American Repertory Theater Announces Upcoming Programming; New Dates For Broadway-Bound 1776, New Musical Starring Idina Menzel, and More!

American Repertory Theater has announced its upcoming programming, including updated dates for Broadway-bound 1776, a new musical starring Idina Menzel, and much more.

1776 will now play May - July 2022 in the Loeb Drama Center before it plays at Roundabout Theatre Company in fall 2022 and begins a national tour in February 2023.

WILD in Concert is a new musical starring Idina Menzel, which was created by Tony and Obie Award-winning playwright V (formerly Eve Ensler).

The company will celebrate the return of live, in-person theater with a free outdoor experience for all at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University beginning in August 2021; dance, music, and theater events at the reopened Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square, Cambridge beginning September; and the return of A.R.T. productions on Broadway and beyond this fall.

The theater will continue to offer digital programming and live-streams for audiences to enjoy from anywhere in the world. Additional information about A.R.T.'s OBERON programming, pop-up performances, and learning and engagement opportunities will be announced at a later date.

Subscription packages beginning at $99 and including three productions or more will be available beginning in July; single tickets to individual productions will be available on a rolling basis over the coming months. More information is available at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/2021-22-Programming.

A.R.T. continues its collaboration with the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on the Roadmap for Recovery and Resilience for Theater, following its guiding principles to prioritize the health and safety of audiences, artists, and staff. Protocols for in-person attendance based on disease dynamics and state and local guidelines will be announced at a later date.

Learn more about all of the upcoming programming below:

The Arboretum Experience

Beginning August 21, 2021 | Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
Created by Kirsten Greenidge, Tim Hall, Jill Johnson, and Summer L. Williams
Produced in collaboration with the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

Visitors are invited to experience the natural beauty of the Arnold Arboretum on an outdoor, self-guided journey that centers resilience, healing, wellness, and joy. Created by a team of artists that includes playwright Kirsten Greenidge, musician Tim Hall, choreographer Jill Johnson, and director Summer L. Williams, this collaboration between the A.R.T. and the Arboretum features audio plays written and performed by artists from Greater Boston and beyond, movement experiences, as well as pop-up music and dance performances, all set against the 281-acre backdrop of one of the jewels of Boston's Emerald Necklace.

Virtual Event - Behind the Scenes: The Arboretum Experience to be held Wednesday, June 24, 2021 at 7:30PM. Hear firsthand from the creative team and Director of the Arnold Arboretum Ned Friedman about the project.

Production support of The Arboretum Experience is provided by The Bob and Alison Murchison New Work Development Fund and the Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation. Development of The Arboretum Experience has been supported by the Harvard University Committee on the Arts.

Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic

September - October 2021 | Loeb Drama Center
Created by Ayodele Casel
Directed by Torya Beard

Trailblazing tap dancer Ayodele Casel captures the spark of connection and creation in Chasing Magic, performed live on stage for the first time since its virtual premiere. Exploring the magic of tap dance and everyday life, this joyous production celebrates gratitude, friendship, trust, legacy, culture, ancestors, and collaboration.

Macbeth In Stride

October - November 2021 | Loeb Drama Center
Created and performed by Whitney White
Directed by Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar

A dazzling theatrical event created and performed by Obie Award-winning artist Whitney White with a live band, Macbeth In Stride examines what it means to be an ambitious Black woman through the lens of one of Shakespeare's most iconic characters. The first of White's five-part series commissioned by A.R.T. excavating Shakespeare's women, the production uses pop, rock, gospel, and R&B to trace the fatalistic arc of Lady Macbeth while lifting up contemporary Black female power, femininity, and desire. Directors Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar (We Live in Cairo) co-stage this groundbreaking world premiere.

Phoenix Rising

November 19 - 21, 2021 | Loeb Drama Center
Featuring Silkroad Ensemble and Artistic Director/Grammy Award Winner Rhiannon Giddens

Silkroad Ensemble debuts Phoenix Rising, a musical rebirth and celebration featuring more than 25 Silkroad artists alongside Artistic Director and Grammy Award-winning musician and vocalist Rhiannon Giddens. Silkroad offers Phoenix Rising as a collective grieving song and a clarion call, uniting audiences through varied cultural experiences to create a more peaceful and just world as we emerge from a long and stunning upheaval.

As a performer, composer, and cross-cultural connector, Rhiannon Giddens has pursued a lifelong mission to shine light on previously under-recognized voices, genres, and musical traditions. Her performance with the Silkroad Ensemble in Phoenix Rising will be her first since beginning her tenure as Artistic Director of the organization, which was founded by cellist and humanitarian Yo-Yo Ma in 1998.

Silkroad's Phoenix Rising is made possible thanks, in part, to the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Alice L. Walton Foundation, the Barr Foundation, and the MAP Fund.

WILD In Concert

December 2021 | Loeb Drama Center
Book by V (formerly Eve Ensler)
Music by Justin Tranter and Caroline Pennell
Lyrics by Justin Tranter, Caroline Pennell, and V
With contributions by Idina Menzel
Directed by Diane Paulus

WILD is a new musical fable about a single mother struggling to hold on to her family farm and connect with her teenage daughter, whose determination to save the planet endows her and her friends with powers they never knew they had. Created by Tony and Obie Award-winning playwright V (formerly Eve Ensler, O.P.C., In the Body of the World, The Vagina Monologues), Grammy and Golden Globe-nominated songwriter Justin Tranter (Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Imagine Dragons) and songwriter Caroline Pennell (Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez) and directed by Diane Paulus, this concert presentation features Tony Award-winning performer and songwriter Idina Menzel (Rent, Wicked, Frozen) as a parent confronting what it means for her family and her community to survive in a world facing mass extinction.

Jack and The Beanstalk: A Musical Adventure

December 2021 | Loeb Drama Center
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Julia Riew
Orchestrations and Music Direction by Ian Chan
Directed by Rebecca Aparicio

After its digital world premiere in 2020, the beloved Jack and the Beanstalk: A Musical Adventure comes to life onstage! Join Jack on an epic journey up the beanstalk to magical Storyland, where Jack meets the tyrannical King Giant, two Rockstar Mice, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, the Fiddler Cat, and the Grand Storyteller. The vivid imaginations of Harvard undergraduates Julia Riew and Ian Chan (Thumbelina: A Little Musical) transform the classic fairy tale into a contemporary celebration of the power of kindness, courage, determination, and creativity to overcome life's obstacles.

Production support of Jack and the Beanstalk: A Musical Adventure is provided by The Linda Hammett Ory & Andrew Ory Charitable Trust. Additional production support is provided by Bank of America and Bina and Robin Thompson.

Ocean Filibuster

February - March 2022 | Loeb Drama Center
Created by PearlDamour
Written by Lisa D'Amour
Music by Sxip Shirey
Directed by Katie Pearl
Featuring Jennifer Kidwell

Commissioned and developed through a collaboration with the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

Inside the Senate chamber of a global governing body, Mr. Majority introduces an "End of Ocean Bill" designed to shrink Earth's oceans into a more manageable (and marketable) collection of inland seas. When the floor is opened for debate, the Ocean arrives to speak in its own defense...and so begins an epic Human-Ocean showdown. A world-premiere, genre-crashing music theater experience created by the Obie Award-winning company PearlDamour and featuring Obie Award-winning performer Jennifer Kidwell playing both Mr. Majority and the Ocean, Ocean Filibuster fuses myth, song, video, stand-up, and science to explore the vast depths crucial to our daily survival.

Known for award-winning site-specific works both intimate and large-scale, PearlDamour is the recipient of the 2011 Lee Reynolds Theater Award given to women theater artists who effect social change.

1776

May - July 2022 | Loeb Drama Center
Book by Peter Stone
Music and Lyrics by Sherman Edwards
Based on a Concept by Sherman Edwards
Directed by Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus
Choreography by Jeffrey L. Page

A co-production with Roundabout Theatre Company.

They knew they would make history, but not what history would make of them. Fed up with living under the tyranny of British rule, John Adams attempts to persuade his fellow members of the Continental Congress to vote in favor of American Independence and sign the Declaration. But how much is he willing to compromise in the pursuit of freedom? And who does that freedom belong to? Jeffrey L. Page and A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus direct a new production of the Tony Award-winning musical, reexamining this pivotal moment in American history with a cast that reflects multiple representations of race, gender, and ethnicity.

In spring 2021, the Creating Equal collective of artists, organizers, and facilitators are generating public art-making projects, arts-based workshops, connectivity events, and original artworks in conversation with the themes of the musical 1776 in order to foster civic engagement in Greater Boston. Upcoming events include:

Embodied Elements: Re-Emergence Through Movement
Virtual event Tuesday, June 21 at 5:30PM ET

Resistance Mic!
Virtual event Wednesday, June 23 at 7:30PM ET

ArtWeek
In-Person events Monday, June 28 - Friday, July 2

Learn more at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/CreatingEqual.

Following its run at A.R.T. 1776 will play at Roundabout Theatre Company in fall 2022 and begin a national tour in February 2023.

Digital Programming

A.R.T. will continue to offer digital programming for audiences to enjoy from anywhere in the world, including:

Behind the Scenes, with the writers, directors, composers, and choreographers who are making new work at the A.R.T. Hear new songs and scenes, and learn about the process, research, and development that goes into the creation of new plays and musicals. Production support for Behind the Scenes is provided by Alison and Bob Murchison. Additional production support is provided by Maxine Isaacs.

The Lunch Room, A.R.T.'s virtual talk show featuring the artists, activists, and civic leaders who are shaping our communities.

Civically Speaking, featuring virtual conversations, lectures, and performance events on history, politics, justice, and the meaning of democracy.

A.R.T. Travels, conversations with A.R.T.-affiliated theater-makers bring fans from both across the country and around the world.