We Live in Cairo Tickets

By: The Lazours
Songs by: The Lazours
Director: Taibi Magar
Choreography: Ann Yee
Producer: New York Theatre Workshop
Cast list: Ali Louis Bourzgui (as Amir), Drew Elhamalawy (as Hassan), John El-Jor (as Karim), Nadina Hassan (as Layla), Michael Khalid Karadsheh (as Hany), Rotana Tarabzouni (as Fadwa)
Sets: Tilly Grimes
Costumes: Dina El-Aziz
Lighting: Bradley King
Sound: Justin Stasiw
Other info: Video design by David Bengali, orchestrations by Daniel Lazour and Michael Starobin, vocal arrangements and music supervision by Madeline Benson, music direction by Mona Seyed-Bolorforosh, voice and text coaching by Xavier Clark

We Live in Cairo is “a smart, tight musical balancing nuanced relationships and grand, global ideas that could debut on Broadway tomorrow,” per the Boston Herald. The musical, again directed by Taibi Magar, premiered at American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge in 2014 where it was met with strong reviews. It earned five stars from New York Stage, who said the show is “non-stop energy” and has a “spectacular visual effect.”

Now, the acclaimed musical makes its New York debut off Broadway. Combining Arab folk and contemporary musical theatre songwriting, the score offers a beautiful blend of solos, duets, and ensemble numbers. With an anthemic score, a moving book, exuberant choreography, and dynamic characters, We Live in Cairo spotlights the unique contributions of six fictionalized activists who helped usher in the Arab Spring, a time of turmoil and revolution that exposed, on the world’s stage, the fallacies within the Egyptian government.

What to watch for

• New York Theatre Workshop is celebrated for originating works that go on to enjoy prize-winning Broadway runs, including Peter and the Starcatcher, Rent, and Hadestown.
• In addition to directing this musical, Taibi Magar is the artistic director of Philadelphia Theatre Company and has also directed at Soho Rep. and the Atlantic off Broadway.
• The Lazour brothers are enjoying a bang-up season; in addition to this production, their new musical Night Side Songs will have two runs at A.R.T. and Philadelphia Theatre Company next year.
• No awareness of the Arab Spring is necessary to enjoy this show, but for background it was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It led to the ousting of Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in 2011.