Ars Nova Extends Heather Christian's ORATORIO FOR LIVING THINGS

Ars Nova is extending the world premiere commission of Oratorio for Living Things to May 15. Composed by Obie Award-winner and 2015 & 2016 Ars Nova resident artist Heather Christian and directed by Obie Award-winner Lee Sunday Evans, the event fuses music and theater, surrounding the audience with 18 virtuosic singers and instrumentalists. Performances of Oratorio for Living Things, which opened on March 30, exactly two years to the day from its previously scheduled pre-pandemic opening, take place at Ars Nova @ Greenwich House (27 Barrow Street, Manhattan). Tickets for the extension are now on sale at www.arsnovanyc.com/oratorio.

In this sweeping world premiere, Heather Christian infuses the classical oratorio with blues, gospel, jazz, and soul. Oratorio for Living Things unfolds the complex layers of what it means to be alive and our relationship to time. The experience surrounds and uplifts, celebrating our curiosity, our wonder, and what we're capable of becoming when in communion with each other. The resulting music-theater event heralds Christian as an undeniable artistic force.

Oratorio for Living Things strengthens Ars Nova's reputation as a producer of daring new forms of music theater. While radically different in shape and content from previous endeavors, it nonetheless builds on the success of the Tony Award-winning smash-hit Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, the Broadway-bound KPOP, and the Lortel Award-winning "Outstanding Musical" Rags Parkland Sings The Songs Of The Future.

Founding Artistic Director Jason Eagan remarked, "Heather Christian is one of the most singular artists we've had the pleasure of supporting at Ars Nova. We're overjoyed to bring this tremendous creative team led by Lee Sunday Evans back together, two years after the initial premiere was upended. Oratorio for Living Things takes Heather's artistry to another level, and in this critical moment when our world is at odds, her manifesto for what it means to be alive is reaching into people's souls, reminding us of our own humanity. We're thrilled that even more audiences will now be able to witness this powerful, collective experience!"

The 18-member ensemble cast for Oratorio for Living Things includes Johnny Butler, Kirstyn Cae Ballard, Jane Cardona, Sean Donovan, Carla Duren, Clérida Eltimé, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Brian Flores, Odetta Hartman, Quentin Oliver Lee, Angel Lozada, Divya Maus, Barrie Lobo McLain, Ben Moss, John Murchison, Onyie Nwachukwu, Dito Van Reigersberg, and Peter Wise.

The creative team for Oratorio for Living Things includes Ben Moss (Music Direction), Kristen Robinson (Scenic Design), Márion Talán de la Rosa (Costume Design), Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew (Lighting Design), Nick Kourtides (Sound Design), Greg Taubman (Latin Consultant & Translator), Jo Fernandez (Production Stage Manager), Kelsey Vivian (Assistant Stage Manager), and Henry Russell Bergstein, CSA (Casting Director). Oratorio for Living Things is produced in association with Rosalind Productions Inc.

Oratorio for Living Things was originally scheduled to run from March 10 to April 12, 2020, with a press opening on March 30, 2020. It was postponed on March 12, 2020, following two preview performances.

Performances of Oratorio for Living Things will now take place through May 15 at Ars Nova @ Greenwich House, located at 27 Barrow Street in Manhattan. The performance schedule is Tuesday-Saturday at 7pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. The running time is 90 minutes with no intermission. Tickets, starting at $35, are currently on sale at www.arsnovanyc.com/oratorio. Same-day rush tickets to Oratorio for Living Things are available via TodayTix starting at 9am of each performance day and in-person standby line tickets are available for all sold-out performances starting two hours prior to each performance.

Ars Nova will require proof of full vaccination for all artists, staff, and audience members for all in-person performances and events through the end of this season. Masks and/or CDC-recommended face coverings will be required for audiences and employees inside the theater at all times. For more information on Ars Nova's COVID-19 health and safety protocols, please visit https://arsnovanyc.com/FAQ/.

Please visit https://arsnovanyc.com/oratorio/ for more information.

About the Artists

Heather Christian (Composer) is an Obie Award winning composer/playwright/performer making music centered shows and new rituals. Recent works include Animal Wisdom (The Bushwick Starr) and now a motion picture (Wooly Mammoth and American Conservatory Theater); I am Sending You the Sacred Face (Theater In Quarantine-A Vulture Top Theater Experience of 2020); Prime: A Practical Breviary (Playwrights Horizons Soundstage- IndieWire's #1 Podcast Episode of 2020) in addition to being a lead artist on devised works Mission Drift (National Theatre), The World Is Round (BAM). She was named one of Time Out New York's Downtown Innovators To Watch and is a 2019 Harold & Mimi Steinberg Trust commissionee, Sundance Institute Time Warner Fellow and 2021 Richard Rodgers Award Winner. She has released 11 records, teaches vocal-based music composition at NYU, runs her own recording studio in Beacon, NY, and can be seen regularly in concert halls and dive bars as Heather Christian & the Arbornauts. www.heatherchristian.bandcamp.com

Lee Sunday Evans (Director) is a two-time Obie Award-winning director + choreographer, and the Artistic Director of Waterwell. Recent credits include Dance Nation by Clare Barron, HOME by Geoff Sobelle, In the Green by Grace McLean, Detroit Red by Will Power and The Courtroom, a reenactment of one woman's deportation hearings with transcripts arranged by Arian Moayed. Her work has been seen at BAM, The Public Theater, Lincoln Center, Playwrights Horizons, Steppenwolf, The Atlantic, WP Theater, The Play Company, The Bushwick Starr, ArtsEmerson, Edinburgh International Festival, among others.

About Ars Nova

Ars Nova exists to discover, develop, and launch singular theater, music and comedy artists in the early stages of their professional careers. Our dynamic slate of programs supports outside-the-box thinking and encourages innovative, genre-bending new work. Dubbed by The New York Times as a "fertile incubator of offbeat theater," Ars Nova blurs genres and subverts the status quo. With our feverish bounty of programming, we are the stomping ground and launching pad for visionary, adventurous artists of all stripes. By providing a protective environment where risk-taking and collaboration are paramount, Ars Nova gives voice to a new generation of diverse artists and audiences, pushing the boundaries of live entertainment by nurturing creative ideas into smart, surprising new work.

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