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César Alvarez

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César Alvarez (born 1980) is an American composer, lyricist and playwright.[1][2] César is best known for the musical FUTURITY which they wrote with their band The Lisps. FUTURITY won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical in 2016.[3]

Alvarez is an assistant professor of music at Dartmouth College.[4]

Early life

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Alvarez was born to a Cuban father and a Euro-American mother[5] in Greensboro, NC.[6] They were named for César Cauce and James Waller, who were both victims of the Greensboro Massacre.[7]

Alvarez attended Interlochen Arts Academy[8] and Oberlin Conservatory.[9] They received an MFA from Bard College.[1]

Alvarez uses they/them pronouns [10]

Career

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Alvarez spent the early years of their career performing with The Lisps. The Lisps released 4 albums between 2006 and 2012."[11][12][13]

In 2008, Alvarez conceived of the Civil War-era science fictional musical FUTURITY as their master's thesis at Bard.[14] In 2009, The Lisps first performed FUTURITY at the now defunct New York City venue, The Zipper Factory.[15][16][17] FUTURITY world premiered as part of the American Repertory Theater's 2011/12 season under the direction of Sarah Benson[18] co-commissioned by Walker Art Center.[19] FUTURITY went on to an Off-Broadway premiere co-produced by Soho Rep and Ars Nova in 2015.[20] That production won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and received 4 other Lortel nominations.[3]

In 2013 Alvarez composed original music with The Lisps for The Foundry Theater's production of Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan starring Taylor Mac.[21] Alvarez and The Lisps received a Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Music in a Play.[22]

In 2014 Alvarez composed original music for the World Premiere production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's play An Octoroon. They received another Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Music in a Play.[23]

Alvarez also composed music for Soho Rep's site specific work Washeteria,[24] Theatre for a New Audience's production of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth,[25] and the documentary A Woman Like Me.[26]

Alvarez's other musicals include The Universe is a Small Hat,[27] The Elementary Spacetime Show[28][29] and NOISE.[30]

Alvarez was an Artist-in-Residence at The University of the Arts where they served as Founding Artistic Director of Polyphone, a festival of new musicals for five years.[31][32][33]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b "César Alvarez Is Changing the American Musical Form, and the World". AMERICAN THEATRE. 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
  2. ^ "A musical for people who don't like musicals". The Economist. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
  3. ^ a b c Cox, Gordon (2016-05-02). "Lucille Lortel Awards: 'Guards at the Taj,' 'The Robber Bridegroom' Score Big". Variety. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
  4. ^ "César Alvarez and Allie Martin join Music Department". 2 July 2020.
  5. ^ "César Alvarez's "Elementary Spacetime Show" Debuts". AL DÍA News. 2016-09-12. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  6. ^ "César Alvarez - Lower Manhattan Cultural Council". Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  7. ^ "César Alvarez Is Changing the American Musical Form, and the World". AMERICAN THEATRE. 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  8. ^ "1990s Motifs | Interlochen Summer Arts Camp". camp.interlochen.org. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  9. ^ "Alumni Composers | Composition | Conservatory | Oberlin College". new.oberlin.edu. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  10. ^ "Dartmouth College Faculty Bio". 16 July 2020.
  11. ^ D'Andrea, Niki (2008-03-13). "The Lisps". Phoenix New Times. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  12. ^ "The Lisps: Sing Along with Heartache". NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  13. ^ "Listen And Watch: The Lisps On TAS In Session On WNYE 91.5 | WFUV". www.wfuv.org. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  14. ^ "Futurity Is A Folk-Rock-Math-Science… Musical?". Bedford + Bowery. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  15. ^ "At Length » Futurity". atlengthmag.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  16. ^ "An Indie Rock Musical Grows in Brooklyn". PAPERMAG. 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  17. ^ "Interview: The Lisps - Lightspeed Magazine". Lightspeed Magazine. 2010-07-27. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  18. ^ "ART's new season: 'Porgy' and The Lisps". Boston.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  19. ^ Kerr, Euan. "Walker celebrates Cunningham in new performing arts season". State of the Arts. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  20. ^ Isherwood, Charles (2015-10-20). "Review: 'Futurity,' in a Civil War Setting, Wishes for Today's Technology". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  21. ^ Isherwood, Charles (2013-02-08). "'Good Person of Szechwan,' With Taylor Mac, at La MaMa". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  22. ^ "Nominations Announced for 58th Annual Drama Desk Awards; Giant and Hands on a Hardbody Lead the Pack | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  23. ^ Cox, Gordon (2015-04-23). "Drama Desk Nominations: 'Hamilton' Leads the Polls (FULL LIST)". Variety. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  24. ^ Soloski, Alexis (2015-03-30). "Review: Soho Rep's 'Washeteria,' Staged in a Brooklyn Storefront". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  25. ^ Brantley, Ben (2017-02-28). "Review: In 'The Skin of Our Teeth,' the End of the World as We Know It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  26. ^ "'A Woman Like Me': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  27. ^ "Building the Future with Gaming and Participatory Theater - Extended Play". Extended Play. 2015-01-28. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  28. ^ "Philly Fringe: 'Spacetime Show' probes teen suicide with humor, music, physics". Philly.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  29. ^ "Fringe reviews: 'The Elementary Spacetime Show,' 'Switched!' and 'The Chairs' : Shapiro on Theater : Arts & Entertainment : WHYY". WHYY. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  30. ^ "Making some 'Noise'". Herald Community Newspapers. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  31. ^ "Polyphone". The American Theatre Wing. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  32. ^ "Polyphone Is Bigger and Better the Second Time Around". AMERICAN THEATRE. 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  33. ^ "UArts Appoints Director of Polyphone Festival". 2019-10-10.
  34. ^ "America Theatre Wing". The American Theatre Wing. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  35. ^ "Off Broadway Alliance Announces 2016 Award Winners". TheaterMania.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  36. ^ "César Alvarez and Isabella Dawis Awarded Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre".
  37. ^ "Among the 2022 Guggenheim Fellows, 4 Theatremakers". American Theatre. Theatre Communications Group. 2022-04-08. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
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