Avett Brothers Musical SWEPT AWAY to Premiere at Berkeley Rep in June 2020

It was announced today that the new musical Swept Away, featuring the music of The Avett Brothers, will have its world premiere at Berkeley Rep as part of their 2019-20 season, beginning performances in June 2020. Swept Away is produced by Berkeley Rep by special arrangement with Matthew Masten and Sean Hudock.

Multiple Grammy-Award nominees The Avett Brothers, hailed as "America's biggest roots band" by Rolling Stone, bring their signature blend of folk and rock 'n' roll attitude to the theatrical stage in this new musical inspired by their 2004 album Mignonette and their vast body of music.

The band joins forces with Tony Award-winning stage and screen writer John Logan (Red, Broadway's Moulin Rouge!, Skyfall, Gladiator) and Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (American Idiot, Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), who blew the roof off Berkeley Rep in 2009 with Green Day'sAmerican Idiot. Swept Away will feature music arrangements and orchestrations by Chris Miller and Brian Usifer.

"This new and original story built with our songs has revealed meanings and connections which Scott and I never could have imagined otherwise," said Seth Avett. "Beyond the unique joy and somewhat surreal experience of watching the project develop, it has been an honor to work with everyone involved; writer John Logan has led the way with talent, motivation, and inspiration."

"It's been a total pleasure working with The Avett Brothers and living inside their music," said playwright John Logan. "I am constantly inspired by the sheer variety of their work and its utter truth and soulfulness."

"I'm ecstatic to be reunited with my West Coast theatre family at Berkeley Rep, and to be a part of Johanna Pfaelzer's inaugural season," says Swept Awaydirector Michael Mayer. "Bringing The Avett Brothers' gorgeous songs to life in the context of John Logan's gut-punch of a ghost story is both a privilege and a thrill."

The production was announced as part of Berkeley Repertory Theatre's 2019-20 subscription season and will be part of new Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer's first season at the Theatre.

"I am thrilled that Swept Away will be part of my first season at Berkeley Rep," says incoming Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer. "This is an extraordinary group of artists, coming together to tell a deeply human story full of yearning and sacrifice. I'm delighted that The Avett Brothers, whose songs have always contained gorgeous stories, are bringing their gifts to the theatre."

Swept Away is set in 1888, off the coast of New Bedford, MA. When a violent storm sinks their whaling ship, the four surviving souls - a young man in search of adventure, his older brother who has sworn to protect him, a captain at the end of a long career at sea, and a worldly first mate who has fallen from grace - each face a reckoning: How far will I go to stay alive? And can I live with the consequences?

Tickets for Swept Away are currently only available to Berkeley Rep full (7-play) season subscribers. Availability as part of choose-your-own subscription packages (3 or more plays) and single tickets will be announced at a later date. For more information, visit www.BerkeleyRep.org