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Event gallery: Futurity: A Musical by The Lisps
Event gallery: Futurity: A Musical by The Lisps

Futurity: A Musical by The Lisps

  • March 16, 2012 – April 15, 2012

  • OBERON

  • Run Time: 100 Minutes with no intermission

Doors Open 7PM

Tickets

From $25

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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!

Notable dates

Recommended for ages 14+; 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 Association’s 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

Performance Sponsors:
Newbury Comics
ArtWorks

Photos & Videos

FUTURITY Video Trailer

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Event gallery: Futurity: A Musical by The Lisps

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Rehearsal photos from FUTURITY: A Musical by the Lisps

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Press

WGBH Radio – Arts Ahead: Considering the Future

Jared Bowen’s Arts Ahead: Considering the Future

WGBH critic Jared Bowen reviews Futurity: A Musical by the Lisps on the air

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WGBH critic Jared Bowen reviews Futurity: A Musical by the Lisps on the air

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Brighton TAB: Futurity Designer David Reynoso finds Inspiration in the Industrial Age

‘Futurity’ designer David Reynoso finds inspiration in the Industrial Age

The design concept for “Futurity” – a show you could describe as a Civil War sci-fi musical, if you wanted to both inform and confuse readers – was picked up, piece by piece, at junk yards, yard sales and antiques shows. That’s where Eric Farber, drummer for the Lisps (the folk-roots-rock group that conceived and performs this strange new musical that’s making its world premiere at Oberon in Cambridge), started assembling his trash menagerie of Industrial Age mechanical devices that are both archaic and futuristic.

Read full article

The design concept for “Futurity” – a show you could describe as a Civil War sci-fi musical, if you wanted to both inform and confuse readers – was picked up, piece by piece, at junk yards, yard sales and antiques shows. That’s where Eric Farber, drummer for the Lisps (the folk-roots-rock group that conceived and performs this strange new musical that’s making its world premiere at Oberon in Cambridge), started assembling his trash menagerie of Industrial Age mechanical devices that are both archaic and futuristic.

Read full article

The Boston Phoenix: Lisps try to deliver a message in Futurity

The Boston Phoenix Review of “Futurity: A musical by the Lisps”

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.

Read full article

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.

Read full article

Harvard Crimson: The New Musical ‘Futurity’ Rocks OBERON

The Harvard Crimson review of “Futurity: A Musical by the Lisps”

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.

Read full article

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.

Read full article

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BroadwayWorld: Futurity: A Musical Powered by a Steam Brain

BroadwayWorld Boston review of Futurity

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.

Read full article

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.

Read full article

WBUR/Radio Boston story about the Steam Brain and its creator

WBUR Story: Move Over, Hal — New Sci-Fi Star Takes the Stage

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Papermag

An Indie Rock Musical Grows in Brooklyn

“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 

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“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 

Read full article

Playbill.com

Three Pianos, Wild Swans and Futurity Will Join Porgy and Bess in A.R.T. Season

“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

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“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

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TheaterMania

Sarah Benson, Norm Lewis, The Lisps, Audra McDonald, et al. Set for A.R.T.’s 2011-2012 Loeb Drama Center Season

“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 

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“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 

Read full article

BroadwayWorld.com

WILD SWANS, FUTURITY, et al. Featured in ART’s 2011/12 Season

“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 

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“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 

Read full article

Boston.com

ART’s new season: ‘Porgy’ and The Lisps

“…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 

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“…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 

Read full article

At Length Magazine

Futurity: An Interview with Cesar Alvarez of The Lisps

“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 

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“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 

Read full article

Lightspeed Magazine

Music Is Science Fiction: An Interview With The Lisps

“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  

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“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  

Read full article

Credits

Creative team

Cast

Futurity was developed in part through a commission from the Walker Art Center, and was developed in association with Christopher Maring and Rusty Thelin. Addition support provided by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.