Welcome to the 45th Season at the A.R.T.!

Night Side Songs is a new music-theater experience created by the duo Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour that explores the intimate experience of illness through the universal power of song. The piece takes us on a journey that weaves historical visions with a contemporary narrative, giving voice to the medical and emotional experiences of patients, doctors, and caregivers. At its core, Night Side Songs seeks to create a space where we can all share in a collective healing experience—one that includes the audience as an active partner.

The A.R.T. commissioned this project five years ago after producing the world-premiere production of Daniel and Patrick’s We Live in Cairo, a new musical about the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Like many new projects at the A.R.T., this production has developed over many years through multiple workshops and readings, including a roundtable discussion with professors and medical experts from across Harvard University and a residency last season at Farkas Hall made possible through The Bob and Alison Murchison New Work Development Fund and our colleagues in Harvard’s undergraduate concentration Theater, Dance & Media.

We are thrilled to be working again with the extraordinary director Taibi Magar, who has been at the helm of many new plays and musicals at the A.R.T. including We Live in Cairo, Macbeth In Stride, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, and The Half-God of Rainfall. We are also excited to be partnering on the premiere of Night Side Songs with Philadelphia Theatre Company, where Taibi serves as co-Artistic Director.

There are gentle moments of joy, and more solemn ones, to embrace in this production. This piece has spoken to me in ways both unexpected and deeply personal, and I trust it will to you, too. Thank you for coming to the A.R.T. and joining us for this production.

Diane Paulus
A.R.T. Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director

American Repertory Theater

in association with
Philadelphia Theatre Company
presents

NIGHT SIDE SONGS

First performance at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, Philadelphia on February 21, 2025.
First performance at Cambridge Masonic Temple, Cambridge on March 27, 2025.
First performance at Hibernian Hall, Boston on April 9, 2025.

Support for the development of Night Side Songs was provided by The Bob and Alison Murchison New Work Development Fund.

A.R.T. Season support is provided by Harvard University, The Barr Foundation, The Bob and Alison Murchison New Work Development Fund, The Shubert Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Barton & Guestier, and Meyer Sound.

The A.R.T. 2024/25 Season is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which receives support from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Runtime: One hour and forty minutes with no intermission

This production contains descriptions of cancer treatments as well as discussions of grief, loss of a parent, and terminal illness.

A.R.T. Staff

SENIOR STAFF

Director of Facilities and Capital Projects: Peter Atkinson
Public Relations Director: Rebecca Curtiss
General Manager: Connor Davis
Managing Director: Anna Fitzloff
Executive Administrator: Kathleen Fowkes
Director of Finance: Julia Goldmacher
Senior Theater and Facilities Manager: Tracy Keene
Chief Development Officer: Eileen Kennedy
Director of Production: Krystin Matsumoto
Director of Artistic Programs & Dramaturg: Ryan McKittrick
Associate Artistic Director: Dayron J. Miles
Producer: Evan O’Brient
Chief Marketing Officer: Jennifer Weissman

STAFF

Special Thanks

Madeline Benson, Dr. Susan Block, Dr. Robert C. Green, Dominic Hall, Amanda Moment, Paige Hornor, Dr. Howard Koh, Dr. Susan Nathan, Dr. Judith Paice, Dr. Susan Pories, Pew Center for the Arts, NAMT, The TDM Staff at Farkas Hall.

Rehearsed at Playwrights Horizons Downtown Studios

The actors and stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

The director of this production is a member of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union.

United Scenic Artists represents the designers and scenic painters for the American Theatre.

Essential Question

What role does community play in caregiving?

A.R.T. leads with inquiry and asks questions in a spirit of brave curiosity in a never-ending journey of learning and growth. For each production, the creative team, company, and Engagement team develop an Essential Question to guide work in the rehearsal room, onstage, and for engaging with audiences.