Past Production: Highway Ulysses

Dana Marks and Nora Cole. Photo: Richard Feldman.

HIGHWAY ULYSSES

World Premiere
music and text by Rinde Eckert
directed by Robert Woodruff
March 1-22, 2003
at the Loeb Drama Center
ARTicles - in-depth coverage from the A.R.T. newsletter and beyond
ARTifact - production trailer (flash movie)

photos - cast - related links

In this contemporary musical response to Homer's Odyssey, a reclusive war veteran, Ulysses, receives an urgent call in the middle of the night and embarks on a journey to find his son. On his way, he gets waylaid by a kaleidoscopic mix of characters: a waitress at a truck stop, a trio of sirens in a jail cell, a one-eyed librarian, a woman in a tattoo parlour. These bizarre characters embrace Ulysses, forcing him to confront his violent past and propelling him toward the fateful meeting with his estranged son.

scenic & costume design by David Zinn
lighting design by David J. Weiner
sound design by David Remedios
movement by Doug Elkins
music director Peter Foley
stage manager M. Pat Hodge

PHOTOS

Click any thumbnail for a full-size image. Photos by Richard Feldman.

CAST

Bride	... Nora Cole
Ulysses	... Thomas Derrah
Son	... Dana Marks
Ensemble	... Heather Benton ... Rinde Eckert ... Will LeBow ... Karen MacDonald ... Michael Potts
Wedding guests: Dianne Chalifore, Alison Clear, Lisa P. Miller Gillespie, Seth Reich, Josh Wright, Holly Vanasse.
Musicians: Empty House Cooperative - David Curry (viola, theremin, homemade instruments, digital loop samples, singing saw, horn), Chris Brokaw (guitar, percussion), Jonah Sacks (cello, guitar), Peter Foley (music director, piano).

RELATED LINKS

ARTicles Online - from theatre newsletter and program notes:
- Homer on the Highway - Ryan McKittrick talks with writer-composer Rinde Eckert
- The Empty House Cooperative Rocks the House Live! - by Heather Aronson
- Inspired by the Ancients - Episodes from The Odyssey
- Selected Texts - A selection from the texts that inspired Rinde Eckert and Robert Woodruff
media coverage
- Boston Phoenix - Highway Homer: Rinde Eckert's road through perdition - by Carolyn Clay
- Boston Phoenix - Eckert's Ulysses: The ART maps a musical odyssey - by Scott T. Cummings
- Harvard Gazette - Coming down the highway: Innovative Highway Ulysses rethinks classic tale of homebound warrior - by Ken Gewertz
more about the Empty House Cooperative
- hinah.com - "improvisational music"
- Indie Music Magazine - Interview with David Michael Curry - by John Clarkson
- www.chrisbrokaw.com - website of EHC's Chris Brokaw

ARTifact - production trailer (flash movie)

Order the poster by designer Burt Sun from the zazzle.com website!

Major funding for Highway Ulysses has been provided by
The National Endowment for the Arts CrossCurrents, a program of the Altria Group, Inc.
The Rockefeller Foundation Multi-Arts Production Fund

This page updated March 22, 2003
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