We Live in Cairo
2 hours and 30 min, with one 15 min intermission
We Live in Cairo - 2024 Off-Broadway History , Info & More
New York Theatre Workshop
79 East 4th Street New York, NY 10003
Inspired by the young Egyptians who took to the streets amidst the throes of the Arab Spring, We Live in Cairo follows six student activists using their street art, photography and song to overthrow a regime older than they are. Winner of the Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater, this soaring new musical from Jonathan Larson Grant winners and NYTW Usual Suspects Daniel & Patrick Lazour journeys from the jubilation of the Tahrir Square protests through the aftermath of the years that followed. As escalating division and violence lead to a military crackdown, the young revolutionaries of Cairo must weigh the cost of how—or even whether—to keep their dreams of change alive. Obie Award winner and NYTW Usual Suspect Taibi Magar (The Half-God of Rainfall) directs.
We Live in Cairo - 2024 - Off-Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR We Live in Cairo
Review: ‘We Live in Cairo’ Falls Short of Being Revolutionary
6 / 10
Design alone does not a musical make, and piddly details like book and score must be taken into account. There is no questioning the Lazours’ passion for the project, which has been in the works for a decade and premiered at American Repertory Theater, in Massachusetts, in 2019 — the album “Flap My Wings (Songs from We Live in Cairo)” was recorded remotely with various singers the following year. But the characters are never convincingly defined, except for Fadwa, who also benefits from Tarabzouni’s fiery performance.
‘We Live in Cairo’ review — love in the time of the Arab Spring
8 / 10
We Live in Cairo’s evocative music, complete with an all-Arab band and distinct Arabic instruments like the oud, gives it the wings to fly. The cast, all powerful vocalists, make the words of the soundtrack resonate throughout the theater as they experience hope, love, and loss. Sweeping anthems such as “Genealogy of Revolution” and “Tahrir Is Now” to the sweet, more personal “Movement” or “Living Here” make these six fictional students as real as the events of the revolution itself. Timeless and beyond any single movement, We Live in Cairo is a tribute to the lives of people who fight for the greater good, no matter the cost.
Category
We Live in Cairo History
Other Productions of We Live in Cairo
| 2024 | Off-Broadway |
NYTW Off-Broadway Premiere Off-Broadway |
We Live in Cairo - 2024 Off-Broadway Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical | John El-Jor |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | The Lazours |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Daniel Lazour |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Patrick Lazour |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical | Ali Louis Bourzgui |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical | We Live in Cairo |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Daniel Lazour |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Michael Starobin |
Videos