BLACK WIZARD / BLUE WIZARD
SHOW INFO
A PHILOSOPHICAL MUSICAL FANTASIA
Ancient ideals and modern musings rub up against each other in Black Wizard / Blue Wizard, a philosophical musical fantasia. Two referees adjudicate the proceedings as the Black and Blue Wizards battle to save themselves and humanity from the Great Mediocrity.
Warping the conventions of musical theatrr and classical art song to intersect with the sensibilities of electronic music, Blue Wizard / Black Wizard is a pop culture smashup of fantasy language and contemporary parlance. What unfolds is a ritualistic sporting event, the likes of which audiences have never seen.
CAST & CREATIVE
Music & Text by Dave Malloy
Text & Music by Eliza Bent
Directed by Dan Safer
Starring: Eliza Bent, Nikki Calonge, Mikeah Ernest Jennings, Dave Malloy & Andy Strain on trombone. Ensemble: Hollis Beck, Siena D’Addario, Diana Egizi, Philip Gates, Victoria Giler, Tori Khalil, Amy King, Vanessa Koppel, Teri Madonna, Kris Opperman, Marit Sirgmets, Mark Taylor, Eleanor Hall Watson
Set Design by Mimi Lien
Lighting Design by Yi Zhao
Video Design by Michael De Angelis
Costume Design by Oana Botez
PHOTOS
PRESS
“The closest thing we’ve ever seen to a stoner musical!…And that’s not a bad thing! We felt high just being there! Wizards! Existential crisis! Donuts! Wonton food and wonton thoughts! So much to love about this show…blissfully surreal! Malloy appeared in the show himself and now having seen two VERY DIFFERENT shows of his, we are instantly hooked on him and can’t wait to see what he does next! He is going to be a needed anti-hero of contemporary American musical theater!”
-Perez Hilton, Perez Reviews
“Nerdtastic…a musical with spell-casting, 20-sided dice, metaphysical arguments, Dunkin Donuts & live trombonist. After Great Comet, Dave Malloy confirms his status as top composer.”
–Elizabeth Vincentelli, NY Post/10 Tweet review
“A delightful take on contemporary ennui and the search for meaning in a post-recession, celebrity-conflict-obsessed culture. Equal parts Tolkien, MTV game show, Ziggy Stardust, and John Hughes movie…The text and music, by Eliza Bent and Dave Malloy (who are also our wizards), are shape-shifting satires of genre: the characters are never in the place they want to be, never satisfied with the relationships in and with space and time, their genre of the moment peters out as quickly as it is presented…This sense of defiance is served well by the direction of Dan Safer, whose wonderful experiments are infamous for their indeterminate structures, game-like challenges, and playful, but precise movement.”
-The Obscene Jester
“A mash-up of classical art, modern pop culture, depression inducing anxiety, electronic music, pole dancing, and mystical battles for the future of mankind’s very existence….Beyond just a mash-up of themes, Blue Wizard / Black Wizard is a mash-up of forms. It is part musical, part play, part game show, part multimedia project, and part interactive theatre (if you’re the kind of person who thinks that’s different from regular theatre). It fits together surprisingly well and ends up feeling both surprising and entirely cohesive. It’s a musical that’s informed by the Internet generation, and it shows. All of the major players are young, and the thirteen back-up dancers are all either college students or recent post-grads, some of both from NYU. It’s strange and funny and sad in a way that only this generation can be.”
-Adam Cecil, NYU Local