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A.R.T Announces November/December OBERON Programming
By: Stephi Wild Nov. 02, 2018
American Repertory Theater at Harvard University (A.R.T.) announces November and December 2018 programming at OBERON, its club-style theater space for cutting-edge performance and a thriving incubator for local and emerging artists. Upcoming events include A.R.T.'s Live @ OBERON and Afterglow @ OBERON series, A.R.T. presentations, and independently produced events.
OBERON is located at 2 Arrow Street at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Tickets are available online at americanrepertorytheater.org, by phone at 617.547.8300, in person at the Loeb Drama Center Ticket Services Offices (64 Brattle Street, Cambridge), and 30 minutes before curtain at OBERON. Prices vary per event. A.R.T. subscribers and members receive discounts to Live @ OBERON, Breakout, and Afterglow @ OBERON series productions, as well as The Donkey Show.
BILLY Dean Thomas
Live @ OBERON
Friday, November 2 at 10PM
Tickets from $15
Like the famous Gordon Parks photograph did in 1942, Billy Dean Thomas redefines what it means to be American Gothic in 2018. Using elements of silent film and storytelling, Thomas showcases unreleased music and videos from important, dark periods of their artistic journey through the darker parts of American history. Special guests include rapper/songwriter Tashawn Taylor, singer/songwriter Anaís Azul, rapper ANSON RAP$, and playwright Liz James. Come dressed in all black and stick around for a killer set by DJ Rilla Force. Also known as "The Queer B.I.G.," Thomas is a musician who challenges the hip hop game with lyrics that align with #BlackLivesMatter and intersectional feminism. A 2018 Boston Foundation Live Arts Boston (LAB) Grant recipient, Thomas is nominated for two 2018 Boston Music Awards.
PROCLAMATION 6: UNITE!
A.R.T. Education Program
Saturday, November 3 and Sunday, November 4 at 7PM
Tickets Pay What You Can
Proclamation 6: Unite! explores the differences that divide, the ties that bind, and how we build bridges between the two. The ensemble of Proclamation 6: Unite! digs deep into our responsibilities to ourselves and to others in a performance brimming with imagination, movement, and poetry. Fourteen students across Greater Boston have collaborated after school with A.R.T. artists and Harvard professors to create an original piece of theater through dialogue, creative writing, group improvisation, and movement. They have explored the urgent concept of "unity" and created a theater piece inspired by their discoveries.
BELIEVE IT OR NAUGHTY: A BURLESQUE OF LORE AND LEGEND
Thursday, November 8 and Sunday, November 11 at 8PM
Tickets from $20
Rogue Burlesque re-imagines your favorite cryptids, monsters, and mythical beings in this epic striptease show. We all know seeing in believing, but our cyclops will have you believing in love at first sight. Witness the alluring Sirens, the Charles River Mermaid, and the Loch Ness Monster emerge from the watery depths. The undead will be boogying the night away under a disco ball lit by dragon's breath. And special guest Devilicia will get to the bottom of these rumors about the lizard people that live in the Denver Airport....
BILLY WYLDER: STRIKE THE MATCH
Friday, November 9 at 8:30PM
Tickets from $15
From the front-lines at Standing Rock to the archaic streets of Jerusalem, the Sahel Desert to Carnegie Hall, music has been the source of strength for Billy Wylder. The band features Avi Salloway (Bombino/Hey Mama/Avi & Celia) joined by an inspired cast of singular artists who have performed across five continents including concerts at Coachella, Newport Folk Festival, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Montreal Jazz Fest, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center. From 2013 through 2016, Salloway toured the globe with Bombino, the Tuareg guitar hero from Niger, Africa. While on the journey and since returning, Salloway wrote the material released on the band's new album, Strike the Match (Sand & Gold Records). The music weaves together American folk and rock with sensibilities from the Sahara Desert: think Andrew Bird meets Ali Farka Toure, Pete Seeger, and Talking Heads.
HARVARD BOOK STORE PRESENTS JASMINE GUILLORY WITH ROXANE GAY
Saturday, November 10 at 6PM
Tickets $30
Harvard Book Store welcomes bestselling novelist Jasmine Guillory for a discussion of The Proposal, the highly anticipated follow-up to her beloved romance The Wedding Date. She will be joined in conversation by celebrated writer Roxane Gay (Hunger). Ticket include a copy of The Proposal. The evening will include a cash bar and a book signing with Guillory.
RESISTANCE MIC!: ARTISTS PERFORMING TRUTH TO POWER
Tuesday, November 13 at 8PM
Tickets $25
Featuring performances by Sarah Sweeney, Regie Gibson, Jennifer Jean, plus the amazing talents of writers in the newly published Pangyrus Resistance Issue including Robert Pinsky, Sonya Larson, Fred Marchant, and more. Music by Atlas Soul. Ticket includes a copy of the new Pangyrus Resistance Issue.
The 2016 election inspired a broad-based Resistance not seen in the United States in decades. People from all walks of life have been protesting, marching, mobilizing, and organizing in an effort to take back the country and create a more compassionate and just world. Artists are vital to this work. American Repertory Theater, in collaboration with the literary magazine Pangyrus, continues the second season of Resistance Mic!, a series of intimate, curated evenings where a diverse collective of artists take the stage to perform truth to power in these troubled times. Launched on November 9, 2017-the one-year anniversary of the day after the 2016 election-Resistance Mic! is part of the A.R.T. of Human Rights series, an ongoing collaboration between the American Repertory Theater and Harvard Kennedy School's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy.
Hosted by Timothy Patrick McCarthy.
TAJA LINDLEY: THE BAG LADY MAINFESTA
Afterglow @ OBERON
Thursday, November 15 at 8PM
Tickets $25
Performed by Taja Lindley and directed by Tanisha Christie, The Bag Lady Manifesta features an immersive installation of memory followed by a participatory performance ritual where audiences are invited to (re)consider what to let go of, and what to remember-individually and collectively. Through dynamic movement, burlesque, text, soundscapes, ritual, and projection Lindley adorns and activates her Black, queer, female body with trash bags to traverse the dumping grounds and shadow side(s) of herself, the audience, and the United States. There will be a post-show discussion immediately following the performance.
HOUSEBOI
Friday, November 16 at 10PM
Tickets $10
Houseboi celebrates dance floor freedom, bringing together glittering and experimental drag performers with cutting-edge DJs who are helping to cultivate modern queer dance scenes in cities around the world. Houseboi prioritizes booking DJs and performers who are trans*, queer, non-binary, women, and people of color. On November 16, Houseboi presents a Residents' Night, with music from Lunamariposa, Char, and DJ Pussywillow, along with mind-expanding drag performances from Sham Payne and friends! Creative attire encouraged-everyone welcome!
THE BIG 6 BENEFIT CONCERT
Sunday, November 18 at 7PM
Tickets from $10
The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative's benefit will raise funds for local charities in the Boston area. The concert will feature covers of classic and contemporary rock songs played by The Big 6, a Harvard supergroup formed by Emergency Physicians from Brigham and Women's Hospital and staff from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. The Big 6 is comprised of Michael VanRooyen, Director of HHI and Chair of Emergency Medicine at BWH; Tim Erickson and Valerie Dobiesz, Faculty at HHI, BWH, & HMS; and Sam Plasmati, Isaac Baker, and Katie Farineau of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.
THE MOTH
Usual Suspect
Tuesday, November 20 at 8PM (tickets available November 13 at 3PM)
Tuesday, December 18 at 8PM (tickets available December 11 at 3PM)
Tickets $10
The Moth StorySLAMs are steadily spreading all over the map, gathering people and stories from all over the country. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston have multiple shows each month. The Moth is open to anyone with a five-minute story to share on the night's posted theme. The brave of heart or those with stories they're aching to tell prepare personal, true tales. When the doors open, storyteller hopefuls put their names in The Moth Hat. A half-hour later, names are picked, and one by one, storytellers take the stage. Each person has just five minutes! The ten featured stories are scored by teams of judges selected from the audience. Each StorySLAM generates a StorySLAM winner. After ten SLAMs, the winners face off in our GrandSLAM Championships. Come sign up to tell a story, or just enjoy the show!
NOVEMBER 20 theme is Beginnings: Prepare a five-minute story about a beginning. Dawn, step one, day one, birth, or re-birth. Initiations and inaugurations. Tabula rasa. A new leaf, a new loft, a puppy, a job, parole. New car smell. A makeover so magical your own mama don't know you! Quantum hops, burning and building bridges, cleaning house, pulling up roots, or a fresh coat of paint. Your nouveau reach. A blank sheet of paper...
DECEMBER 18 theme is Joy: Prepare a five-minute story about an experience that brought you utter delight, or a time you were able to provide it for somebody else. Glee, euphoria, eureka...a random act of kindness, a brand-new car with a ribbon on it or a compassionate ear and a hot cup of soup for a hungry soul...things that make you bellow, a la Jimi Hendrix, "You make my heart sing!"
7TH ANNUAL David Bowie BLACK FRIDAY (& SATURDAY) AKA DAVID BOOBIE
Friday, November 23 at 9PM
Saturday, November 24 at 7PM
Tickets from $15
The holidays are approaching once again, which means it's time for the glorious return of Bowie-flavored burlesque. Niki "Starbust" Luparelli and her all-girl Total Blam Blam David Boobie Band bring back to OBERON their lascivious tribute to the Thin White Duke and the female form. Rather than pushing through the market square on Black Friday, driving like a demon from station to station, and running wild through a million dead-end streets in search of Christmas bargains, you should instead spit in the eyes of fools, put on your red shoes, and run to the center of things-OBERON, that is-where each table offers a seat with the clearest view, and femme fatales emerge from shadows, performing to the best of Bowie, ALL NIGHT LONG.
SOMETHING STRANGE
Thursday, November 29 and Friday, November 30 at 8PM
Saturday, December 1 at 1PM
Tickets from $15
A live music and burlesque tribute to The Nightmare Before Christmas by Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys. Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange? Walter's the one hiding under your bed, teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red, army of toys hiding under yours stairs, fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair. In this town, don't we love it now? Everybody's waiting for the next surprise!
OLD SCHOOL GAME SHOW'S HOLIDAY SPECIAL
Friday, December 7 at 8PM
Tickets from $20
Break out the eggnog and your favorite ugly sweater: Old School Game Show (OSGS) is back for our Holiday Special. This isn't your Auntie MiMi's holiday feast-OSGS is staying on the naughty list with more game show antics to keep your holiday season bright! Whether you're celebrating the holidays or you just like to laugh, play, and win fantastic prizes, OSGS is the perfect present for you and your friends! Old School Game Show is an interactive trivia experience like no other. Audience participants can get the chance to play our original pop culture games, competing to win fabulous prizes from local sponsors. Or we invite you to sit back and enjoy the spectacle of live music, special guests, dancers, and sketch comedy. You'll feel like you're in the audience of your favorite retro variety show. It's all the fun of an afternoon spent rolling around in the rumpus room-without the rug burn.
HARRY POTTER AND THE SACRED TEXT
Sunday, December 9 at 7PM
Tickets from $25
Harvard Divinity graduates Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile will deep dive into a chapter of Harry Potter, tell stories from their own lives, and try-out a medieval religious reading practice or two with this modern-day classic. Come and enjoy a night of live music, spiritual engagement, great storytelling, and hanging out with two of your favorite podcasters!
THE SWEETBACK SISTERS' COUNTRY CHRISTMAS SINGALONG SPECTACULAR
Live @ OBERON
Friday, December 14 at 8PM
Saturday, December 15 at 7:30PM
Tickets
Christmas time is here again and so are The Sweetback Sisters with their tenth annual Country Christmas Sing-Along Spectacular! These ladies bring the holidays to life with their vaudevillian theatrics reminiscent of TV variety shows of the 50s and 60s. This wildly popular show delivers a veritable explosion of yuletide splendor, complete with trivia, prizes, and, of course, all the holiday tunes you know and love. Want to sing, but don't know the words? Fear not! Songbooks and warm fuzzy feelings are provided. You never know what the diverse musical influences the Sweetback Sisters will bring to the table, but it's sure to be bountiful feast of spirit and revelry. Buy your tickets early, and come find out why folks are saying, "It's just not Christmas without The Sweetback Sisters."
CLUB DROSSELMEYER 1941
Sunday, December 16 at 7:30PM
Wednesday, December 19 at 7:30PM
Thursday, December 20 at 7:30PM
Friday, December 21 at 7:30PM
Tickets from $49
Discover mystery and mayhem, solve puzzles and crack codes, meet a cast of unusual characters, listen to incredible big band play Tchaikovsky in 8/8 rhythm and dance the night away all at Club Drosselmeyer 1941, an interactive Nutcracker in Swing time! It's 1941 and the elusive inventor Herr Drosselmeyer and his niece, Dr. Clara Stahlbaum are hard work on Drosselmeyer Industries' most important invention yet: Project Nutcracker, version Delta. But what is the role of a mechanical super-soldier at the home front when there's a new war on? And how will Herr Drosselmeyer's swanky Cambridge night club help keep morale high, all while mobilizing citizens to aid in the war effort? Dancers, divas, acrobats, magicians, sugar plum fairies, rat kings and spies will all be racing for the newest codebreaking technology... because whoever controls the information will win the war.
SAILOR MOON SHOUJO SPECTACULAR
Saturday, December 29 at 8PM
Tickets from $15
Get your sailor suits ready for an evening of burlesque, music, dance, and drag in celebration of the beloved 90s anime Sailor Moon! Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight ~ the Sailor Moon Shoujo Spectacular is BACK for its SIXTH sugoi year! Join kawaii curators Mx Macabre and Jade Sylvan for an evening of performance dedicated to one of the most influential and long-lasting animes of all time--Naoko Takeuchi's Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon! Let out your inner magical self as you see your favorite characters brought to life on stage. Dress to impress for our costume contest with fabulous prizes! Let us all lend our light and love to combat the darkness.
THE DONKEY SHOW NEW YEAR'S EVE 2019
Presented by A.R.T.
Sunday, December 31, Doors at 9PM | Performance at 10PM | Toast at Midnight | Party until 2AM
Early Bird Pricing: $45 (Dance Floor), $75 (VIP Table Seat)
After December 12: $55 (Dance Floor), $95 (VIP Table Seat)
The Donkey Show is once again opening its doors for a special late-night New Year's Eve celebration. The Donkey Show brings you the ultimate disco experience-a crazy circus of mirror balls and feathered divas, of roller skaters and hustle queens inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The party rages on the dance floor to all the best 70s hits as the show unfolds around the audience. After the show, the party continues into the night so you can live out your own disco fever fantasy!
THE DONKEY SHOW
The Long-Running Hit
Presented by A.R.T.
Every Saturday night
Tickets from $25
Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus' celebrated smash hit begins its tenth season at OBERON every Saturday night, bringing you the ultimate disco experience-a crazy circus of mirror balls and feathered divas, of roller skaters and hustle queens inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Named Best of Boston 2018 - Best Ongoing Live Show by Boston magazine, the party rages on the dance floor to all the best 70s hits as the show unfolds around the audience. After the show, the party continues into the night so you can live out your own disco fever fantasy!
OBERON is the American Repertory Theater's club theater space for cutting-edge performance, a thriving incubator for local and emerging artists pushing the theatrical form, and host to some of A.R.T.'s most boundary-breaking productions. It has attracted national attention for its innovative programming and business models. Thousands of artists and performance groups bring work to the space each year.
American Repertory Theater at Harvard University (A.R.T.) is a leading force in the American theater, producing groundbreaking work in Cambridge and beyond. A.R.T. was founded in 1980 by Robert Brustein, who served as Artistic Director until 2002, when he was succeeded by Robert Woodruff. Diane Paulus began her tenure as Artistic Director in 2008. Under the leadership of Paulus as the Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director and Executive Producer Diane Borger, A.R.T. seeks to expand the boundaries of theater by producing world-class performances in which the audience is central to the theatrical experience.
Throughout its history, A.R.T. has been honored with many distinguished awards including the Tony Award for Best New Play for All the Way (2014); consecutive Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical for Pippin (2013) and The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (2012), both of which Paulus directed, and sixteen other Tony Awards since 2012; a Pulitzer Prize; a Jujamcyn Prize for outstanding contribution to the development of creative talent; the Regional Theater Tony Award; and more than 100 Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards.
A.R.T. collaborates with artists around the world to develop and create work in new ways. It is currently engaged in a number of multi-year projects, including a collaboration with Harvard's Center for the Environment that will result in the development of new work over several years. Under Paulus' leadership, the A.R.T.'s club theater, OBERON, has been an incubator for local and emerging artists and has attracted national attention for its innovative programming and business models.
As the professional theater on the campus of Harvard University, A.R.T. catalyzes discourse, interdisciplinary collaboration, and creative exchange among a wide range of academic departments, institutions, students, and faculty members, acting as a conduit between its community of artists and the university. A.R.T. mentors students in the Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club working at the Loeb Drama Center and OBERON, and plays a central role in Harvard's undergraduate Theater, Dance & Media concentration, teaching courses in directing, dramatic literature, acting, voice, design, and dramaturgy.
Dedicated to making great theater accessible, A.R.T. actively engages more than 5,000 community members and local students annually in project-based partnerships, workshops, conversations with
artists, and other enrichment activities both at the theater and across the Greater Boston area.
Through all of these initiatives, A.R.T. is dedicated to producing world-class performances in which the audience is central to the theatrical experience.
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