César Alvarez
American composer, lyricist and playwright
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
César Alvarez (born 1980) is an American composer, lyricist and playwright.[1][2] César is best known for the musical Futurity which they wrote with their band The Lisps. Futurity won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical in 2016.[3]
Oberlin Conservatory
Bard College (MFA)
César Alvarez | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1980 (age 45–46) Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Education | Interlochen Arts Academy Oberlin Conservatory Bard College (MFA) |
| Occupations | Composer, lyricist, playwright, professor |
| Employer | Dartmouth College |
| Known for | Futurity (musical), The Lisps |
| Notable work | Futurity, The Elementary Spacetime Show, The Universe is a Small Hat, Noise |
| Awards | Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical (2016) |
Alvarez is an assistant professor of music at Dartmouth College.[4]
Early life
César J. Alvarez was born to a Cuban father and a Euro-American mother[5] in Greensboro, NC.[6] They were named for César Cauce and James Waller, who were both victims of the Greensboro Massacre.[7]
Alvarez attended Interlochen Arts Academy[8] and Oberlin Conservatory.[9] They received an MFA from Bard College.[1]
Alvarez uses they/them pronouns [10]
Career
Alvarez spent the early years of their career performing with The Lisps. The Lisps released 4 albums between 2006 and 2012."[11][12][13]
In 2008, Alvarez conceived of the Civil War-era science fictional musical Futurity as their master's thesis at Bard.[14] In 2009, The Lisps first performed Futurity at the now defunct New York City venue, The Zipper Factory.[15][16][17] Futurity world premiered as part of the American Repertory Theater's 2011/12 season under the direction of Sarah Benson[18] co-commissioned by Walker Art Center.[19] Futurity went on to an Off-Broadway premiere co-produced by Soho Rep and Ars Nova in 2015.[20] That production won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and received four other Lortel nominations.[3]
In 2013 Alvarez composed original music with The Lisps for The Foundry Theater's production of Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan starring Taylor Mac.[21] Alvarez and The Lisps received a Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Music in a Play.[22]
In 2014 Alvarez composed original music for the World Premiere production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's play An Octoroon. They received another Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Music in a Play.[23]
Alvarez also composed music for Soho Rep's site specific work Washeteria,[24] Theatre for a New Audience's production of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth,[25] and the documentary A Woman Like Me.[26]
Alvarez's other musicals include The Universe is a Small Hat,[27] The Elementary Spacetime Show[28][29] and Noise.[30]
Alvarez was an artist-in-residence at The University of the Arts where they served as Founding Artistic Director of Polyphone, a festival of new musicals for five years.[31][32][33]
Awards
- 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical (Futurity)[3]
- 2016 Jonathan Larson Award recipient[34]
- 2016 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Musical (Futurity)[35]
- 2022 Kleban Prize in Musical Theater[36]
- 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient for Drama & Performance Art[37]