Dave Malloy Musical Moby-Dick Sets World Premiere

The American Repertory Theater has announced its 2019-20 season programming.

The mainstage season in the Loeb Drama Center will open with Six (August 21-September 27), written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Six is described as follows: "Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. All this time, the six wives of Henry VIII have been reduced to a single rhyme — so they picked up a pen and a microphone." The production will feature direction by Lucy Moss and Jaime Armitage, choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, orchestrations by Tim Curran, and music direction by Katy Richardson.

Next will be the world premiere of Moby-Dick (December 3-January 12, 2020), based on the classic novel by Herman Melville. The show features music, lyrics, book, and orchestrations by Dave Malloy, and it is developed with and directed by his Great Comet collaborator Rachel Chavkin.

Following will be Gloria: A Life (January 24-February 22, 2020), a play about the life and career of iconic feminist Gloria Steinem, written by Emily Mann and directed by Diane Paulus.

Making its world premiere will be Ocean Filibuster (March 7-27, 2020), commissioned and developed through a partnership with the Harvard University Center for the Environment. The production is created by PearlDamour, written by Lisa D'Amour, with music by Sxip Shirey, and direction by Katie Pearl.

Closing out the mainstage season will be 1776 (May 22-June 28, 2020), directed by Diane Paulus. The musical about the signing of the Declaration of Independence earned the 1969 Tony Award for Best Musical.

Coming to the Oberon for the 2019-20 season will be Black Light (September 19-29), created and performed by Daniel Alexander Jones; and Macbeth in Stride (April 23-May 10, 2020), created and performed by Whitney White.