions escalate and the childhood friends erupt in a childish brawl on the festival stage. Angry and now humiliated, both Simon and Jeremiah run off alone ("War With Myself").

Leona and her feisty friends take advantage of the fireworks, the stunned onlookers – and the empty stage. They take over, surprising everyone with a new spin on old gospel ("Old Time Gospel").

Conflicted, Jeremiah isn’t sure he can go back to the woman he left behind. He isn’t even sure that he should ("Rescue").

Simon catches up to Jeremiah and reveals secrets he’s kept from him since they were boys. Simon relied on his family more than Jeremiah ever knew. Sarah joins them in a bittersweet truce. She and Jeremiah know he has to let go so they can all move forward. He loves them both enough to leave them ("Friends").

Finding her nephew alone in the park, Leona assures him that life is never a direct route. “You’re going to take some wrong turns,” she tells him. “But, that’s how we all get where we’re going.” Leona runs back for the finale when they hear the anniversary celebration erupt and he sings to himself. “Chasing dreams that weren’t my own, took me so far away I couldn’t find my way back home." This clicks. Jeremiah has his own path. Wherever it takes him, it will take him home ("Set Me Free").

He joins the others on the festival stage for the finale. A spectacle appears to celebrate the spirit of the people of Mabrey. All rejoice.