The Church of St. Joseph and the brand-new Brooklyn Arts HQ present a site-specific production of T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral.

Directed by OBIE-winner Alec Duffy and featuring original music by Jonathan Larson Award-winner Dave Malloy

Murder in the Cathedral runs from September 16th—October 2, 2010 at The Church of St. Joseph. 856 Pacific Street, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

One of Brooklyn’s most majestic cathedrals will celebrate the power of the performing arts with a production of T.S. Eliot’s timeless play, Murder in the Cathedral.

OBIE Award-winner Alec Duffy (Three Pianos) helms Nobel writer T.S. Eliot’s classic poetic drama – last staged in New York over 10 years ago – in a dynamic, site-specific production featuring a diverse cast, thrilling staging and an original musical score by Jonathan Larson Award-winning composer Dave Malloy (Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage). The play will be staged at The Church of St. Joseph, 856 Pacific Street (at Vanderbilt Avenue) in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

Previews begin Thursday, September 16, with opening night on Saturday, September 18.  Performances continue through Saturday, October 2nd, running Thursday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm, and Sunday afternoons at 2 pm.

The drama recounts the last month in the life of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who faces certain death for his defense of the Church against the crown of England.  As Becket continues in his journey, he confronts the very human drama of individual integrity, the expectations of friendship, and the struggle of will.
This production presents a unique opportunity to experience Eliot’s work in its ideal context: an architectural wonder, built for the sweeping dramatic meditation that the play inspires. For the production, the newly refurbished cathedral of this century-old Prospect Heights institution will be filled with drama, music, and tremendous artistry, offering a unique theatrical experience in an awe-inspiring space.  Thomas Becket is played by Godfrey Simmons (Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play) and other cast members include Christopher Burris, Jordan Coughtry, Alexis McGuinness, Lori Parquet, Nikaury Rodriguez, Julian Rozzell and Jamie Watkins. Tickets are free, with a suggested donation price of $10. No advance reservations are necessary.Brooklyn Arts HQ is a brand-new non-profit educational organization that offers community-based performance experiences for audiences. With a special focus on cultivating engagement among residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, HQ will produce plays, offer arts workshops for young people, and host a range of programming designed to educate, challenge, and inspire. Brooklyn Arts HQ is committed to encouraging collaboration between artists from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences, and to maintaining professional and affordable theatrical productions and performing arts resources.

ALEC DUFFY (Director) is the founder and Artistic Director of the theater company Hoi Polloi.  Recent original work includes the OBIE-winning Three Pianos (as creator/performer), which will be presented at New York Theater Workshop this coming season, The less we talk: a meditation on group singing, Dysphoria (Ontological Theater) and The Top Ten People of the Millennium Sing Their Favorite Schubert Lieder, which premiered in New York and toured to Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago. Duffy is a Drama League Directing Fellow and was one of seven directors nationwide to be selected for the 2007-09 NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors.

DAVE MALLOY (Composer) is the winner of a 2009 Jonathan Larson Grant and is one of the three OBIE-winning creator/performers of Three Pianos, moving to New York Theater Workshop this winter. His recent large-scale work, Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage, a Banana Bag & Bodice musical, enjoyed sold out runs in Berkeley and NYC and received the Bay Area’s 2008 Glickman Award. Malloy has written five full length musicals, including Clown Bible, a gypsy-jazz infused telling of biblical stories from Genesis to Revelation told through clowns (“Best Play of the Year” and “Best Music of the Year,” East Bay Express 2007), and Banana Bag & Bodice’s Sandwich.
The Church of St. Joseph is located in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, at 856 Pacific Street, between Vanderbilt and Underhill. Transportation: 2, 3 train to Bergen Street; Q, B train to 7th Avenue, C train to Clinton-Washington Aves, or the 4,5 to Atlantic Avenue.