By Thomas Mizer and Curtis Moore

The Legend of Stagecoach Mary, a new musical, is an irreverent yet emotional tall tale about the power of diversity, the strength of love and the kick of saloon whiskey, combining roof-raising dances, an onstage bluegrass band, sweet melodies and slapstick comedy. Did we mention it's based on a too-good-to-be-fiction story?

When ex-slave Mary Fields heads to 1880s Montana to find freedom, adventure and her long-lost best friend, she discovers a gaggle of square-dancing nuns and a town full of cowboys in need of a little lesson in the American Dream.