In this “PROFOUNDLY STRANGE AND OVERWHELMINGLY BEAUTIFUL” (New York Times) music-theater piece, creator Heather Christian infuses a classical oratorio with a captivating blend of blues, gospel, jazz, and soul. Both otherworldly and achingly intimate, this immersive event delves into the intricacies of human memory alongside the powerful forces that shape the universe. Deemed “GORGEOUS – A MUST SEE!” (Time Out New York), Christian’s utterly singular work explores the origins of existence and our place within it.
Staged by Obie Award-winning director Lee Sunday Evans and featuring a virtuosic company of singers and instrumentalists, the critically heralded ORATORIO FOR LIVING THINGS makes its highly anticipated return, celebrating our curiosity, wonder, and all we’re capable of becoming when in communion with each other.
Originally premiered by Ars Nova.
Featuring:
Kirstyn Cae Ballard, Jonathan Christopher, Carla Duren, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Brian Flores, Jonny-James Kajoba, Barrie Lobo McLain, Ángel Lozada, Divya Maus, Ben Moss, Onyie Nwachukwu, and Dito Van Reigersberg.
Understudies:
Major Curda, Laura Darrell, Elisa Galindez, and Jacob Ryan Smith
Musicians:
Jules Biber, Fraser Campbell, Jane Cardona, John Murchison, Odetta Hartman and Peter Wise
Scenic, Original Artwork, & Environmental Design, Krit Robinson
Costume Design, Márion Talán de la Rosa
Lighting Design, Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
Sound Design, Nick Kourtides
Casting, Henry Russell Bergstein Casting
Press, Blake Zidell & Associates
Production Stage Manager, Jo Fernandez
This performance contains theatrical haze and prolonged sequences of rapid-changing lights which may potentially trigger seizures or discomfort in individuals with photo sensitive epilepsy or other light-sensitive conditions. Viewer discretion is advised.
This musical masterwork by the newly minted MacArthur genius is designed for repeated viewings, offering a multitude of wonders and interpretations. You could see it again and again and again and come away with a different understanding at each performance.
PROFOUNDLY STRANGE AND OVERWHELMINGLY BEAUTIFUL.
About the Playwright
HEATHER CHRISTIAN is a Drama Desk and two-time Obie Award-winning composer/librettist/performer making music-centered shows and rituals. Recent shows include her own work Terce: A Practical Breviary (Prototype Festival/HERE Arts Center), Oratorio for Living Things (Ars Nova), Prime: A Practical Breviary (Playwrights Horizons Soundstage), I am Sending you the Sacred Face (Theater in Quarantine, virtual theater), and Animal Wisdom (Bushwick Starr, now a feature film co-produced by ACT and Woolly Mammoth, coming to Signature in spring 2026), in addition to being a lead artist on devised works Mission Drift (National Theater, London) and The World Is Round (BAM). She is also the composer and lyricist of upcoming, Broadway-bound adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, written with Lauren Yee, which premiered at Arena Stage in DC in summer 2025. Recent Film and TV composition: A Good Girls Guide to Murder (BBC and Netflix), Teenage Euthanasia (Adult Swim) The Shivering Truth (Adult Swim), The Craft: Legacy (Blumhouse), and Lemon (Dir. Janicza Bravo). She was named one of Time Out NY's Downtown Innovators To Watch, was given a special citation by the New York Drama Critics Circle for musical innovation in 2024, and has been awarded the Richard Rodgers, Stephen Schwartz, and Jonathan Larson Prizes. She’s released 11 records, has taught at NYU and Princeton, operates her own recording studio in Beacon, NY, and can be seen in concert as Heather Christian & The Arbornauts.
