# FUTURITY

## Metadata

- Slug: futurity
- Type: Full-length Musical
- Genre: Dramedy
- Acts: 2 acts
- Duration: 90–120 minutes
- Cast:
  - Medium (7-14)
  - Large (15+)
- Cast Summary: 5 leads (any gender), ensemble 4-10+
- Performing Groups:
  - Professional Theatre
  - Community Theatre
  - College/University
  - High School/Secondary
- Primary Image: https://content.uproartheatrics.com/ymoc0q5eohbzti8u4p6ing8fb734
- Album Cover: https://content.uproartheatrics.com/hvfqhdojfpznytxcjxt7b5dfo44t

---

## Authors

- Music by César Alvarez (author slug: cesar-alvarez)
- Music by The Lisps (author slug: the-lisps)
- Music and Book by César Alvarez (author slug: cesar-alvarez)
- Script Development and Additional Text by Molly Rice (author slug: molly-rice)

## Overview

From the bleak recesses of the Civil War, a fictional soldier teams up with real-life Ada Lovelace. Together, they wrestle with the question: can humanity invent a machine that creates peace? Flavor profile of FUTURITY: **Brechtian steampunk folk-rock theatre, with a side of vaudeville and science fiction.** The musical bursts forth with science, philosophy, deeply accessible human stuff, all told through the lens of a playful and deeply imaginative narrative.
"How refreshing to meet a musical that has too much on its mind, rather than too little. FUTURITY can only help advance an art form that often seems unable to imagine itself a new future.”
-[*Charles Isherwood, Critic's Pick, The New York Times*](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/theater/review-futurity-in-a-civil-war-setting-wishes-for-todays-technology.html)
“Cesar Alvarez is changing the American musical theatre form, and the world.”
-[*American Theatre *](https://www.americantheatre.org/2015/10/13/cesar-alvarez-is-changing-the-american-musical-form-and-the-world/)
“Positively gasp-worthy. Those who like their theater messy and beautiful are liable to fall in love with FUTURITY.”
-[*Theatermania*](https://www.theatermania.com/off-broadway/reviews/futurity_74633.html)****winner of the [2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical](https://www.lortelaward.com/2016-nominees-1)**

## Plot

At its core, FUTURITY is about imagination. It asks us to consider the point of dreaming up the impossible inside of seemingly hopeless circumstances. Julian’s regiment wields instruments instead of guns, and the peace making machine that is unveiled at the end is a massive kinetic sculpture that creates an outpouring of collective sound. FUTURITY proposes that music and storytelling themselves are the machines that create peace.

## Cast

| Name | Description |
| ---- | ---- |
| CÉSAR/JULIAN  | A young idealistic civil war soldier. |
| SAMMY/ADA LOVELACE | A brilliant, imaginative scientist and poet situated in upperclass Victorian England. |
| THE GENERAL | A Civil War general, weathered by years of war. The General must be a Black actor. |
| THE SERGEANT | An upright and strong-voiced soldier. |
| ERIC | The drummer, who reads the Entr'acte speech. |
| THE ENSEMBLE | An orchestra of musicians who also play soldiers and the Society of Scientists. 4-10+ actors. |

## Instrumentation

The show is written for actor musicians, but can be performed with a band or pit orchestra.
4-13 musicians (optional: accordion, slide guitar, banjo, flute, strings, trombone, bass clarinet, saxes, trumpet)

**Orchestra Size**: Small

**Instruments**: Bass Guitar, Guitar, Percussion, Organ

## Materials

### Available for additional fee:

| Name | Description |
| ---- | ----------- |
| 60-Minute Talkback with the Creators | A 60-minute Zoom/Google Meet with one or more of the show's creator(s). Licensees and guests can ask questions, share experiences, and hear about the artistic journey of the show and creative team. This can be scheduled before or after the performances. If we are unable to make scheduling work, the cost will be refunded. |
| Video Recording License | License to create an archival recording of the show that may be distributed to the cast and crew. This does not allow publicly posting the performance. |

## Production Images

| URL | Caption | Credit |
| --- | ------- | ------ |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/ak0r3mbd0hlwvajl9y6at1aidin5 |  | Yi Zhao |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/f012uj15iv5z7hhib50i7rkq62ye | American Repertory Theater | Evgenia Eliseeva |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/rp4xfkwdlyfzgvnqjm4usk18ajoj | Sammy Tunis:  American Repertory Theater | Evgenia Eliseeva |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/zg3k21qlljrvjblwua08142h2nys | Soho Rep. New York, N.Y.
Directed by Sarah Benson
October 5, 2015 | Julieta Cervantes |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/dzo2l7yfauu0gvol4jfzge8ibl6n | American Repertory Theater | Evgenia Eliseeva |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/kxvg7tisvmtzo1m68gdbu2vpkipg | American Repertory Theater | Evgenia Eliseeva |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/26ub2dg5hmd4g0fws2cw2jnkbmd5 | American Repertory Theater | Evgenia Eliseeva |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/go42ixoq9js59vll4ldqydej5wmy | Soho Rep. New York, N.Y.
Directed by Sarah Benson
October 5, 2015 | Julieta Cervantes |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/079bksqbcqifruuu6hicrlxmn2o5 | Soho Rep. New York, N.Y.
Directed by Sarah Benson
October 5, 2015 | Julieta Cervantes |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/0glvdvkywsproxdz6p23f52463q1 |  | Yi Zhao |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/i9fez15vyxikagdx110m0yv18h46 |  | Yi Zhao |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/iqr793c3qu5jy5fplw94um7fhquv |  | Yi Zhao |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/vqmx2wl3yaymhcyvq65pf2eiae0e |  | Yi Zhao |
| https://content.uproartheatrics.com/zkn8p8vwhunlloah4pd57fgds7wq | César Alvarez and Sammy Tunis:  American Repertory Theater | Evgenia Eliseeva |

## Videos

- https://www.youtube.com/embed/FrfXIHpmuBs?si=V2o1vFqdQUrTCPxB
- https://www.youtube.com/embed/S2WqHpYjsLE
- https://www.youtube.com/embed/jpSSiHQpr98
- https://www.youtube.com/embed/WeYFwMT-HFA

## Press

| Title | URL | Image |
| ----- | --- | ----- |
| Review: ‘Futurity,’ in a Civil War Setting, Wishes for Today’s Technology  | https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/theater/review-futurity-in-a-civil-war-setting-wishes-for-todays-technology.html | https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/10/21/arts/21FUTURITY1/21FUTURITY1-facebookJumbo.jpg?year=2015&h=550&w=1050&s=4f7e36c61b5c3a0d7bf438070a71360b4a60e7819bd7e25a17ba19fe98ad771f&k=ZQJBKqZ0VN |
| The Futurity is a Musicality | https://www.culturebot.org/2015/10/24822/the-futurity-is-a-musicality/ | https://i0.wp.com/www.culturebot.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Futurity06cBen_Arons.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1 |
| The Lisps pen a new musical about the development of artificial intelligence during the Civil War | https://www.theatermania.com/off-broadway/reviews/futurity_74633.html | https://cs-tm-prod-photos.azureedge.net/107706.jpg |
| César Alvarez Is Changing the American Musical Form, and the World | https://www.americantheatre.org/2015/10/13/cesar-alvarez-is-changing-the-american-musical-form-and-the-world/ | http://www.americantheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/Futurity_Sammy-Tunis_opt.jpg |
| “Futurity,” at the Aurora Fox theater, is playful and poignant, rocking and roiling | https://www.denverpost.com/2022/10/20/theater-review-futurity-musical-aurora-fox/ | https://www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/TDP-L-FUTURITYCAST-01.jpg?w=1024&h=576 |
| ‘Futurity’ takes art changing the world to a new level | https://www.onstagecolorado.com/futurity-aurora-fox/# |  |