American composer, lyricist and playwright
César Alvarez (born 1980) is an American composer, lyricist and playwright.
[1]
[2] César is best known for the musical FUTURITY which they wrote with their band
The Lisps . FUTURITY won the
Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical in 2016.
[3]
Alvarez is an assistant professor of music at Dartmouth College.
[4]
Early life
Alvarez was born to a Cuban father and a Euro-American mother
[5] in Greensboro, NC.
[6] They were named for César Cauce and James Waller, who were both victims of the
Greensboro Massacre .
[7]
Alvarez attended
Interlochen Arts Academy
[8] and
Oberlin Conservatory .
[9] They received an MFA from
Bard College .
[1]
Alvarez uses they/them pronouns
[10]
Career
Alvarez spent the early years of their career performing with
The Lisps . The Lisps released 4 albums between 2006 and 2012."
[11]
[12]
[13]
In 2008, Alvarez conceived of the Civil War-era science fictional musical FUTURITY as their master's thesis at Bard.
[14] In 2009, The Lisps first performed FUTURITY at the now defunct New York City venue, The Zipper Factory.
[15]
[16]
[17] FUTURITY world premiered as part of the
American Repertory Theater 's 2011/12 season under the direction of
Sarah Benson
[18] co-commissioned by
Walker Art Center .
[19] FUTURITY went on to an
Off-Broadway premiere co-produced by
Soho Rep and
Ars Nova in 2015.
[20] That production won the
Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and received 4 other Lortel nominations.
[3]
In 2013 Alvarez composed original music with The Lisps for The Foundry Theater's production of
Bertolt Brecht 's
The Good Person of Szechwan starring
Taylor Mac .
[21] Alvarez and The Lisps received a
Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Music in a Play .
[22]
In 2014 Alvarez composed original music for the World Premiere production of
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins 's play
An Octoroon . They received another
Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Music in a Play .
[23]
Alvarez also composed music for
Soho Rep 's site specific work Washeteria ,
[24]
Theatre for a New Audience 's production of
Thornton Wilder's
The Skin of Our Teeth ,
[25] and the documentary
A Woman Like Me .
[26]
Alvarez's other musicals include The Universe is a Small Hat ,
[27] The Elementary Spacetime Show
[28]
[29] and NOISE .
[30]
Alvarez was an Artist-in-Residence at
The University of the Arts where they served as Founding Artistic Director of Polyphone, a festival of new musicals for five years.
[31]
[32]
[33]
Awards
References
^
a
b
"César Alvarez Is Changing the American Musical Form, and the World" . AMERICAN THEATRE . 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2017-10-23 .
^
"A musical for people who don't like musicals" . The Economist . Retrieved 2017-10-23 .
^
a
b
c Cox, Gordon (2016-05-02).
"Lucille Lortel Awards: 'Guards at the Taj,' 'The Robber Bridegroom' Score Big" . Variety . Retrieved 2017-10-23 .
^
"César Alvarez and Allie Martin join Music Department" . 2 July 2020.
^
"César Alvarez's "Elementary Spacetime Show" Debuts" . AL DÍA News . 2016-09-12. Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"César Alvarez - Lower Manhattan Cultural Council" . Lower Manhattan Cultural Council . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"César Alvarez Is Changing the American Musical Form, and the World" . AMERICAN THEATRE . 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"1990s Motifs | Interlochen Summer Arts Camp" . camp.interlochen.org . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Alumni Composers | Composition | Conservatory | Oberlin College" . new.oberlin.edu . 24 October 2016. Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Dartmouth College Faculty Bio" . 16 July 2020.
^ D'Andrea, Niki (2008-03-13).
"The Lisps" . Phoenix New Times . Archived from
the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"The Lisps: Sing Along with Heartache" . NPR.org . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Listen And Watch: The Lisps On TAS In Session On WNYE 91.5 | WFUV" . www.wfuv.org . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Futurity Is A Folk-Rock-Math-Science… Musical?" . Bedford + Bowery . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"At Length » Futurity" . atlengthmag.com . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"An Indie Rock Musical Grows in Brooklyn" . PAPERMAG . 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Interview: The Lisps - Lightspeed Magazine" . Lightspeed Magazine . 2010-07-27. Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"ART's new season: 'Porgy' and The Lisps" . Boston.com . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^ Kerr, Euan.
"Walker celebrates Cunningham in new performing arts season" . State of the Arts . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^ Isherwood, Charles (2015-10-20).
"Review: 'Futurity,' in a Civil War Setting, Wishes for Today's Technology" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^ Isherwood, Charles (2013-02-08).
" 'Good Person of Szechwan,' With Taylor Mac, at La MaMa" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Nominations Announced for 58th Annual Drama Desk Awards; Giant and Hands on a Hardbody Lead the Pack | Playbill" . Playbill . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^ Cox, Gordon (2015-04-23).
"Drama Desk Nominations: 'Hamilton' Leads the Polls (FULL LIST)" . Variety . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^ Soloski, Alexis (2015-03-30).
"Review: Soho Rep's 'Washeteria,' Staged in a Brooklyn Storefront" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^ Brantley, Ben (2017-02-28).
"Review: In 'The Skin of Our Teeth,' the End of the World as We Know It" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
" 'A Woman Like Me': Film Review" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Building the Future with Gaming and Participatory Theater - Extended Play" . Extended Play . 2015-01-28. Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Philly Fringe: 'Spacetime Show' probes teen suicide with humor, music, physics" . Philly.com . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Fringe reviews: 'The Elementary Spacetime Show,' 'Switched!' and 'The Chairs' : Shapiro on Theater : Arts & Entertainment : WHYY" . WHYY . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Making some 'Noise' " . Herald Community Newspapers . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Polyphone" . The American Theatre Wing . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"Polyphone Is Bigger and Better the Second Time Around" . AMERICAN THEATRE . 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"UArts Appoints Director of Polyphone Festival" . 2019-10-10.
^
"America Theatre Wing" . The American Theatre Wing . Retrieved 2017-09-27 .
^
"Off Broadway Alliance Announces 2016 Award Winners" . TheaterMania.com . Retrieved 2017-10-24 .
^
"César Alvarez and Isabella Dawis Awarded Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre" .
^ Editors, American Theatre (2022-04-08).
"Among the 2022 Guggenheim Fellows, 4 Theatremakers" . AMERICAN THEATRE . Retrieved 2022-04-09 .
External links