URINETOWN
April 8–11, 2021
By Greg Kotis
Composed by Mark Hollmann
Artists-in-Residence: Carlos Armesto & theatreC
Director: Carlos Armesto, Producing Artistic Director of theatreC
Co-Director: Attilio Rigotti
A rough, raunchy, quirky, comic musical about greed, power, love, ambition, greed, corporations, greed (did I say greed?)—Urinetown is a musical that pokes fun at its own genre: a complete delicious satire on the American notion of individualism and optimism in the face of utter doom.
It's been 20 years since the fall of society. There’s a water shortage. Urine Good Company runs the government (through bribes, of course), and has instituted a major rule: everyone needs to pay to pee. If they don’t have the money, they will have to suffer. If they break the law, they are sent to Urinetown for the rest of their days. The story tracks the seeds of uprising against a tyrannical power, surrounded by a love story that makes fun of itself, subverting the nature of Broadway musicals themselves.
Inspired by Brecht and Kurt Weill works, the TISCH DRAMA STAGE production of Urinetown will be presented via livestream in the same vein as the NBC and Fox Live Musicals, with some performers telecast from the studio, and others coming in through Zoom. The musical's world will evoke the quirky sensibility of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and the darker tones of The City of Lost Children, presenting a world of the past that was stopped in its development, and struggling to evolve in an ad-hoc, ramshackle manner. The sound of the piece will be reminiscent of “retro pop,” the source of inspiration coming from Caravan Palace.
BUILDING THE FUTURE NOW
Oct. 15–18
National Black Theatre Residency
Process Chronicler: Stefanie A. Jones (SAJ)
INTER//STELLAR
Lead Creation & Direction by Ebony Noelle Golden
In pursuit of joy, Luna B., Celeste, and Natasha share an encounter that may change their lives forever… August 2020. Harlem, NY. Three evenings prior to an unprecedented cosmic event, INTER//STELLAR follows the lives of Luna B. (a chef), Celeste (an artist), and Natasha (an archivist) as they navigate the murky, muddy, and mundane cosmologies of toxic social media, mental health ruptures, and the medical industrial complex. Conceived as a digital choreo-ceremony, the work invites these characters, and by extension all of us, to pursue joy, self-actualization and soul(ar) retrieval in a world riddled by spiritual charlatans, shapeshifters, and soul snatchers. Consultants for the development of this concept were Viktor Le. Givens (Creative Consultant, Dramaturg, Look Book Designer) and Paris Weeden (Assistant Director). This show will be devised in collaboration with NYU Tisch Drama students.
Love is the Message! Joy is the Revival.
Lead Creation & Direction by Jonathan McCrory
Inspired by Arthur Jafa's seminal work Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death, this new work Love is the Message! Joy is the Revival. is a digitally devised storytelling experience that examines how powerful love is in this time of much transition, unrest, and death. Through a process of sharing personal stories, lessons, and musings, the ensemble will look at the ways that love shows up in our collective lives to provide, generate, and manifest a message. With joy on the horizon, we will find what can be revived and what our revival will look like. Dominique Rider joins the project as Associate Director. This show will be devised with NYU Tisch Drama students.
Go Behind the Scenes with the Production & Design teams of TISCH DRAMA STAGE here.
ALL DEPARTMENT FESTIVAL
Nov. 19-22
Curated by Nathan Flower
Dramaturgy by nicHi Douglas
Everybody
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Candis C. Jones
This modern riff on the fifteenth-century morality play Everyman follows Everybody (chosen from amongst the cast by lottery at each performance) as they journey through life’s greatest mystery—the meaning of living.
FORGIVE US, YOU'RE DYING
A Mortality Play
Lead Creation & Direction by Joshua William Gelb
Using the original text of Everyman as inspiration, this devised process will explore and interrogate the medieval morality play's iconography, allegories, and archetypes through a contemporary lens, culminating in a new movement-based instruction manual for how we cope with death today.