CAROUSEL, THE MOTH, Jason Robert Brown and More Set for A.R.T's OBERON, March 2014

OBERON, the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.)'s second stage and club theater venue, announces its March line up of exciting and original programming on the fringe of Harvard Square.

This month includes limited engagements as well as the return of OBERON favorites including Artists in Residence, Touch Performance Art; Poor Old Shine, the Connecticut based folk band; and another visit from the family favorite, Mike the Bubble Man.

Touch Performance Art will present the final event of their series Acoustica Electronica, an immersive theatrical event fusing classical and electronic music, as well as a special sneak peek of their work-in-progress Sexy Back... Or What You Will, a club-theater experience inspired by Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and set to boy-band hits of the 90s. Sexy Back's work shop will be presented for FREE as part of the OBERON New Works Series.

Featured in the A.R.T's hit production of The Heart of Robin Hood, the band Poor Old Shine became a quick fan-favorite. Playing music from the show and their new debut album, don't miss this opportunity to hear what The New York Times called a "highlight of 2013." Due to popular demand a second show has been added for Poor Old Shine.

The complete lineup is as follows:

FINAL CUT - A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theater Training

March 5-7th at 7:30pm

Tickets: $20

Using only the languages of movement and music, this dance-theater piece is a reflection of the faith of humanity in times of war and destruction. A requiem for the dream of peace, this provocative production explores how we learn to love and hate one another, and how we survive in the most difficult of times. Staged byAlla Sigalova, a world-renowned choreographer, Head of the Movement Department at the Moscow Art Theater School, and a former judge on the Russian version of "Dancing with the Stars."

YOU'RE THE EXPERT

Tuesday, March 11th at 7:00pm

Tickets: $15

You're the Expert bridges the worlds of comedy and academia, attracting a comedy audience while providing them with meaningful content. Each show features an expert in a somewhat obscure field. A group of hilarious comedians try to guess what in the world our expert studies all day long. Afterwards, the expert dissects how wildly wrong (or right) the ideas about her field were. The show ends with an interview where we find out what our expert does and why their field is important. It's funny, it's interactive, and you end up actually learning something.

CAROUSEL

Presented by SDMC Productions in collaboration with the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club

Wednesday, March 12th at 7:30pm; March 13th at 6:00pm and 10:00pm

Tickets $10-30

Young millworker Julie Jordan falls for the brooding carousel barker Billy Bigelow. Both forsake their jobs in order to get married, but end up sacrificing a lot more when the unemployed Billy, panicked by news that Julie is pregnant, chooses to take part in a robbery. This stripped-down staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein's timeless meditation on self-destruction,redemption, and romance will reimagine the classic musical with a focus on the intimacy and grittiness at its core.

HEAD OVER HEELS

Produced and Presented by The Bang Group

Friday, March 14th, 21 and 28 at 8:00pm

Tickets $10-20

Head Over Heels is a choreographic revue ruminating on the wayward qualities of the human heart. The Bang Group's four principal dancers, Amber Sloan, Nic Petry, Jeffrey Kazin and David Parker are caught in a fateful braid leading them in and out of each other's arms. This non-narrative tale is told through song, tap dance, body music and contemporary dance and is set to a wide-ranging musical score sung and danced by the performers and played live by music director Anna Ebbesen. Ranging from Mozart, Rossini and Steve Reich through Frank Loesser, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Bob Merrill, Burt Bachrach and Jonatha Brooke, the score brings together songs from latter-day musical theater (post 1960) with tap dance transliterations fromReich and Mozart. Parker's choreography places the rhythmic foot-both bare and shod-front and center tapping out conversations, negotiations and resolutions. In typical Bang Group fashion, there is an amalgam of influences: from gay culture and street dance to MGM musicals. Dressed in white tie and tails, three men and one woman align, hook up and peel apart in patterns evoking desire,loss, betrayal and acceptance. Infused with rueful humor, the lively and inventive dances represent a new approach to tap and musical theater choreography as the songs anchor the story of four people who are absurdly and valiantly devoted to love.

MIKE THE BUBBLE MAN - PRESENTED BY OBERON

Saturday, March 15th at 11:00am

Tickets: $10

An interactive 45-minute show for kids. Mike the Bubble Man brings magic and science to the stage with this interactive 45-minute indoor show about BUBBLES! Through music, choreography, and comedy, bubbles-in all different shapes and sizes-come alive, sparking imagination and wonder. Exploring science through bubbles creates an entertaining learning environment that introduces shapes, color, and chemistry. A love for bubbles is never outgrown-especially when there's a chance to see the world from inside of one!

SUNDAY FUNDAY WITH MIMI GONZALEZ AND JULEE ANTONELLIS

Sunday, March 16th at 8:00pm

Tickets: $20-25

ATKM Productions, creator of All The Kings Men performance troupe, brings veteran of the international comedy scene, Mimi Gonzalez (Ellen, LOGO's One Night Stand Up) and hometown hero, Julee Antonellis (AfterEllen.com's "50 Hot Comedians", Women in Comedy Festival) together for you, for one night only, in a hysterical evening of multiple personality comedy. Their explosive and unique styles blend together expertly in a comedic tour de force not to be missed!

THE MOTH

Tuesday, March 18th at 8:00pm
Tickets from $8-16

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 Detroit/Ann Arbor have multiple shows each month. Louisville and Pittsburgh, added last year, are thriving. And this fall we're thrilled to add Boston, Milwaukee, Portland and Seattle! The shows are 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 puttheir 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!

POOR OLD SHINE Live at OBERON - PRESENTED BY A.R.T./OBERON

Wednesday, March 19th at 7:30pm and 10:00pm

Tickets: $15-25

Fresh from composing original music and performing as part of the American Repertory Theater's production of The Heart of Robin Hood, Poor Old Shine brings their fantastic sound to OBERON for one night only! Poor Old Shine is a roots band with a grassroots ethos. The Connecticut quintet prizes the human element that underpins their music, from songwriting to recording to album design and even choice of record label: Poor Old Shine released its self-titled debut studio LP, recorded with Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Joy Kills Sorrow), Nov. 5, 2013 on Signature Sounds.

VIDEODROME DISCOTHEQUE

Friday, March 21st at 10:00pm

Tickets: $10

Voted Boston's Best Dance Night In 2012's Boston Phoenix Readers Poll, Videodrome Discotheque serves up a non-stop mixture of outrageous sound & vision, with a particular emphasis on the Disco, New Wave, Rock, Hi-NRG, & Pop of the late 70s and Early 80s - along with select modern artists (such as Gaga, Kylie, and Scissor Sisters) that fit their vintage aesthetic.

SARAH KAY BOOK RELEASE

Sunday, March 23rd at 7:00pm

Tickets: $25

Join best-selling author and spoken word poet Sarah Kay for a night of music and poetry as she officially releases her new collection of poems, No Matter the Wreckage. Sarah has toured the world performing her poems and has been featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and NPR. Sarah's TED Talk and performance has been viewed more than three million times and the resulting book was the top ranked poetry book on Amazon. Sarah is also the founder and co-director of Project V.O.I.C.E., which is dedicated to using spoken word as an educational and inspirational tool. For this performance, Sarah will be joined onstage by her friends Laura Lamb Brown-Lavoie, Franny Choi, Kayla Ringelheim, and Chris Duffy.

SEXYBACK OR WHAT YOU WILL - OBERON NEW WORKS SERIES

Monday, March 24th at 8:00pm

FREE ADMISSION

From Touch Performance Art, the resident company of OBERON, comes their newest work, Sexyback: or what you will - a new immersive club-theater experience of boy band hits and killer dance moves- inspired by Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Sexyback captures the feeling of that NSYNC concert you went crazy for with a traditional male ensemble that ignites the boy band fever we had - plus all the hilarious gender-bending glory of Shakespeare. Party, drink at the bar, and dance to all the hits as the show fulfills all your NSYNC reunion fantasies.

IN CONCERT: JASON ROBERT BROWN

Thursday, March 27th at 8:00pm

Tickets: $15

"One of Broadway's smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim" (Philadelphia Inquirer), Jason Robert Brown received a 1999 Tony Award for the score and lyrics of Parade, which also won both Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics awards for Best New Musical. Brown will perform selections from Parade and his other works, including Songs for a New World, The Last Five Years, 13, and his latest musical, The Bridges of Madison County. The concert will also feature performances by Harvard student vocalists. Presented by Harvard University Department of Music's Blodgett Distinguished Artist-in-Residence program and the Office for the Arts at Harvard.

ACOUSTICAELECTRONICA - OBERON ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

Presented by toUch performance art and OBERON

Now in residence- Next performance: Friday, March 28th at 10:30pm

Tickets: $25-65

"Its like Cirque du Soleil meets a rave but a better description would be totally unbelievable. This was the COOLEST blend of theatre, all types of music, dance, opera and creation of an atmosphere in a space that I have ever seen." - Dig Boston

Presented by Touch Performance Art and OBERON, AcousticaElectronica is a mind-blowing event that blends elements of electronic and classical music, dance, circus arts and immersive theatre with the infectious energy of the contemporary nightclub. Leaders in these industries have teamed up to create an extraordinary, next-generation experience. This ultimate dance party becomes an immersive event for the audience. Dancers, symphonies, aerialists, operas, and live musicians (THE WIG included) all happen around every inch of the space to keep the audience guessing at every turn. AcousticaElectronica sends the audience on a tantalizing voyage filled with sensual and emotional discoveries. A place full of secrets and surprises, rewarding the curiosity of those willing to lose themselves in a night of dream, abandon, and ecstasy...Do you dare enter?

ABOUT OBERON: A destination for theater and nightlife on the fringe of Harvard Square, OBERON is the home of the A.R.T.'s hit productions of The Lily's Revenge, Futurity, Cabaret, and Prometheus Bound, Ryan Landry's Rocky Horror Show, and every Saturday night: The Donkey Show. OBERON is also a thriving incubator for local and visiting talent. OBERON is located at 2 Arrow Street at the corner of Mass Ave. in Harvard Square, Cambridge. For information on these productions and other events, as well as tickets visit cluboberon.com.

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