Mass: A Theatre Piece For Singers, Players and Dancers
Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass: A Theater Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers,” with additional lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, is performed in celebration of the centenary of the composer’s birth.
The production will be fully staged in ASU Gammage and features guest artist Jubilant Sykes alongside the ASU Symphony Orchestra, ASU Choral and Music Theatre and Opera programs, the ASU School of Film, Dance and Theatre and the Phoenix Boys Choir.
Written at a time when the country was polarized and in a crisis of communication, “Mass” poses more questions than it answers. This production will center on elements of Bernstein’s message that are still relevant today, with a focus on empathy and hope.
Expertly performed by students throughout the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, it is also a piece that celebrates the bridging of the many disciplines that Bernstein represented and the boundaries he broke as an artist.
Music by Leonard Bernstein; lyrics by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Schwartz.
ASU Symphony Orchestra (Jeffery Meyer, conductor and music director); ASU Choral Ensembles (David Schildkret, choral director); ASU Music Theatre and Opera (Brian DeMaris, artistic director); Phoenix Boys Choir (Georg Stangelberg, artistic director); David Lefkowich, stage director; Carley Conder, David Olarte and Marcus White, choreographers; set design by Alfredo Escarcega; costumes, wigs and makeup by Sharon Jones; lighting design by Alan C. Edwards; media design by Dallas Robert Nichols; sound design by Almir Lejlic.
“Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers” is presented by arrangement with Boosey and Hawkes, Inc., sole agent for Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company LLC, publisher and copyright owner.