A poetic dreamer and a passionate mathematician imagine a world without war, and span distances to build a machine that creates peace.
In this Civil War sci-fi musical, the Union soldier Julian Munro and the brilliant mathematician Ada Lovelace transcend time to invent an omnipotent steam-powered brain. Blending American indie-folk music with dreams of invention, FUTURITY explores a world where utopia seems within reach.
Read the FUTURITY Educational Toolkit!
PRODUCTION PHOTOS
by EVGENIA ELISEEVA
FUTURITY: A Musical by The Lisps on WERS 88.9FM
Listen to Cumberland Gap from Futurity: A Musical by the Lisps
Listen to Singularity by The Lisps
Futurity: A Musical by The Lisps began as a concept album about an imaginative Civil War soldier who dreams of building a machine that creates peace and evolved into a staged musical that combines history, science fiction, technology, and imagination. Upon entering Oberon for the world premiere of Futurity, leave your presumptions about musical theater at the door. Born of the art world and the indie rock scene, the show is part performance art, part rock concert, and totally defies conventional labels.
It isn't easy to put together a 90-minute musical that includes the Civil War, the birth of computer programming, indie rock, the internal dynamics of Lord Byron's family, mathematical formulas, and writing letters back and forth about an invention that will either save the world or be a precursor to the atom bomb.
A female scientist, a poetic script, gizmos, and an intellectual romance—“Futurity” has everything a hipster intellectual could ask for. The show revolves around the cast’s magnetic stage presence which, when combined with an innovative set design, makes this show a quirky musical triumph.
WGBH critic Jared Bowen reviews Futurity: A Musical by the Lisps on the airF
"Civil War meets sci-fi in rock musical Futurity": Read a preview of the show from the Boston Globe.
"The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), under the artistic direction of Diane Paulus, is pleased to announce the productions that will be part of the A.R.T.'s 2011/12 Season." - BroadwayWorld.com
"...the ART's 2011-12 season, Paulus's third as artistic director, shows another way in which she's setting the company apart: The lineup features a bounty of female playwrights and directors." - Boston.com
"Futurity is an epistolary science fiction story that is set in rural 19th-century Virginia, set to music that is a mix of experimental pop and down-home American folk and blues. But though it sounds like a lot to pull off, the show is scrappily engaging and surprisingly cohesive." - At Length Magazine
"Brooklyn-based band The Lisps definitely bring a unique element to New York’s indie rock scene. Quirky performances and eclectic sounds, influenced by folk and bluegrass, lend playful charm to lyrics-driven songs that are cerebral and wistful by turns..." - Lightspeed Magazine
"American Repertory Theatre has announced its 2011-2012 season for the Loeb Drama Center, which, as previously announced, will open with The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, running August 17 - October 2. Diane Paulus will direct the production that will star Norm Lewis and Audra McDonald in the title roles." - TheaterMania
"The American Repertory Theater has announced its full 2011-2012 season, which will launch with the previously announced production of Porgy and Bess, starring Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis. Also planned are world premieres of Futurity: A Musical by The Lisps and a play based on Jung Chang's Wild Swans." - Playbill.com
"The plotline of Futurity is designed to combine an old-fashioned glam with the emptiness of contemporary technology; to recall vaudeville orchestras while looking forward to a synth-heavy future bereft of human strummings." - Papermag
| Music by | César Alvarez with The Lisps |
| Lyrics by | César Alvarez |
| Book by | Molly Rice and César Alvarez |
| Directed by | Sarah Benson |
| Choreographer | Annie-B Parson |
| Production Design | Emily Orling |
| Set/Costume Design | David Israel Reynoso |
| Lighting Design | Austin R. Smith |
| Sound Design | Matt Tierney |
| Music Superviser | César Alvarez |
| Music Director | Debra Barsha |
| Mechanical Percussion Designer | Eric Farber |
| Associate Director | Meghan Finn |
| Assistant Choreographer | Chris Giarmo |
| Stage Manager | Kate Ailinger* |
| CAST | |
| Julian Munro | César Alvarez* |
| Ada Lovelace | Sammy Tunis* |
| The General | Edwin Lee Gibson* |
| Lady Byron | Anne Gottlieb* |
| The Sergeant | Aaron Schroeder* |
| Vincent | Chelsey Donn* |
| Steam Brain Engineers/Musicians | Eric Farber*, Ben Simon*, Lorenzo Wolff* |
| Ezra/Scientist | Carl James |
| Japhy/Scientist | Michael Kane |
| Miles/Scientist | Milia Ayache |
| The Soldiers, Scientists, and Others | Matthew Christian, Liza Dickinson, Teri Gamble, Rose Hogan, Lindsey Liberatore |
| Additional Staff | |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Cassie M. Seinuk* |
| Assistant Lighting Designer | Heather Smaha |
| Dramaturgy | Annie DiMario |
| Dance Captain | Aaron Schroeder* |
| Music Preparation | Aimee Czura and Balint Varga |
| (*) Member of Actor's Equity Association | |
Futurity was developed in part through a commission from the Walker Art Center.
Futurity was developed in association with Christopher Maring and Rusty Thelin.
Additional support provided by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.
Production Sponsor: Sarah Hancock
2 Arrow St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
Running Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes with no intermission
Recommended for ages 10+; Under 18 must be accompanied by a guardian or attend with permission of a guardian.
In celebration of the relaunch of the Harvard Square Business Associations' Square Deals, Temple Bar has generously agreed to donate 5% of all proceeds from their Square Deal to A.R.T! Check out the offer here and grab it while it is still available, and help support A.R.T. and the HSBA!
