{"id":321270,"date":"2026-08-14T13:36:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T13:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/321270\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T13:36:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T13:36:54","slug":"brooklyns-bridge-dramatizes-life-of-emily-warren-roebling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/321270\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Brooklyn\u2019s Bridge\u2019 Dramatizes Life of Emily Warren Roebling"},"content":{"rendered":"

It tells the little-known story of the woman who completed the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband, chief engineer of the project, was injured on the job. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"actor\"actor <\/p>\n

A new musical, \u201cBrooklyn\u2019s Bridge,\u201d tells the story of Emily Warren Roebling.
\nPhoto by Arthur Knox via Irondale<\/p>\n

by Kirstyn Brendlen, Brooklyn Paper<\/p>\n

A new musical about Emily Warren Roebling, \u201cthe woman who saved the Brooklyn Bridge,\u201d has arrived in Fort Greene.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrooklyn\u2019s Bridge,\u201d playing at The Space at Irondale<\/a> through August 23, chronicles the 11 years Emily spent as the de facto leader of the project after her husband, chief engineer Washington Roebling, fell ill during construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was 26 years old [when she took over]. By the time the bridge was finished, she was 40 years old. She became a woman, but also became a leader, became a dominant force in New York City politics,\u201d said producer Michael Simon Hall.<\/p>\n

\"groupThe show depicts some of the thousands of workers, many of them immigrants, who built the bridge. Photo by Arthur Knox via Irondale<\/p>\n

The show has a cast of just 10 people, plus four musicians who perform onstage. Writer Ray Roderick and composer Joseph Baker have worked on the show for years and staged the first full production of Brooklyn\u2019s Bridge in Florida in 2025. It runs at The Space at Irondale through August 23<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hall joined the \u201cscrappy\u201d production when Baker and Roderick decided it was time to return to New York. They wanted a venue that was a little off the beaten bath, and Hall thought the Irondale was perfect. Housed in an 1800s church that predates the Brooklyn Bridge by about a decade, the Irondale is historic, beautiful, and fairly bare-bones.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted a space that lends itself to the idea that we\u2019re still exploring and creating,\u201d Hall said. \u201cThe rawness of the space kind of lends to that feeling \u2026 and also evokes a time, a feeling of history and time from the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

A show about the iconic Brooklyn Bridge has something of a built-in audience in Brooklyn \u2014 the first weekend of performances nearly sold out \u2014 but Hall said its appeal goes beyond geography.<\/p>\n

\"aerialThe iconic span in 2024. Photo by Susan De Vries<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that there\u2019s so many things about this show to love, that can interest people and intrigue people,\u201d he said. \u201cFirst of all, the music is gorgeous. It is lush, it\u2019s been described as majestic and soaring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, he said, there\u2019s the love story between Emily and her husband.<\/p>\n

When construction of the bridge started, Washington was serving as chief engineer. But, in 1871 or so \u2014 just a year into what would turn into a 13-year project \u2014 he developed severe decompression sickness from working on the bridge\u2019s underwater supports.<\/p>\n

The condition left him bedridden, unable to visit the site or supervise work. Emily became his sole liaison, ferrying information and instructions back and forth from Washington to the site.<\/p>\n

\"person\u201cBrooklyn\u2019s Bridge\u201d utilizes projections, minimal set pieces, and the theater\u2019s architecture to depict the bridge. Photo by Arthur Knox via Irondale<\/p>\n

She fought against<\/a> efforts to remove her husband from his job entirely, dealt with political meddling, and gained tremendous knowledge about engineering and construction along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like it was destiny that she was to be in this position,\u201d Hall said. \u201cShe must have had tremendous engineering intelligence and ability with mathematics \u2026 but she had the tenacity and the drive and the political savvy to deal with all the challenges when her husband became incapacitated.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Irondale, Emily is played by actress Sarah Joyce, making her New York City debut. The role is very vocally demanding, Hall said, requiring classical musical theater skills and pop-style vocals.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a great storyteller and a wonderful actress, and she really kind of evokes the feeling of a young Emily,\u201d Hall said. \u201cShe\u2019s the same age as Emily was when she took over.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"actorEmily is portrayed by actress Sarah Joyce. Photo by Arthur Knox via Irondale<\/p>\n

The show is also, he said, about the thousands of immigrants on the construction crew. It was dangerous work. Men descended well below the surface of the East River to dig out the supports and later dangled from the heights of the bridge. At least 21 men died, almost all of them immigrants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole process took many years, and all these immigrants worked shoulder to shoulder with Emily,\u201d Hall said. \u201cIt\u2019s a tribute to the great immigrants who made New York great then and still make it great to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Audience members often say they particularly like the song \u201cWe Built the Bridge,\u201d he said, an ensemble number sung by the bridge workers that captures the pride they felt for being part of an incredible project.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also a love letter to New York City and this icon we all love, the eighth wonder of the world,\u201d Hall said. \u201cPeople have family who worked on the bridge, or they cross it every day for work, and they have no idea this woman Emily helped make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"informationalEmily Warren Roebling Plaza in 2022. Photo by Susan De Vries<\/p>\n

The Brooklyn Bridge itself, while it looms large over the story, isn\u2019t directly depicted in the show. \u201cBrooklyn\u2019s Bridge\u201d has a relatively minimal set and makes use of platforms, scaffolding, projections, and the Irondale\u2019s own architecture to make the audience feel like they\u2019re watching the iconic span rise. It\u2019s set almost in the round, Hall said, with seats on three sides of the stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a universal human story about transcending adversity and really dedicating yourself to a cause that\u2019s kind of bigger than yourself and all the sacrifice that\u2019s needed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click<\/a> here to see the original story.<\/p>\n

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