Issues from our daily lives are brought to the stage in a new musical rooted in the pandemic and social justice movement. It is being performed at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.

The songs will be familiar to those who know the music of Sweet Honey in the Rock, but the meaning may feel new.

“All the different issues being tied together with our music, brought it together, made it more heartfelt,” says cast member Aisha Kahlil.

“When Day Comes” is part musical, part play. The work by Crossroads Theatre Company dramatizes the current social justice movement and the COVID-19 pandemic. It even features a scene at a senior facility. It is based on the real life of playwright Ricardo Khan.

“I would visit my mother who is in a nursing home and wonder if she knew what was going on and not wanting to tell her what was happening,” Khan says.

Khan believes that two pandemics came to the forefront in 2020 – the virus and violence. “When Day Comes” addresses each and looks to a brighter tomorrow.

The play’s title is inspired by the first line of Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb,” which she read at President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

“When Day Comes” is being performed through Oct. 10. It is part of the Crossroads Festival Theatre, which includes the play “Emergency,” as well as free community programing.