Octet is a chamber choir musical written and composed by Dave Malloy and directed by Annie Tippe. The show "explores addiction and nihilism within the messy context of 21st century technology."[1]
| Octet | |
|---|---|
 Original album cover art | |
| Music | Dave Malloy |
| Lyrics | Dave Malloy |
| Book | Dave Malloy |
| Productions | 2019 Signature Theatre Company 2022 Berkeley Repertory Theatre |
| Awards | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical Obie Award for Collaboration on Music & Sound |
Synopsis
editEight Internet addicts gather in a support group called "Friends of Saul" in a church basement and share their stories, in a score for an a cappella chamber choir and an original libretto inspired by internet comment boards, scientific debates, religious texts, and Sufi poetry.[2]
Musical numbers
editThe musical is structured around a series of hymns and "shares," as the group members explain their relationship to technology. Each song corresponds to one of the Major Arcana cards in a tarot deck.[3][4]
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Part 1
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Part 2
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Productions
editThe piece premiered on May 19, 2019, at Off-Broadway at the Signature Theatre in New York City. It was extended three times in June, ultimately finishing on June 30.[5]
The production was Directed and Choreographed by Annie Tippe, with Music Supervision & Music Direction by Or Matias, Scenic Design by Amy Rubin & Brittany Vasta, Costume Design by Brenda Abbandandolo, Lighting Design by Christopher Bowser, Sound Design by Hidenori Nakajo, and Production Stage Management by Jhanaë Bonnick[6]
Octet had its West Coast premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre on April 20, 2022, once again directed by Annie Tippe. It ran until May 29, 2022.[7]
Roles and principal casts
edit| Character | Off-Broadway (2019) | West Coast Premiere (2022) |
|---|---|---|
| Ed | Adam Bashian | |
| Karly | Kim Blanck | |
| Paula | Starr Busby | Isabel Santiago |
| Henry | Alex Gibson | |
| Toby | Justin Gregory Lopez | |
| Marvin | J.D. Mollison | |
| Jessica | Margo Seibert | |
| Velma | Kuhoo Verma | |
Influences
editThe program's bibliography cites several sources of inspiration, including:[additional citation(s) needed]
Text
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio;
John Cage, Silence;
Nicholas Carr, The Shallows;
Chuang-Tzu;
Ernest Cline, Ready Player One;
Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion;
Philip K. Dick, Valis;
James Gleick, The Information;
Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind;
Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near;
C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters;
Angela Nagle, Kill All Normies;
Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind;
Catherine Price, How to Break Up with Your Phone;
Jon Ronson, So You've Been Publicly Shamed;
Rumi, “A Great Wagon”;
George Saunders, Tenth of December;
Wallace Shawn, Essays;
Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash;
Alan Watts, The Book;
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass;
Pete Walker, Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving
Theater
Caryl Churchill, Love and Information;
Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban, James Kirkwood Jr. & Nicholas Dante, A Chorus Line;
Stephen Sondheim & George Furth, Company
Tarot
The Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot;
Kim Krans, The Wild Unknown Tarot
Film
Altered States;
Black Mirror: S01E03 “The Entire History of You”; S03E01 “Nosedive”; S03E06 “Hated in the Nation”;
Blade Runner;
The Matrix;
My Dinner with Andre
Podcasts
Reply All;
Dear Sugar
Games
Candy Crush; Cookie Clicker; Everything; Inside; Journey; Universal Paperclips; The Witness; World of Warcraft
Music
Robert Ashley, Perfect Lives;
Luciano Berio, Sinfonia;
Philip Glass, Einstein on the Beach;
Meredith Monk, Dolmen Music;
Nico Muhly, Two Boys, Mothertongue;
Sacred Harp;
Caroline Shaw, Partita for 8 Voices;
Toby Twining, Chrysalid Requiem[8]
Critical response
editThis paragraph may be unbalanced toward certain viewpoints. (July 2019) |
The piece was well received by the New York press. Ben Brantley of the New York Times calling it "a sublime chamber opera" that "promises to be the most original and topical musical of the year." He praised the performers as "uniformly excellent" and whose "layered and contrapuntal voices produce a dazzling spectrum of effects".[9] Sara Holdren of Vulture wrote that "Octet is that rare and thrilling thing: a new musical that really does feel new. Formally, it’s both unique and invigorating — and it’s rigorous and straightforward enough in its structure for its ideas to spiral into rich, dense fractals. In the face of a virtual world where “there’s no coming back / No rehabilitation / No nuance / Just noise,” it takes a bravely unequivocal yet generous stand. It sings of darkness, blindness, and fear, but it sings also of complexity, connection, redemption, and hope."[3] Adam Feldman of Time Out New York gave Octet 5 ouf of 5 stars and wrote: "Under Annie Tippe’s taut direction, all eight bits of Octet’s byte-size cast perform Malloy’s challenging compositions with exceptional skill, abetted by Or Matias’s musical direction and Hidenori Nakajo’s sound design. As Broadway shows increasingly rely on massive spectacle, Octet proves that well-polished pieces of eight are enough."[10] David Cote of Observer wrote that it was not only "one of the most thought-provoking and soul-stirring musicals I’ve seen in ages, it has an ingeniously woven, harmonically lush score that you’ll want to revisit."[11]
Awards and nominations
editOriginal Off-Broadway production
edit| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Lucille Lortel Awards[12] | Outstanding Musical | Won | |
| Outstanding Director | Anne Tippe | Won | ||
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Alex Gibson | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Kuhoo Verma | Won | ||
| Outstanding Sound Design | Hidenori Nakajo | Nominated | ||
| Drama Desk Awards[13] | Outstanding Musical | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Director of a Musical | Anne Tippe | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Music | Dave Malloy | Won | ||
| Outstanding Lyrics | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Book of a Musical | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Orchestrations | Or Matias and Dave Malloy | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical | Amy Rubin and Brittany Vasta | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical | Hidenori Nakajo | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Ensemble | Adam Bashian, Kim Blanck, Starr Busby, Alex Gibson, Justin Gregory Lopez, J.D. Mollison, Margo Seibert, and Kuhoo Verma | Won | ||
| Drama League Awards[14] | Outstanding Production of a Musical | Nominated | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical | Won | ||
| Outstanding New Score | Dave Malloy | Honoree | ||
| Obie Award[15] | Collaboration on Music & Sound | Dave Malloy, Or Matias, Hidenori Nakajo | Won | |
Cast recording
editA cast recording was released on November 15, 2019[16] following a Kickstarter campaign.[17]
References
edit- ^ "New musical Octet, by Tony Award nominee Dave Malloy". www.signaturetheatre.org. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ Soloski, Alexis (May 3, 2019). "What Inspired a New Musical? Conspiracy Theories. And Yodeling". New York Times.
- ^ a b Holdren, Sara (May 20, 2019). "Octet Takes Flight on 8-bit Wings". Vulture. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- ^ "Octet by Dave Malloy". Genius.
- ^ Staff, Playbill (June 30, 2019). "Dave Malloy's A Cappella Musical Octet Ends Extended Off-Broadway Run June 30". Playbill. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ "New musical Octet, by Tony Award nominee Dave Malloy".
- ^ "Subscription and ticket packages". Berkeley Rep.
- ^ Octet Playbill insert
- ^ Brantley, Ben (May 19, 2019). "The Human Voice Versus the Internet in Octet". New York Times. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- ^ Feldman, Adam (May 20, 2019). "Dave Malloy Breaks the Internet". Time Out New York. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- ^ Cote, David (May 19, 2019). "Internet Addicts Make Beautiful Music Together in 'Octet'". Observer. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- ^ Clement, Olivia; Meyer, Dan (April 14, 2020). "Playwrights Horizons Leads 2020 Lucille Lortel Award Nominations With Strange Loop and Heroes of the Fourth Turning". Playbill. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
- ^ "PBreaking: 2020 Drama Desk Awards Nominations- The Full List!". Broadway World. April 21, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ BWW News Desk. "Breaking News: Drama League Announces 2020 Nominations". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ "2020 Obie Awards". obieawards.com. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "Octet (Original Cast Recording)". Apple Music. November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ Clement, Olivia (June 20, 2019). "Cast Recording of Dave Malloy's Octet in the Works". Playbill. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
Further reading
edit- Geier, Thom (May 19, 2019). "'Octet' Theater Review: Internet Addicts Harmonize in 'Black Mirror'-Inspired Musical". TheWrap. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- Larson, Sarah (June 10, 2019). "Octet". The New Yorker. pp. 12, 14.
- Scheck, Frank (May 19, 2019). "'Octet': Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 20, 2019.