Carlson, Easton, Emerson, Power, et. al, Part of NYTW 2005-2006 Season

A new work from the creators of Shockheaded Peter, a star-studded production of Itamar Moses’ Bach at Leipzig, and a new musical by hip-hop artist Will Power will make up the first part of the 2005-2006 season at New York Theatre Workshop.

Spirit, which begins performances on September 13, will find performers Guy Dartnell, Phelim McDermott, and Lee Simpson on stage, half in and half out of a strictly raked platform. They will have no lines to say and no story to act out, using the audience to flesh out the evening. Julian Crouch (of Shockheaded Peter fame) and Arlene Audergon will direct the show.

Jeffrey Carlson, Richard Easton, Michael Emerson, Reg Rogers, and David Schramm will head the cast of Bach at Leipzig. Set in the famed Germany city in 1722, Moses’ play concerns seven musicians who are eager to fill the most sought-after musical post in Europe: organmaster at Leipzig. The play, directed by Pam McKinnon, will begin performances on October 28, with an official opening set for November 14.

Power’s The Seven is a large-scale hip-hop musical adaptation of Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, which tells the story of the brotherly war between Oedipus’ sons. An earlier version of the piece was seen at the 2002 Hip-Hop Theatre Festival. Power was the author/performer of the acclaimed solo slow The Flow, which ran at NYTW in 2003. Jo Bonney, whose many credits include Stop Kiss, Fat Pig, and the recent Williamstown production of Top Girls, will direct the production. Previews begin on January 17, 2006.

For more information, go to www.nytw.org.