The The Elementary Spacetime Show tells the story of a teenager who, after a suicide attempt, finds herself in a cosmic vaudevillian game show that she has to win in order to die. The Elementary Spacetime Show is a musical about why to exist when you no longer want to.

Music and Lyrics by César Alvarez
Book by César Alvarez and Emily Orling

Image by Benjamin Pitt

The Elementary Spacetime Show, (is) a new work that, given a wide enough audience, will become Rent for the social-media generation.

- Jim Rutter for The Philadelphia Inquirer

In the opening moments of The Elementary Spacetime Show we see a young girl, Alameda, attempting to take her own life. She is drawn into a tunnel which deposits her into a liminal void somewhere in between life and death. Alameda is faced with an awkward challenge: in order to die she must play and win a game show. Over the course of the show Alameda soldiers through a series of musical and philosophical trials, each one of which illuminates another dimension of her struggle. Her clash with a depressed mosquito asks her to reassess the meaning of violence. Her encounter with another version of herself pulls her into a reckoning with self-hatred. A talking piece of Rhubarb becomes a confidante. Across the unfolding drama, a queer kinship builds between her and the denizens of the in between. In the end when Alameda is faced again with the excruciating choice between being and nonbeing, the hopelessness of the opening scene has been warped by strange flecks of possibility: the possibility that she isn't alone, the possibility that her darkness is a gift, the possibility that every state of being is in flux.

Listen

Development

PRESS

Photos

Collaborators

LISTEN:

Salty Brine and Aris Louis | photo by Eric Wolfe

DEVELOPMENT:

2014
Ensemble Studio Theater/Sloan Commission
Developed in the Ars Nova Uncharted Group
Concert Reading at Ensemble Studio Theater First Light Festival

2015
Concert Staging as part of the inaugural Polyphone Festival at The University of the Arts and Ars Nova

2016
Concert Reading at Joe’s Pub
Developmental Production at The University of the Arts co-presented by FringeArts.

2017
Concert Staging at the Moss Theater in NYC

2018
Developmental Production at NYU/Playwrights Horizons Theater School

2019
Workshopped as part of New York Stage and Film Powerhouse Season

Caitlin Cobb-Vialet and Jose Pelegri | photo by Gordon Penn

PRESS:

How This Married Couple Coped With Loss By Writing The Elementary Spacetime Show - Playbill

'Spacetime Show' probes teen suicide with humor, music, physics - Philadelphia Inquirer

César Alvarez's "Elementary Spacetime Show" -Al Día Philadelphia

PHOTOS:

The Elementary Spacetime Show 2019 Workshop at New York Stage and Film

Photos courtesy of Vassar & NYSAF’s Powerhouse Theater / Buck Lewis

Sofia Dobrushin and Mason Alexander Park

Jari Jones, Sofia Dobrushin and Mariah Del Rio

Cosma Castaldi, Joshuah Dominique and Jari Jones

Sofia Dobrushin, Cosmo Castaldi and Joshuah Dominique

César Alvarez and Ommy Alvarez-Orling, (background) Madeline Smith

Emily Orling, César Alvarez and Sarah Benson

The Elementary Spacetime Show
at NYU/Playwrights Horizons Theater School in 2018

Photos by Gordon Penn

Caitlin Cobb-Vialet and Guillermo Contreras

Jacqueline Brockel and Caitlin Cobb-Vialet

The Elementary Spacetime Show
at The University of the Arts co-presented by FringeArts in 2016

Photos by Paola Nogueras

Shannon DeVaughn (center) Annika Cowles and Terran Scott

Mariah Del Rio (center) with Salty Brine and Aris Louis

COLLABORATORS:

The Elementary Spacetime Show is still in development, but this is the community of artists who have been part of its growth so far. Please send corrections!

César Alvarez began writing The Elementary Spacetime Show in the fall of 2013, and continued developing it as part of the Ars Nova Uncharted Group in 2014 and during the Ars Nova Artist Retreat at Amherst College in the Summer of 2014.

The Elementary Spacetime Show was awarded an Ensemble Studio Theater/Sloan Commission in 2014, and received its first reading as part of the EST First Light Festival on November 18, 2014. Music, Lyrics & Book by César Alvarez. Directed by Andrew Neisler. Music Director: César Alvarez. Assistant Music Director: Ellen Winter. Stage Manager: Jason Richard. Cast: Jaclyn Backhaus, Salty Brine, Kaitlyn Garlington, Eric Farber, Andrew Farmer, Amber Gray, Andrew Hoepfner, Stephanie Hsu, Claire Rothrock and Lorenzo Wolff.

The Elementary Spacetime Show was next performed as a staged concert in the inaugural season of the Polyphone Festival at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. Directed By Andrew Neisler. The performers and audience were on the stage of the Merriam Theater. Cast: Nia Benjamin, Salty Brine, Aris Louis, Theodosia Mayfield, Gavin Cole, Nathan Clemenson, Alyssa Batsakis, Emily Diskin, Sandy D’oria, Mina Kawahara, Steven Primero, Lindsay Wolgel. Choreography: Ayo Jackson. Assistant Musical Director: Ellen Winter. Assistant Director: Joshuah Dominique. Production Stage Manager: Matthew Bantock. Assistant Stage Manager: Joshua Logan Walker. Set and Lighting Design: Thom Weaver. Sound Design: Larry Fowler. Producer: Aziz Naouai. Associate Producer: Mark Cooper. Music Coordinator: David Jenkins. Festival Artistic Director: César Alvarez. Producer and Director of the Brind School: Joanna Settle.

The Polyphone cast travelled to NYC and for a single concert performance on May 15, 2015 at Ars Nova as the culmination of The Uncharted Residency.

The Elementary Spacetime show was next seen at Joe's Pub in a concert on April 12, 2016. Directed by Andrew Neisler. Cast: Salty Brine, Eisa Davis, Freddy Epstein, Eric Farber, Andrew Farmer, Steph Hsu, Jenn Kidwell, Ian Lassiter, Aris Louis, Claire Rothrock and Storm Thomas. Stage Manager: Kristy Bodall. Assistant Directors: Charlie Murray and Christina Franklin. Assistant Music Director: Arif Silverman.

The Elementary Spacetime Show was next seen at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA in a developmental production co-presented by FRINGE Arts during September 2016. Directed by Andrew Neisler. Cast: Alyssa Batsakis, Salty Brine, Michael Adrian Burgos, Martha Ruby Clark, Jason Corn, Annika Cowles, Farrah Cukor, Shannon DeVaughn, Freddy Epstein, Eric Farber, Andrew Farmer, Zoe Feldman, Eamon Goodman, Marlee Gordon, Dante Green, Ryan Haberfeld, Aliria Johnson, Caroline Lewis, Jasmine Louis, Aris Louis, Andrew Reiff, Mariah Del Rio, Billy Sander, Terran Scott, Sav Souza, Carleigh Spence, Jelani Stuart, David Thomas, Nicholas Wainwright, Electra Weston, Ellen Winter.

Choreographers: Sonya Tayeh and Ben Hobbs. Music Director: César Alvarez. Set Designer: Carolyn Mraz. Percussion Designer: Eric Farber. Lighting Designer: Masha Tsimring. Costume Designer: Tilly Grimes. Sound Designer: Larry Fowler. Props Designer: Natalie Reichman. Associate Music Director: Ellen Winter. Score Supervisor/Assistant Music Director: Jaime Jarrett. Additional Vocal Arrangements: Madeline Smith. Orchestrations: Cesar Alvarez, Freddy Epstein, Eric Farber, Eamon Goodman and Ellen Winter. Technical Director: Matt Groeneveld. Producer: Meghan Walsh. Stage Manager: Brianna Reedy. Assistant Stage Manager: Jackie Leibowitz. Assistant Director: Cami Pileggi. Assistant Lighting Designer: Dalton Whiting. Assistant Costume Designer: Gina Colacci. Assistant Sound Designer: Larry Barnes. Assistant Technical Director: Joey Redfearn. Production Assistant: Madison Youngblood.

That same UArts Production traveled to NYC in May of 2017 to present the show three times at the Moss Theater at 440 Lafayette in NYC. Directed by Andrew Neisler. Stage Manager: Kristy Bodall. Lighting Design: Christopher Bowser. Line Producer: Nicole Martorana. Producer: Kilburg Reedy

The Elementary Spacetime Show was next seen in a developmental production at NYU/Playwrights Horizons Theater School in May of 2018. Music and Lyrics by César Alvarez. Book by César Alvarez and Emily Orling. Directed by Andrew Neisler. Cast: Jacqueline Brockel, Aubrey Elenz, Noah Burgess, Caitlin Cobb-Vialet, Guillermo Contreras, Mateo Correa, Fred Epstein, Megan Ermilio, Eric Farber, Alaina Ferris, Eamon Goodman, Kieran Graulich, Keyana Hemphill, Mariyea Jackson, Philip Kenner, Rachel Keteyian, Aigner Mizzelle, Chris Moseley and Jose Pelegri.

Choreographer: Ben Hobbs. Music Director: Madeline Smith. Production Design: Emily Orling. Lighting Design: Marika Kent. Sound Design: Jim Petty for Five OHM Productions. Stage Manager: Kristy Bodall. Dramaturg: Sarah Lunnie. Associate Director: Nell Bang-Jensen. Associate Music Director: Alaina Ferris. Assistant Director: Trevor Lown. Assistant Music Director: Cynthia Meng. Associate Production Design & Student Mentor: Annie Hoeg. Scenic Design Assistant: Sarah Scholl. Vocal Arrangements: Madeline Smith. Assistant Stage Manager: Cara Parker Kienitz. Line Producer: Nicole Martorana. Research Consultant: Alison Parks. Trans Consultant: Jacob Jarrett. Orchestrations: Cesar Alvarez, Madeline Smith, Fred Epstein, Eric Farber, Alaina Ferris and Eamon Goodman. Additional Costumes: Tilly Grimes. Production Assistant: Connor Vasile.

The Elementary Spacetime Show was next workshopped by New York Stage and Film at Vassar College in July of 2020. Music and Lyrics by César Alvarez. Book by César Alvarez and Emily Orling. Directed by Sarah Benson. Music Directed by Madeline Smith. Cast: Andrew R. Butler, Mariah Del Rio, Cosmo Castaldi, Sofia Dobrushin, Joshuah Dominique, Eric Farber, Andrew Farmer, Eamon Goodman, Jacob Jarrett, Jari Jones, Brandon Lopez, Mason Alexander Park, Mimi Scardulla, Terran Scott.

Dramaturg: Natasha Sinha. Production Stage Manager: Katie Ailinger. Associate Music Director and Trans Consultant: Jacob Jarrett.Drama League Fellow: Ben Randle. Assistant Stage Manager: Merrick Williams. Music Intern: Bronwen Chan. Stage Management Intern: Caroline-Michele Uy. Casting by Andrew Femenella. Artistic Director: Johanna Pfaelzer

THANK YOU!