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World Premiere Musical

We Live in Cairo

A.R.T. Subscription Season
  • May 14, 2019 - Jun 23, 2019

  • Loeb Drama Center

  • Run Time: Two hours and thirty minutes, including one fifteen-minute intermission

Recommended for ages 15+.

Tickets

From $25

Recommended for ages 15+.

  • Run Time

    Two hours and thirty minutes, including one fifteen-minute intermission

  • Tickets

    From $25

Learn more:

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★★★★! Non-stop energy and spectacular visual effect. The cast is exemplary.

New York Stage Review

A smart, tight musical balancing nuanced relationships and grand, global ideas that could debut on Broadway tomorrow.

Boston Herald

Inspired by the young Egyptians who took to the streets in 2011 to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak, this world premiere musical follows six revolutionary students armed with laptops and cameras, guitars and spray cans as they come of age in contemporary Cairo. Winner of the Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater, We Live in Cairo moves from the jubilation of Tahrir Square through the tumultuous years that followed. As escalating division and violence lead to a military crackdown, the revolutionaries of Tahrir must confront the question of how—or even whether—to keep their dreams of change alive.

This production contains strobe, haze, simulated smoking, strong language, and graphic images that may disturb.

 

Stories From the Arab Spring

JUN 17 6PM
Loeb Drama Center

True stories shared by people whose lives were changed by the Arab Spring, followed by a community dialogue.

Learn More

 

 

Book, Music and Lyrics by Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour
Orchestrations and Arrangements by Daniel Lazour and Michael Starobin
Music Director Madeline Smith
Music Supervision by Michael Starobin
Choreography by Samar Haddad King
Directed by Taibi Magar

Notable dates

Opening Night: 5/22
ASL Interpreted: 6/9 at 2PM & 6/12 at 7:30PM
Audio Described: 6/8 at 2PM & 6/14 at 7:30PM
Open Captioned: 6/8 at 2PM & 6/13 at 7:30PM
Act II Speaker Series: 5/16 at 7:30PM with Ganzeer; 5/18 at 2PM with Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi; 5/25 at 2PM with Ezzedine C. Fishere; 5/29 at 11AM with Daniel and Patrick Lazour; 6/1 at 2PM with Tarek Masoud; 6/1 at 7:30PM with Soha Bayoumi and Ahmed Ragab; 6/5 at 2PM with Daniel and Patrick Lazour; 6/8 at 2PM with Nermin Allam and Vickie Langohr; 6/12 at 2PM with Leila Fadel

Production Sponsors
Serena and Bill Lese
Additional Production Support
Janet and Irv Plotkin
The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School
Education Sponsor
Marcia Head

 

Photos & Videos

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The cast of We Live in Cairo.

Engage with the creative team behind the musical and artists and scholars connected to the revolution.

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If you would like to learn more about the events which inspired this production, we recommend the following books and media:

David Kirkpatrick’s Into the Hands of the Soldiers
Nermin Allam’s Women and the Egyptian Revolution
The Square, directed by Jehane Noujaim

Credits

Creative Team

Writers

Daniel Lazour

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour are brothers and collaborators of Lebanese descent. They have workshopped their piece We Live in Cairo at the O’Neill National Music Theater Conference and at New York Theatre Workshop under the 2016 Richard Rodgers Award. They have developed their work during residencies at the O’Neill, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and the MacDowell Colony, and most recently, collaborated with playwright Ismail Khalidi and Noor Theatre on a developmental production of Dead Are My People. Their new musical about the first chemotherapy trials in the 1950s and 60s was workshopped at the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Theatre and Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. Daniel and Patrick were 2015-16 Dramatists Guild Fellows and are New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspects. They were artists-in-residence at the American University in Cairo.

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Writers

Patrick Lazour

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour are brothers and collaborators of Lebanese descent. They have workshopped their piece We Live in Cairo at the O’Neill National Music Theater Conference and at New York Theatre Workshop under the 2016 Richard Rodgers Award. They have developed their work during residencies at the O’Neill, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and the MacDowell Colony, and most recently, collaborated with playwright Ismail Khalidi and Noor Theatre on a developmental production of Dead Are My People. Their new musical about the first chemotherapy trials in the 1950s and 60s was workshopped at the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Theatre and Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. Daniel and Patrick were 2015-16 Dramatists Guild Fellows and are New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspects. They were artists-in-residence at the American University in Cairo.

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Director

Taibi Magar

Director

Taibi Magar

A.R.T.: Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Lortel Award), Signature Theatre; Macbeth in Stride; We Live in Cairo. Co-Artistic Director, Philadelphia Theatre Company. Off-Broadway: Help, The Shed; Capsule, Under the Radar Festival/The Public Theater; Blue Ridge, The Great Leap, Atlantic Theater Company; Is God Is (2018 Obie Award), Soho Rep; Master, The Foundry; Underground Railroad Game(2017 Obie Award), Ars Nova. International: Hamburg Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Malthouse Theatre (Melbourne), and Soho Theatre (London). MFA, Brown University.

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Choreographer

Samar Haddad King

Choreographer

Samar Haddad King

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Artistic/Founding Director of Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT). With YSDT, King has created over 30 original works which have been performed in ten countries across four continents. Awards/Commissions: Hubbard Street 2, National Choreography Competition; Palest’In & OUT Festival in Paris, France (Prix des Jeunes Créateurs Palestiniens pour la Diversité des Expressions Artistiques award); Palestinian Museum (Palestine). In 2018 King was awarded La Fabrique Chaillot residency at Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse (Paris, France). She regularly lectures on her work at institutions including TanzKongress (Hanover, Germany), University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia), and Columbia University Center for Palestine Studies (New York, New York), and co-authored a chapter on dance in the Arab World with Sandra Noeth for the 2nd edition of Contemporary Choreography (Routledge, January 2018). She is 2019/20 resident fellow at The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU. Education/Training: BFA, Choreography, Ailey/Fordham. Graduated cum laude under the tutelage of Kazuko Hirabayashi.

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Music Supervisor

Michael Starobin

Music Supervisor

Michael Starobin

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Broadway: Once On This Island, Sunday in the Park with George, Falsettos, If/Then, Annie, Sondheim on Sondheim, Next to Normal (Tony Award), Grinch, Spelling Bee, Assassins (Tony Award), A Christmas Carol, Guys & Dolls (1992), Legs Diamond, Romance Romance, Carrie. Off-Broadway/Regional: Renascence, Freaky Friday, First Daughter Suite, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Kid Victory, Little Miss Sunshine, Dogfight, Queen of the Mist, Glorious Ones, Bernarda Alba, A New Brain, Hello Again, In Trousers.

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Music Director

Madeline Smith

Music Director

Madeline Smith

A.R.T.: We Live in CairoThe Light Princess (Music Director), Witness Uganda (Music Intern). Broadway: Waitress (Piano/Conductor sub), War Paint (Key 1 sub). Off-Broadway: An Octoroon, Skin of Our Teeth, Theatre for a New Audience; Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future, Ars Nova; 1001 Nights, Atlantic; FUTURITY, Ars Nova/Soho Rep. Regional: Loch Ness, Nikola Tesla Drops the Beat, Adirondack Theatre Festival. TV: The Wiz! Live. Adaptations: Frozen Jr., Descendants, Disney. Education: BA, Harvard University.

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Scenic & Costume Designer

Tilly Grimes

Scenic & Costume Designer

Tilly Grimes

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. New York: Playwrights Horizons, Roundabout, Atlantic, Ars Nova, WP Theatre, Red Bull. Regional: Williamstown Theatre Festival, OSF, The Wilma, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Two River Theater, Trinity Rep, Pittsburgh Public. Opera: BLO, Goodspeed Opera, The Philadelphia Opera. Awards: Lortel Nominations; Balsamo Grant for Immigrant Artists; Irish Design Award; Irish Times Theatre Award; Onstage Critics Award. Teaching: NYU Abu Dhabi, Duke, University of Rochester, NYU, Brown University/Trinity Rep Graduate Directing, Trinity College Dublin. Education: MFA, NYU. @missTgrimes, tillygrimes.com

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Lighting Designer

Bradley King

Lighting Designer

Bradley King

A.R.T.: Moby-Dick, We Live in Cairo, Endlings, Burn All Night, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, O.P.C. Broadway: Fat Ham, Hadestown (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC Awards), Flying Over Sunset (Drama Desk Award, Tony Nomination), The Great Comet(Tony, Drama Desk, OCC awards), Bernhardt/Hamlet. Numerous shows Off-Broadway, regionally, and around the world. Upcoming musicals: Water For Elephants, Alliance; Buena Vista Social Club, Atlantic; Lempicka; Goddess; How to Dance in Ohio. bradleykingld.com

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Sound Designer

Kai Harada

Sound Designer

Kai Harada

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo, The Black Clown. Broadway: Head Over Heels, The Band’s Visit (Tony and Drama Desk Awards), Amélie, Sunday in the Park With George, Allegiance, Gigi, Fun Home, On the Town, First Date, Follies (Tony and Drama Desk Nominations), Million Dollar Quartet. Regional: Marie, Dancing Still, 5th Avenue; Soft Power, Center Theatre Group; Candide, LA Opera; The Music Man, Little Shop of Horrors, Chess, Little Dancer, Kennedy Center. International:  Zorro, Moscow, Atlanta; Hinterm Horizont, Berlin. Opera: Silent Night, Washington National Opera; Sweeney Todd, Man of La Mancha, Portland Opera. Audio Consultant for Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Education: Yale University.

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Projection & Video Designer

David Bengali

Projection & Video Designer

David Bengali

A.R.T.: 1776, We Live In Cairo. Off-Broadway: Twilight, Los Angeles: 1992 (Drama Desk nomination), Signature; The Visitor (Lortel nomination), Public Theater; Einstein’s Dreams (Drama Desk nomination), 59E59/Prospect Theater Co.; The Great Leap, Atlantic. Regional: Bhangin’ It, La Jolla Playhouse; Here There Are Blueberries, La Jolla Playhouse/Tectonic Theater Project; Bollywood Kitchen, Geffen Playhouse; Frankenstein, Dallas Theater Center; Girls, Yale Rep; The Temple Bombing, Alliance Theatre. Streaming: Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical; Seaview (Drama League nomination); Circle Jerk (Drama League nomination), Fake Friends; Rockin’ Road To Dublin, National Tour. Education/Training: MFA: NYU.

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Vocal Arrangements

Daniel Lazour

Madeline Smith

Vocal Arrangements

Daniel Lazour

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour are brothers and collaborators of Lebanese descent. They have workshopped their piece We Live in Cairo at the O’Neill National Music Theater Conference and at New York Theatre Workshop under the 2016 Richard Rodgers Award. They have developed their work during residencies at the O’Neill, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and the MacDowell Colony, and most recently, collaborated with playwright Ismail Khalidi and Noor Theatre on a developmental production of Dead Are My People. Their new musical about the first chemotherapy trials in the 1950s and 60s was workshopped at the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Theatre and Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. Daniel and Patrick were 2015-16 Dramatists Guild Fellows and are New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspects. They were artists-in-residence at the American University in Cairo.

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Vocal Arrangements

Madeline Smith

A.R.T.: We Live in CairoThe Light Princess (Music Director), Witness Uganda (Music Intern). Broadway: Waitress (Piano/Conductor sub), War Paint (Key 1 sub). Off-Broadway: An Octoroon, Skin of Our Teeth, Theatre for a New Audience; Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future, Ars Nova; 1001 Nights, Atlantic; FUTURITY, Ars Nova/Soho Rep. Regional: Loch Ness, Nikola Tesla Drops the Beat, Adirondack Theatre Festival. TV: The Wiz! Live. Adaptations: Frozen Jr., Descendants, Disney. Education: BA, Harvard University.

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Orchestrations

Daniel Lazour

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour are brothers and collaborators of Lebanese descent. They have workshopped their piece We Live in Cairo at the O’Neill National Music Theater Conference and at New York Theatre Workshop under the 2016 Richard Rodgers Award. They have developed their work during residencies at the O’Neill, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and the MacDowell Colony, and most recently, collaborated with playwright Ismail Khalidi and Noor Theatre on a developmental production of Dead Are My People. Their new musical about the first chemotherapy trials in the 1950s and 60s was workshopped at the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Theatre and Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. Daniel and Patrick were 2015-16 Dramatists Guild Fellows and are New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspects. They were artists-in-residence at the American University in Cairo.

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Orchestrations

Michael Starobin

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Broadway: Once On This Island, Sunday in the Park with George, Falsettos, If/Then, Annie, Sondheim on Sondheim, Next to Normal (Tony Award), Grinch, Spelling Bee, Assassins (Tony Award), A Christmas Carol, Guys & Dolls (1992), Legs Diamond, Romance Romance, Carrie. Off-Broadway/Regional: Renascence, Freaky Friday, First Daughter Suite, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Kid Victory, Little Miss Sunshine, Dogfight, Queen of the Mist, Glorious Ones, Bernarda Alba, A New Brain, Hello Again, In Trousers.

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Casting

Stephen Kopel, CSA

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo; Jagged Little Pill; The White Card; Trans Scripts, Part 1: The Women; Witness Uganda; O.P.C.; The Glass Menagerie; Once; Ajax; The Blue Flower; Johnny Baseball; Best of Both Worlds. Casting director for Roundabout Theatre Company. Broadway: Caroline, or Change; Trouble in Mind; Moulin Rouge; Jagged Little Pill; Kiss Me Kate; The Play That Goes Wrong; Beautiful: the Carole King Musical; Sunday in the Park with George; Amélie; Violet; Winslow Boy; The Glass Menagerie; Mystery of Edwin Drood; Harvey; Don’t Dress for Dinner; Once; Road to Mecca; On A Clear Day…; Anything Goes; Brief Encounter; Scottsboro Boys; Sondheim On Sondheim; Hedda Gabler.

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Production Stage Manager

Taylor Brennan

Taylor Brennan

Production Stage Manager

Taylor Brennan

A.R.T.: Stage Manager: We Live in CairoBarber Shop Chronicles; The Black Clown; HEAR WORD! Naija Woman Talk True; Burn All NightNotes from the Field: Doing Time in Education1984; O.P.C.The Shape She MakesThe Donkey Show. Assistant Stage Manager: Othello; ExtraOrdinary; Jagged Little Pill; Bedlam’s Sense & Sensibility; The Night of the Iguana; Fingersmith; RoosevElvis; Kansas City Choir Boy; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; The Heart of Robin Hood; All the Way; The Glass Menagerie; The Lily’s Revenge; Once. Production Associate: Prometheus Bound; The Blue Flower; Cabaret. Education/​Training: Boston University College of Fine Arts (Summa cum laude).

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Cast

Sharif Afifi

Karim/​Dance Captain

Sharif Afifi

Sharif Afifi

Karim/​Dance Captain

Sharif Afifi

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. London: Hadestown, National Theatre. Regional: Wonderland, National Tour; Rent, Greenwich Theatre. International: Cats, Chicago, Royal Caribbean. Workshops: Bombay Dreams, The Infidel. Film: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Education: Musical Theatre, The Hammond School. Proud Anglo-Egyptian.

Sharif Afifi is appearing with the permission of Actors’ Equity Association.

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Abubakr Ali
Abubakr Ali

Hany

Abubakr Ali

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Off-Broadway: Handjobs The Musical!, Kraine Theater. Regional: Twelfth Night, Kiss, Yale Rep; Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Six Characters in Search of an Author, The Threepenny Opera, A Noise Within; Rock of Abandon, Lillian Theatre, East West Players. Workshops: We Live In Cairo, NYTW/A.R.T.; Page 73. Educational: The Seagull, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Passion, Rock Egg Spoon, Yale School of Drama. Awards: Best Actor, TIFA; Best Actor, Indie Short Fest. TV/Film: “Dig,” USA; Irish Goodbye (Cannes Film Festival 2019). Education/Training: MFA, Yale School of Drama.

Actors’ Equity Association member

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Waseem Alzer

Ensemble/​Understudy for Karim, Hany, Amir, Hassan

Waseem Alzer

Waseem Alzer

Ensemble/​Understudy for Karim, Hany, Amir, Hassan

Waseem Alzer

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Off-Broadway: Eh Da? Questions For My Father, NYTW. Regional: Up And Away, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. BFA, Musical Theatre, East Carolina University. Workshops: We Live In Cairo, NYTW/A.R.T.; Tear A Root From The Earth; Salaam Medina; Monsoon Wedding. Proud Palestinian-American activist.

Actors’ Equity Association member

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Layan Elwazani

Ensemble/​Understudy for Fadwa, Layla

Layan Elwazani

Layan Elwazani

Ensemble/​Understudy for Fadwa, Layla

Layan Elwazani

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Broadway: The Band’s Visit. Regional: Mame, Human Race Theatre; West Side Story, The Carnegie; The Cult Play, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble. Workshops: We Live in Cairo, One Thousand Nights and One Day, Salaam Medina, We Are Ameena. TV: “The Code.” Education: BFA, Acting, Wright State University. Proud Palestinian-American.

Actors’ Equity Association member

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Jakeim Hart
Jakeim Hart

Amir

Jakeim Hart

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Off-Broadway: Saturday Night In Concert (Dino), Second Stage. Regional: Next to Normal, Casa Mañana (Henry). Workshops: The Visitor (Ensemble), Public Theater; We Live in Cairo, NYTW/A.R.T. TV/Film: “Blue Bloods,” CBS; “The Affair,” Showtime. Education/​Training: Muhlenberg College; Accademia dell’Arte (Arezzo, Italy).

Actors’ Equity Association member

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Dana Saleh Omar
Dana Saleh Omar

Fadwa

Dana Saleh Omar

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo, The Hypocrites’ Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, H.M.S Pinafore. Regional: All Our Tragic (original production and remount), Cabaret, The Hypocrites; Gilbert & Sullivan Unplugged, 54 Below; Kitty Hawk, Adrienne Arsht Center/The House; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, People’s Light; One Hundred Dresses, Chicago Children’s Theatre. TV/Film: “Chicago P.D.,” NBC. Representation: Big Mouth Talent (Chicago). Proud child of immigrants. Aywa!

Actors’ Equity Association member

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Gil Perez-Abraham
Gil Perez-Abraham

Hassan

Gil Perez-Abraham

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Off-Broadway: Mohamed Kacimi’s Holy Land, HERE. Regional: Pippin, Kansas City Rep; The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Mace), Pittsburgh; Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens (dir. Bill Russell). Film/TV: “The Young Pope”; “Orange Is The New Black” (upcoming); “POSE” (Manuel), FX; Lulu Wang’s The Farewell (2019 Sundance Film Festival/A24). Training: William Esper Studio ’18, LAByrinth Intensive Ensemble ’18. CESD NY | LA. For Laith Nakli, Suzanne, and Bill Esper.

Actors’ Equity Association member

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Parisa Shahmir
Parisa Shahmir

Layla

Parisa Shahmir

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Theater: The Last Ship, Northern Stage, UK & Ireland Tour; Mamma Mia!, UK Tour, NGM/​Littlestar. Film: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Workshops: Starlight Express, AA, The Other Palace. Music: “Let Me Go” (single), “Mirror” (single). Training: The Musical Theatre Academy.

Parisa Shahmir is appearing with the permission of Actors’ Equity Association pursuant to an exchange program between American Equity and UK Equity.

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Assistant Stage Manager

Alex Eberle

Assistant Stage Manager

Alex Eberle

A.R.T.: We Live in CairoExtraOrdinary, Jagged Little Pill. A.R.T./ArtsEmerson: The White Card. National Tour: The Book of Mormon (ASM), Finding Neverland (ASM), Anything Goes (PSM). International Tour: Shrek The Musical (PSM), Beauty and the Beast (PSM). Regional: Roundabout Theatre Company, The Public Theater, The Old Globe, Barrington Stage Company, Triad Stage. Education/Training: BFA, University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Actors’ Equity Association member

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Band

Music Director/Keyboard

Madeline Smith

Music Director/Keyboard

Madeline Smith

A.R.T.: We Live in CairoThe Light Princess (Music Director), Witness Uganda (Music Intern). Broadway: Waitress (Piano/Conductor sub), War Paint (Key 1 sub). Off-Broadway: An Octoroon, Skin of Our Teeth, Theatre for a New Audience; Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future, Ars Nova; 1001 Nights, Atlantic; FUTURITY, Ars Nova/Soho Rep. Regional: Loch Ness, Nikola Tesla Drops the Beat, Adirondack Theatre Festival. TV: The Wiz! Live. Adaptations: Frozen Jr., Descendants, Disney. Education: BA, Harvard University.

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Cello

Naseem Alatrash

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Tours with Danilo Perez’s band The Global Messengers; Simon Shaheen; Amir Elsaffar’s Rivers of Sound. Performances: Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Lincoln Theater, Wigmore Hall, Koerner Hall, NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Center, the Royal Opera of Oman, The Royal Albert Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. Original music: “Lifta” (single); “Bright Colors on a Dark Canvas”; Suite for cello, Arabic ensemble and orchestra. Education/​Training: The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (Palestine); BM, MM, Berklee College of Music. Palestinian.

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Bass

Kate Foss

Bass

Kate Foss

A.R.T.: SIX, We Live in Cairo, ExtraOrdinary, The Black Clown, Jagged Little Pill (Bass alternate). Theater: Ogunquit Playhouse, North Shore Music Theater, Lyric Stage Company, Emerson College. Orchestra Performance: Plymouth Philharmonic (principal Bass), Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Emmanuel Music, Odyssey Opera, Cape Symphony, Indian Hill Symphony Orchestra. Education: MM, Classical Performance, New England Conservatory; BS, Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

 

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Violin

Bengisu Gökçe

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Performances with: New Philharmonia Orchestra; National Arab Orchestra; World Youth Orchestra; TURKSOY International Youth Chamber Orchestra; Dogus Symphony Orchestra; UNIVOZ Vocal Ensemble. Additional performances: Boston Symphony Hall, Roulette Intermedium (NY), Fenway Park, Orpheum Theatre, MFA, MIT Kresge Auditorium. Collaborated/played with: Mark O’Connor, Tigran Hamasyan, Aynur Dogan, Pablo Ziegler, Amir ElSaffar, Shankar Mahadevan, Shreya Ghoshal, Kenny Werner. Education/​Training: Berklee College of Music; Mersin University State Conservatory (Turkey); Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” (Berlin, Germany). Born in Istanbul, Turkey.

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Guitar

Nacho González Nappa

A.R.T. We Live in Cairo. Film​/Video Game scores: Queering (SXSW Film Festival); Kingdom Rush Vengeance; Alexis Viera, Netflix. Collaborated/​played with: Bobby Sanabria (including multiple pieces premiered at Lincoln Center), Alejandro Sanz, Carlos Vives, Jorge Drexler, Ruben Rada, John Patitucci, Terence Blanchard, Omar Hakim. With U-Lab (founder): CUBA: Music Revolution (Madrid International Film Festival, Santa Barbara Film Festival), multiple albums, digital series, and documentaries. Co-Founder: techo.org, socialab.com. Awards/​Honors: “Top 20 under 40” Hispanics in the US, PODER Magazine; Wayne Shorter Award; Jazz Education Award. Education: Universidad de Montevideo; Berklee College of Music.

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Oud

Ghassan Sawalhi

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Co-founded Palestinian youth band Bil3ax, addressing social and political problems in Palestine and the Middle East. Founder: dB Realms Production Studio (audio engineering services and oud/music technology lessons). Co-founder: Center for Arabic Culture children’s orchestra, responsible for the oud section of the orchestra. Education/​Training: BM, Music Production and Engineering, Berklee College of Music (studied oud with Simon Shaheen); Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, Palestine (with Waseem Odeh). Palestinian.

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Percussion

Jeremy Smith

Percussion

Jeremy Smith

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Regularly performs with: Andreas Arnold, Festejation, Brooklyn Nomads, Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica. Featured Performer: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Hudson Valley Philharmonic. International: Solo World Percussion Concert Artist, International Percussion Festival (Seoul, South Korea). US Tour: The Knights chamber orchestra (ft. Avi Avital, Kinan Azmeh). Additional collaborations/​performances: New York Gypsy All-Stars, Farah Siraj, Antonio Lizana, Jorge Glem, Al Margen Flamenco, Fleur Seule Latin Big Bang, Terraza 7 Big Band, Zāna, Quentin Angus, NY Andalus Ensemble, Megumi Saruhashi, Barbara Martinez, Adam Maalouf, Johanna Castañeda. Teaching: University of Michigan, Columbia University, Bowling Green State University. Education: BM, The Juilliard School.

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Keyboard Programmer

Randy Cohen

Contractor

Jason Fisher

Additional Staff

Assistant Director

Addie Gorlin

Assistant Director

Addie Gorlin

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Regional: Charm, According to Coyote, Mixed Blood Theatre; Laramie Project, Children’s Theater of Minnesota; I and You, Phoenix Theater; Five Tries, Cutting Ball Theatre; Next to Normal, Brown University; The Good Person of Szechwan, Eurydice, Twelfth Night, A Streetcar Named Desire, Brown/Trinity Rep. New Work Development: The Playwrights Center, The Lark, Mixed Blood, Hudson Stage Company, Riverside Theater, Ivoryton Playhouse. Assistant Director: Guthrie Theater, Public Theater, Trinity Rep, Mixed Blood, Park Square, Cutting Ball. Education/​Training: BA, Dartmouth College; MFA, Brown University/​Trinity Rep.

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Associate Choreographer

Zoe Rabinowitz

Associate Choreographer

Zoe Rabinowitz

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo. Member/​Associate Artistic Director: Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (France, Germany, Japan, Jordan, Palestine, South Korea, Tunisia, US). Performances with: INSPIRIT, a dance company; JoAnna Mendl Shaw/Equus Projects; Kristina Isabelle; MBDance; The Movement Party; Nia Love/​Blacksmith’s Daughter; Urban Bush Women; Anne Zuerner. Original work: New York City, USA, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Mexico, South Korea. Education: Walnut Hill School for the Arts; BFA, Dance, Ailey/​Fordham.

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Voice and Text

Erika Bailey

Voice and Text

Erika Bailey

A.R.T.: Life of Pi; 1776; WILD: A Musical Becoming; Jack and the Beanstalk; Gloria: A Life; Moby-Dick; We Live in Cairo; Endlings; Othello; ExtraOrdinary; The Black Clown; Jagged Little Pill; WARHOLCAPOTE; Burn All Night; The Night of the Iguana; Trans Scripts, Part I: The Women; Fingersmith; In the Body of the World; Waitress; O.P.C. Broadway: Mary Stuart. Regional: Vanity Fair, Central Square Theater; New Electric Ballroom, Gloucester Stage Company; Arms and the Man, Guthrie Theatre; The Foreigner, Cabaret, To Kill a Mockingbird, Kansas City Repertory Theatre. As Head of Voice and Speech at A.R.T., Erika also teaches in the Theater, Dance & Media concentration at Harvard as well as coaching public speaking skills across the university. Education: MA, Voice Studies, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; MFA, Acting, Brandeis University.

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Assistant Scenic Designer

You-Shin Chen

Assistant Costume Designer

Caity Mulkearns

Associate Lighting Designer

Jessica Creager

Assistant Sound Designer

Haley Parcher

Sound Console Facilitator

John Kauble

Associate Keyboard Programmer

Sam Starobin

Assistant Keyboard Programmer

Tim Crook

Associate Projection Designer

Lacey Erb

Projection Programmer

Chet Miller

Casting Assistant

Mike Miller

Project Consultant

Tarek Masoud

Creative Consultant

Ganzeer

Production Dramaturgy

Robert Duffley

Production Dramaturgy

Robert Duffley

(he/him) A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo, Endlings, O.P.C. Recent credits: Claudia Rankine’s HELP (dir. Taibi Magar), The Shed; We Hear You: A Climate Archive (National Theatre of Sweden/Georgetown University/Swedish Embassy DC); Miranda Rose Hall’s A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction (currently touring Europe with original direction by Katie Mitchell); The Uncle Geoff Magic Show, Target Margin Theatre Labs. Publications: works for Howlround, Routledge’s Contemporary Theatre Review, and Six by Eight Press. Editor & Associate Dramaturg, A.R.T.; Dramaturg, LubDub Theatre Co; Affiliated Faculty, Emerson College. 

 

 

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Research Assistants

Kareem Emara

Lama El Homaïssi

Copyists

Leonoor Rinke de Wit

Noah Teplin

Music Assistants

Colton Carter

Joy Nesbitt

Rehearsal Accompanists

David Coleman

Mateo Lincoln

Elizabeth Terry-Kantor

Production Assistant

Bradley Costa

Additional Lighting Equipment provided by Christie Lites.
Additional Sound Equipment provided by Sound Associates, Inc.
Additional Sound Equipment provided by Shure Microphones.
Additional Projections Equipment provided by Sound Associates, Inc.

 

Special Thanks

Tarek Masoud, The Middle East Initiative

Melissa D’Anello, Christopher Mawhorter, Roba Khorshid

The Richard Rodgers Awards for Musical Theater

New York Theatre Workshop, Department of Theater and the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College

Pippa Ailion Casting

Ganzeer, Sultan Sooud al-Qassemi, Ezzedine C. Fishere, Soha Bayoumi, Ahmed Ragab, Nermin Allam, Vickie Langhor, Leila Fadel 

Sherien Sobhy, Sharaf Al-Hourani, Rana Elkahwagy, Nourhan Shaaban

Dina Amer, Frank Bradley, Omar Robert Hamilton, Paul & Nel Lazour, Rick Miramontez, Noor Theatre, Or Matias, Anne Morgan, Omar El Okdah, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Jeanine Tesori

The students of the American University in Cairo  

Harvard Dance Center

Shure Microphones

Adam Morrison, Richard Dean Associates, Bill Ostry, Ben Escabedo, Frank Conway