A wave of nostalgia on stage
Tulane alumnus Bryan Batt portrays king of Carnival Billy Grace in a musical adaptation of the book Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death and Life in New Orleans by Dan Baum in Dixon Hall on the Tulane uptown campus in 2012. (Photo by Guillermo Cabrera-Rojo)
On the cusp of the ninth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré opens its new season with Nine Lives: A Musical Witness of New Orleans on Aug. 27, 28 and 29. The show"s credits are a who"s who of New Orleans theater and music, including Tulane University alumnus Bryan Batt.
Paul Sanchez"s musical adaptation of Dan Baum"s book, Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death and Life in New Orleans, has played to critical acclaim locally and in New York. Featuring a cast of 17, Nine Lives musically depicts the personal stories of a diverse selection of New Orleanians across the 40 years between Hurricanes Betsy and Katrina. Jim Fitzmorris directs Nine Lives, with a book by Kimberly Kaye.
'Nine Lives' musically depicts the personal stories of a diverse selection of New Orleanians across the 40 years between Hurricanes Betsy and Katrina.
Broadway, TV actor (“The Good Wife”) and New Orleanian Michael Cerveris coproduces the show along with Rick Duplantier and Roxy Bergeron. Cerveris heads up a cast that includes Sanchez, who along with composing the music partnered with Colman deKay on lyrics. They join trumpeter Shamarr Allen, recently debuted in the James Brown biopic Get On Up, who performs and chips in with additional words and music.
Batt, a New Orleans-based theater, TV (“Mad Men”) and film actor who graduated from Tulane in 1985, is featured in the ensemble, along with close to a dozen local musicians including Alex McMurray, a 1991 Tulane grad.
Le Petit has partnered with the New Orleans Musicians" Clinic to raise funds for the nonprofit, which provides comprehensive health care and mental health/social services to local performers. NOMC representatives will be present at each performance with information on its services and how to donate. Nine Lives cast members will pass the hat for donations to the clinic after each show.
A nonprofit performing arts organization led by Cassie Steck Worley, a Tulane graduate (class of 1985), Le Petit Theatre"s mission is to provide a wide range of quality theatrical productions and programming to entertain, enrich and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of New Orleans.
Tickets are available online or call 504-522-2081 for more information.
