An outcry against tyranny, Prometheus Bound illustrates one man's struggle against the brute force of a ruthless dictator. Written by Tony and Grammy Award-winning playwright and lyricist Steven Sater (Spring Awakening) with music composed by Grammy Award-winning System of a Down lead singer Serj Tankian, this new musical is inspired by Aeschylus's Ancient Greek tragedy about the heroic struggle of Western civilization's first prisoner of conscience. A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus stages this world premiere production in OBERON, immersing the audience in an environment that has theDionysian energy and rebelliousness of a rock concert.

The cast includes Gavin Creel as Prometheus, Lea DeLaria as Force, Michael Cunio as Oceanos, Gabe Ebert as Hephaistos/Hermes, Uzo Aduba as Io, Celina Carvajal, Ashley Flanagan as Daughters of the Ocean, and Jo Lampert as Daughter of the Ocean and Violence. The band includes Charlie Chronopolous on guitars and sitar; Tom Duprey on trumpet, clarinet, bass clarinet, flugerlhorn, violin and accordion; David Finch on violin, viper, and trombone; Jeff Muzerolle on drums, percussion, and synthesizer; and RobSimring on bass guitars. The Band Leader is Vincent Padulla.

Scenic Design is by Riccardo Hernandez, Costume Design by Emily Rebholz, Lighting Design by Kevin Adams, Sound Design by Clive Goodwin. Choreography is by Stephen Petronio, Vocal Design by AnnMarie Milazzo, Music Supervision by Debra Barsha and Lance Horne.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AND PROMETHEUS BOUND:

The American Repertory Theater, in partnership with Amnesty International, is dedicating Prometheus Bound to eight Amnesty actions to free prisoners of conscience. The A.R.T. will be dedicating specific performances to prisoners of conscience around the world (see “At a Glance” section for specifics). Letters will be collected and post-show demonstrations will be held, hoping to shed a light and demand equal human rights for all. We are reaching out to community and student human rights organizations to join us in this initiative. For further information go to
http://www.americanrepertorytheater.org/amnesty

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

Gavin Creel (Prometheus) most recently appeared in the role of Claude in Hair on Broadway (Tony® nomination), in the 2004 Broadway Revival of La Cage Aux Folles, and in the 2002 production of Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony Award nomination). He was also seen in The Goodman Theatre/Kennedy Center production of Bounce, as well as Hair and Mary Poppins on London’s West End. As an independent musician, Creel released a debut pop album entitled, “Goodtimenation" in 2006, and recently followed it up with a six song EP of original acoustic tunes called “Quiet,” which in its first week broke onto the Billboard Heatseekers Album Chart. Creel is a respected advocate for the LGBT community, and has gainednational attention performing and speaking at events and rallies.

Uzo Aduba (Io) was seen in Coram Boy on Broadway, The Seven Off-Broadway, Godspell at Paper Mill Productions, A Civil War Christmas at the Huntington Theatre, Venice at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, and the regional revival of Abyssinia.

Celina Carvajal (Daughter of the Ocean) Broadway credits include Tarzan, Dracula, 42nd Street, and Cats. Off-Broadway The Toxic Avenger, Rooms, and BedBugs!!! at NYMF (NYMF outstanding actor award). Television credits include Sex and the City, The Stepford Wives, and The Graduates.

Michael Cunio (Oceanos) appeared in Hairspray on Broadway and the national tour, and Jersey Boys in Chicago, as well as the film Fluffer.

Lea DeLaria (Force) is an American comedienne, actress, and jazz musician, and the first openly gay comic to appear on a late-night talk show. She was seen on Broadway in the 1998 revival of On the Town and the 2000 revival of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Off-Broadway in Paul Rudnick’s The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. She has released two CD recordings of her comedy, “Bulldyke in a China Shop” and “Box Lunch;” as well as a recording of timeless pop-standards entitled “The Live Smoke Sessions.”

Gabriel Ebert (Hephaistos/Hermes) appeared as Ken in John Logan’s Red on Broadway, as Stanley in Brief Encounter at Studio 54, and as Justin in The Sacrifices at The Public Theater’s Summer Play Festival. He is a recent graduate of the Juilliard School.

Jo Lampert (Daughter of the Ocean/Violence) was seen in The Daughters at Yale Institute for Music Theatre/Joe’s Pub, The Last Goodbye at Joe’s Pub and the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM:

Steven Sater (book and lyrics) won Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score, the Drama Desk and Outer Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Lyrics, the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album, and the 2010 Olivier Award for Best New Musical for Spring Awakening. Plays include the long-running Carbondale Dreams; Perfect for You; Doll(Rosenthal Prize); Umbrage (Steppenwolf New Play Prize); A Footnote to the Iliad (New York Stage and Film); Asylum (Naked Angels), and a reconceived musical version of Shakespeare’s Tempest (Lyric Hammersmith). He has collaborated with Duncan Sheik on Umbrage (HERE); Nero (Magic Theatre, New York Stage and Film); The Nightingale (La Jolla Playhouse and American Conservatory Theater); and the critically acclaimed album Phantom Moon (Nonesuch). He is currently at work with Burt Bacharach on a new musical as well. Additionally, Sater works as a pop/rock lyricist and a screenwriter (the forthcoming Chitty Chitty Bang Bang remake for Sony Pictures).

Serj Tankian (Composer) A singer, poet, songwriter, activist, and composer, Serj Tankian is an Armenian immigrant born in Lebanon and re-rooted in Los Angeles. He is the lead singer and songwriter of the Grammy Award winning rock band System of a Down. Tankian has released two critically acclaimed solo albums Imperfect Harmonies and Elect the Dead, both produced by Tankian himself at his home studio in Los Angeles. He also formed a record label, Serjical Strike Records (established in 2001) that has released albums by eight artists, including Fair To Midland, Buckethead and Death By Stereo. With a mission of spreading diversity and understanding through music, poetry and activism, Tankian, together with fellow musician Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), co-founded the non-profit organization Axis Of Justice in 2002. Axis strives to bring together musicians, fans of music and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice. He has alsoacted as co-host of the Axis Of Justice Radio Network, which can be heard via Sirius Satellite Radio and KPFK in Los Angeles.

Diane Paulus (Director) is the Artistic Director of the A.R.T. Her A.R.T. credits include Johnny Baseball, Best of Both Worlds, The Donkey Show (also six years Off-Broadway, tours to London, Edinburgh, Madrid, Evian, France). Other theater includes HAIR (Gielgud Theater, London, Al Hirschfield Theater, Tony Award, Best Revival for of a Musical, Tony Award Nomination, Best Direction of a Musical), Lost Highway (Young Vic/English National Opera), Kiss Me Kate (Glimmerglass Opera), Another Country (Columbia Stages), Turandot: Rumble for the Ring (Bay Street Theater), Swimming with Watermelons (Vineyard Theater and Music-Theatre Group), Eli’s Comin,’ (Obie Award), Brutal Imagination (Vineyard Theater), The Golden Mickeys (Disney Creative Entertainment), The Karaoke Show (Jordan Roth Productions), Running Man (Pulitzer Prize Finalist, (Music-Theatre Group). Opera: The Magic Flute (Canadian Opera Company), Death and the Powers (Opera Garnier de Monte Carlo, to be followed by performances at A.R.T. and Chicago Opera Theater), Il mondo della luna (Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History, Gotham Chamber Opera), Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Turn Of The Screw, Cosi fan tutte, Il ritornod’Ulisse in patria, L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Orfeo (Chicago Opera Theater). Upcoming at the A.R.T.: Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera, and Porgy and Bess. Ms. Paulus was named one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Boston by Boston Magazine this year.

Stephen Petronio (Choreography) was the first male dancer of the Trisha Brown Company (1979 to 1986). He founded Stephen Petronio Company in 1984 and has created over 35 works for his company. He has been commissioned by some of the world’s most prestigious modern and ballet companies, including William Forsythe’s Frankfurt Ballet, Tulsa Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lyon Opera Ballet, Maggio Danza Florence, Sydney Dance Company, Norrdans, Washington Ballet, The Scottish Ballet, Ballet-de-Lorraine, and the National Dance Company of Wales. His company works have been set on Norrdans in Sweden, The Scottish Ballet, Dance Works Rotterdam, Diversions Dance Company of Wales, and X Factor Dance Company in Edinburgh, among others. Major repertory works have recently been set on Ballet National de Marseille, Ballet-de-Lorraine, and London Contemporary Dance Theater.

Riccardo Hernandez (Set Design) Close to 20 A.R.T. credits including Best of Both Worlds, The Seagull, Julius Caesar, Britannicus. On Broadway he designed Caroline,or Change, Topdog/Underdog (also Royal Court, London), Elaine Stritch at Liberty (also West End’s Old Vic, London and national tour), Parade (Tony and Drama Desk Nominations), Bells Are Ringing, Noise/Funk (also national tours and Japan), The Tempest. Other New York credits include over a dozen productions at New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater; as well as Santa Fe Opera, Lincoln Center, Second Stage, New York Theater Workshop, MTC, MCC, Playwrights Horizons, Cherry Lane, BAM; and numerous regional theaters and opera houses, including Il Postino for Los Angeles Opera and the Kennedy Center this season.

Emily Rebholz (Costume Design) Broadway credits include Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson (also at The Public Theater and Center Theater Group). Other New York designs include When I Come To Die; On The Levee; Broke-ology, Clay (Lincoln Center); Honey Brown Eyes (The Working Theater); Bottom of the World (Atlantic Theater); Bachelorette (Second Stage Uptown); This Wide Night (Naked Angels); Killers and Other Family (Rattlestick Theatre); The Language of Trees (Roundabout Theatre); Sax and Dixon, Jollyship the Whizbang, Boom (Ars Nova). Select Regional: Dinner With Friends (Westport Country Playhouse); Becky Shaw (The Wilma Theatre); Six Degrees of Separation (The Old Globe); Murderers, Doubt, Expecting Isabel (Asolo Repertory Theatre); Caroline in Jersey, Beyond Therapy (Williamstown Theatre Festival).

Kevin Adams (Lighting Design) won Tony Awards for his designs for American Idiot, Spring Awakening, and The 39 Steps and was nominated for a Tony for Hair and Next To Normal. Additional credits include Passing Strange, Everyday Rapture, Take Me Out, Hedda Gabler, and solo shows for John Leguizamo, Eve Ensler, and Kevin Bacon. Off-Broadway credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch, premiers by Edward Albee, Eric Bogosian, Christopher Durang, Kander and Ebb, Rinde Eckert, Richard Greenberg, Tony Kushner, Terrence McNally, Charles Mee Jr., Neil Simon, Anna Deveare Smith, and Paula Vogel. Other: Steppenwolf Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Yale Rep, Donmar Warehouse, NY City Opera, Kennedy Center, HBO's MILDRED PIERCE, Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs, concerts by Audra McDonald, Patti Lupone, and Sandra Bernhard. 2002 Obie for Sustained Excellence.

Clive Goodwin (Sound Design) A.R.T. credits include The Blue Flower, Cabaret, Alice vs. Wonderland, and Paradise Lost. London credits include BBC’s Dancing With The Stars, Later with Jools Holland, The Sound of Musicals, and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross; ITV’s Parkinson. Music credits include Radiohead, Jamiroquai, Paolo Nutini, Orbital, Sparks, The Waterboys, Glastonbury Festival, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal College of Music. Sound designer for The Dresser, Wyrd Sisters, and Dracula—The Vampire Strikes Back at Woodhouse Players. He also designed productions at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, Royal Festival Hall, and Avignon Festival.

Debra Barsha (Music Director) A.R.T.: Cabaret. Winner of the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Award for the score to Radiant Baby (the life of graffiti artist Keith Haring), produced at the Public Theater, directed by George C. Wolfe. Radiant Baby received three Lucille Lortel nominations including Outstanding Musical. Composer credits include: Blackout (Amas), Sophie (JRT), Songs From an Unmade Bed (NYTW) and her one-woman shows Go To Your Womb and A Womb with a View. Children’s musicals: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and The Emperor’s New Condo. Songs recorded/performed by: George Clinton, Jackie Mason, Marty Balin, Rebecca Luker, Michael Winther and Bootsy Collins. Original CDs: Women in Windows and Barsha Raw! Live at Ars Nova. Barsha played keyboards and sang on Thomas Dolby’s Flat Earth Tour and performed roles in the original off-Broadway companies of both Tony ’N’ Tina’s Wedding and Charles Busch’s Swingtime Canteen (Music Director for both). She created Debra and Mary’s Night on Town, a live talk/music show with Mary Cleere Haran, with guests Tim Gunn, Terry Jones, Michael Feinstein and Rupert Holmes. Barsha is the Music Supervisor for the upcoming Peter Gabriel musical US and currently plays keyboard and is the Assistant Conductor of Broadway’s Jersey Boys.

ABOUT THE A.R.T.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is one of the country's most celebratedresident theaters and the winner of numerous awards including the Tony Award, the Pulitzer Prize and regional Elliot Norton and I.R.N.E. Awards. In 2002 the A.R.T. was the recipient of the National Theatre Conference's Outstanding Achievement Award, and in May of 2003 it was named one of the top three regional theaters in the country by Time magazine.

In 2009, the A.R.T. welcomed its new Artistic Director, Diane Paulus. Armed with the A.R.T.'s mission to expand the boundaries of theater, Paulus and her team have engaged thousands of new theatergoers at performances of Sleep No More, The Donkey Show, Gatz, Best of Both Worlds, Johnny Baseball and Cabaret as well as festivals like Emerging America. Critics and audiences have embraced the immersive environments that have become hallmarks of A.R.T. productions. The Theater has broadened its focus to include the audience's total experience, providing them with a sense of ownership in the theatrical event. The A.R.T.’s new club theater OBERON, which Paulus calls a “second stage for the 21st century,” is an example of one initiative that has not only become an incubator for local artists but also has attracted national attention as a groundbreaking model for programming. Through all of its work, the A.R.T. is committed to building a community of artists, designers, technicians, administrators and audience.

The Loeb Drama Center, located at 64 Brattle Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge, is accessible to persons with special needs and to those requiring wheelchair seating or first-floor restrooms. Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons can also reach the theater by calling the toll-free N.E. Telephone Relay Center at 1-800-439-2370.

Project News: 

Prometheus Bound featured in AMERICAN THEATER Magazine

Jul 14 2011

New Song "The Hunger" for Amnesty International

Mar 1 2011

Prometheus Bound Review: Theatermania / The Boston Metro

Apr 9 2010

Prometheus Bound Revew: Boston.com

Apr 8 2010

Artisan News Service Interviews Serj About Prometheus Bound

Mar 31 2010

Tankian and Spring Awakening's Sater at Work on Prometheus Bound Musical

May 26 2008

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Project Videos: 

Prometheus Bound: A New Rock Musical

Prometheus Bound - Teaser Video #2

Prometheus Bound - Teaser Video #1

Artisan News Video Interview Of Serj Tankian About Prometheus Bound