★★★★! 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.
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
Press Coverage
Features
Reviews
Explore
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
Cast
Karim/Dance Captain
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.
Hany
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
Ensemble/Understudy for Karim, Hany, Amir, Hassan
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
Ensemble/Understudy for Fadwa, Layla
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
Amir
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
Fadwa
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
Hassan
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
Layla
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.
Assistant Stage Manager
Alex Eberle
Assistant Stage Manager
Alex Eberle
A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo, ExtraOrdinary, 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
Band
Additional Staff
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
