59E59 Theaters will present the NYC premiere of EINSTEIN'S DREAMS book and lyrics by Joanne Sydney Lessner, music and lyrics by Joshua Rosenblum, directed by Cara Reichel, and based on the novel by Alan Lightman. Milton Granger is the music director; the movement director/associate director is Dax Valdes.
Produced by Prospect Theater Company, EINSTEIN'S DREAMS begins performances on November 5 for a limited engagement through December 15. Press Opening is Wednesday, November 20 at 7 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Friday at 7 PM; Saturday at 2 PM & 7 PM; and Sunday at 2 PM. Please note the following schedule adjustments: the Sun 11/10 performance is at 7 PM (there is no matinee); there are added 2 PM matinee performances on Tue 11/26 and Thur 12/12; there are no performances on Wed 11/27 and Thur 11/28. Performances are at
59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison). Single tickets are $25 - $70 ($49 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call the 59E59 Box Office at 646-892-7999 or visit
www.59e59.org. The running time is 95 minutes, including intermission.
Novelist and MIT Professor Alan Lightman will join the cast and creative team for a special post-show conversation on Friday, December 6.
The year is 1905. A young and uncertain Albert Einstein dares to envision new worlds beyond the limits of classical physics. Drawn deeply into his dreams, he is guided by a mysterious woman whose elusive identity awakens his full genius.
Based on the bestselling novel by Alan Lightman, this elegant new musical bridges imagined and real worlds, and unlocks the passionate intellect of one of the 20th century's greatest thinkers.
Zal Owen (The Band's Visit on Broadway) plays Einstein. Joining him in the cast are
Brennan Caldwell (Neurosis at DR2,
Chita Rivera nom),
Talia Cosentino (Matilda, Broadway National Tour),
Stacia Fernandez (Mamma Mia, Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway),
Lisa Helmi Johanson (Into the Woods on Broadway),
Michael McCoy (Phantom of the Opera, Broadway National Tour),
Tess Primack (Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway),
Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway), and
Vishal Vaidya (Groundhog Day on Broadway).
The design team is Isabel Le (scenic design);
Sidney Shannon (costume design);
Herrick Goldman (lighting design);
Kevin Heard (sound design) and
David Bengali (projection design). The Production Stage Manager is
Elizabeth Ann Goodman.
Joanne Sydney Lessner (book and lyrics) is the librettist of six musicals with music by her husband,
Joshua Rosenblum, including the cult hit Fermat's Last Tango, which received its Off Broadway premiere at the
York Theatre Company. The original cast recording became a bestseller, and the DVD has been screened at festivals from New Jersey to New Zealand. The Teatro da Trindade in Lisbon presented the European premiere, and subsequently also gave the world premiere of Einstein's Dreams. Their other collaborations include The Haunted Hotel, commissioned by the
Signature Theatre; Stage Door, based on the play by
Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman, commissioned by London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; and Garbo and Me, presented in concert both at the
York Theatre Company and at the historic Paramount Theatre in Rutland, Vermont. Lessner's play Critical Mass received its New York premiere at the Lion Theatre as winner of the 2009 Heiress Productions Playwriting Competition. She has published five novels: Pandora's Bottle, named one of the top five books of 2010 by Paperback Dolls, and four mysteries featuring aspiring actress and amateur sleuth Isobel Spice. Lessner is also a regular contributing writer to Opera News and is a graduate of Yale University.
Joshua Rosenblum (music and lyrics) wrote the book, music and lyrics for Mark Felt, Superstar, the musical saga of Watergate's Deep Throat, which had a critically acclaimed run at the York Theatre. Other credits include the hit Off Broadway satirical revue Bush Is Bad, described as "a sensation" by Variety magazine; Fermat's Last Tango (York Theatre); and The Haunted Hotel, commissioned by the
Signature Theatre as part of its New American Voices Project. Rosenblum and his wife/collaborator
Joanne Sydney Lessner received a commission from the Royal Central School for Speech and Drama for their musical adaptation of Stage Door. Rosenblum has also composed two ballet scores for the
Chase Brock Experience dance company. As a music director, he has conducted fourteen Broadway and Off Broadway productions, with a specialty in flying vehicles (Miss Saigon, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, How the Grinch Stole Christmas). He has played piano with the
City Center Encores Orchestra, the New York Pops, and the American Symphony. Rosenblum is the Founder/Music Director of the Pit Stop Players, a faculty member of the Yale University Department of Music, and a regular contributing writer for Opera News. Two collections of his instrumental and vocal music are available on the Albany Records label.
Cara Reichel (director) is a creator of new musical theater and a founding member and producing artistic director of Prospect Theater Company. She collaborates frequently with composer / lyricist
Peter Mills, having brought 13 musicals from concept to full production including The Hello Girls, Illyria, Honor, and many more. With Mills,
Susan DiLallo, and
Stephen Weiner she co-created Iron Curtain (NYC's 2006 Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Production, NAMT Festival of New Musicals, The O'Neill Center Musical Theater Conference). She has collaborated with numerous other writers on the development of new works, including Mark St. Germain and
Randy Courts;
Michele Brourman,
Sheilah Rae and Thomas Edward West; and
Jason Ma and
Christine Toy Johnson, to name a few. She directed regionally at the Goodwill Theatre, Surflight Theatre, and the
Village Theatre, and internationally with Broadway au Carré in Paris and at the Teatro Carlo Gesualdo in Italy. She has been a visiting lecturer at Princeton University's Lewis Center for the Arts, and is a recipient of the
Lucille Lortel Award from the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is also the author and illustrator of a published children's book, A Stone Promise.
www.carareichel.com
