Prospect Theater Debuts Carlo Gesualdo Musical DEATH FOR FIVE VOICES in Italy

Prospect Theater Company is pleased to announce that founding artists Peter Mills and Cara Reichel will develop their original musical drama DEATH FOR FIVE VOICES, inspired by the life of Renaissance composer and murderer Carlo Gesualdo, in the town of Gesualdo, Italy from tonight, Nov. 6 - 18, 2015.

This residency and its culminating performances represent the international debut of Prospect's work. DEATH FOR FIVE VOICES is expected to receive its premiere in NYC in 2016 as part of Prospect's upcoming season of full productions (details to be announced).

Prospect Theater Company artists are being hosted by the Municipality of Gesualdo as part of the regional festival: "Invitation to Court - An International Cultural Window to the Castle of Prince Carlo Gesualdo," an initiative in partnership with the Regional Secretary of Campania (co-financed by the Plan of Action and Cohesion, CAP) and the Conservatory of Avellino "Domenico Cimarosa." This special program of cultural events celebrates the re-opening of Castello di Gesualdo, the historic residence of the composer, who spent the second half of his life and wrote much of his music there, until his death in 1613.

The first developmental performance will take place at 4:30pm Sunday, Nov. 15 in the open air courtyard of Gesualdo's historic castle: the Castello di Gesualdo, recently renovated and re-opened to the public after 35 years. A second performance will occur on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 9pm at the Teatro Carlo Gesualdo in Avellino.

Artists participating in the residency include cast members Ryan Bauer-Walsh, Wilson Bridges, Sarah Corey, Meghan McGeary, Peter Saide, Tina Scariano, and Jaime Vallés, director and co-bookwriter Cara Reichel, composer / lyricist / bookwriter Peter Mills, music director Max Mamon, and stage manager Kat West.

DEATH FOR FIVE VOICES is based on events in the early life of Italian nobleman Carlo Gesualdo, a composer of the late Renaissance who is remembered for writing harmonically progressive madrigals and sacred music - as well as for the vicious double murder of his wife, Maria D'Avalos, and her lover, Fabrizio Carafa, in the year 1590. This original musical drama investigates how Carlo's creative interior life may have been related to this heinous act. Previously workshopped by Prospect in 2013, in 2014 Mills and Reichel developed the show at the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, and in Spring 2015 they received a prestigious Bogliasco Fellowship to further explore DEATH FOR FIVE VOICES through a month-long research and writing residency near Genoa, Italy at the Bogliasco Foundation.

Watch a brief promo video about Prospect's previous 2013 workshop of this show below!

Additional information may be found on the project website: www.DeathForFiveVoices.com.

One of America's leading producers of new musical theater, Prospect Theater Company (founded in 1998) is dedicated to fostering and showcasing today's new voices shaping tomorrow's musicals. Since 2000, the company has fully produced more than 30 premiere musicals in New York City, in addition to new plays and numerous re-inventions of classic works. Reflecting its investment in the future of the field, Prospect leads a variety of developmental initiatives, including an annual Musical Theater Lab for emerging writers, and a Summer Intensive training program for teenagers. In recognition of its work as a community anchor for emerging artists that strengthens the quality, diversity, and dynamism of American theater, Prospect received a 2013 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing. Notable productions include: the Drama Desk Award-winning Working (2012), Jasper in Deadland (2014), the Drama-Desk nominated Tamar of the River (2013), Unlock'd (2013),Iron Curtain (2006, 2011), Myths and Hymns (2012),With Glee (2010), The Blue Flower(2008), Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge (2009), The Hidden Sky (2010), Illyria (2002, 2008), and the Drama-Desk nominated The Pursuit of Persephone (2005).

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