The epic novel "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville has been turned into a musical and will be part of the American Repertory Theater's 2019/2020 season. Director Rachel Chavkin and musician and lyricist David Malloy joined Boston Public Radio Friday to discuss the show.
"This is famously the 'Great American Novel' that Melville was using in 1851 to examine the period and think about everything that was tearing the country apart in that moment," Chavkin said. "That was something that Dave and I took really seriously in thinking about this version now, and what that would look like and feel like in the 21st century."
"Our entire crew is played by artists of color, other than Ahab who is played by a white performer," he added. "We are certainly telling Melville story with an incredible amount of reverence, but also overlaying it with a whole series of contemporary implications."
Moby-Dick will show at A.R.T from December 3, 2019 to January 12, 2020.
