This production runs 2 hours and 15 minutes with a 10-minute intermission.

World Premiere
Nero (another golden rome )
by Steven Sater
music by Duncan Sheik
directed by Beth Milles

February 11 - April 8, 2006
(Theatre-Intensive Weekends: March 24-26, March 31-April 2, April 7-9)
Northside Theatre

“a circus-like vaudeville” – Bay Area Reporter (read full review)

“the most refreshing and imaginative script to come along in a long-long time… the cast is all superb” – SF Sentinel (read full review)

“Daring political theatre!” – BeyondChron.com (read full review)

The indulgent, political and personal world of Nero comes to life in this feast of language, imagery and music. Acclaimed playwright Steven Sater and Grammy-nominated Duncan Sheik create an experimental landscape to portray the dangerous excesses of this controversial boy-emperor.

Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s collaborations over the years have included a musical version of Frank Wedekind’s play Spring Awakening (Concert Production – Lincoln Center, slated to open at Atlantic Theatre Company in 2006 ), The Nightingale, commissioned by Martin McCallum of Cameron Mackintosh, Inc and Duncan Sheik’s album Phantom Moon, for which Mr. Sater wrote the lyrics.

The development of this new work takes a creative and unbeaten path inspired in part by the Viewpoints Process (made popular by Anne Bogart and the SITI Company) of physically applied, externally generated character improvisations. The playwright and the composer will be creating the original script from historical source materials and rehearsal explorations with the cast. The final production will have a spectacle-choreography sensibility akin to Robert Wilson or Mary Zimmerman which is being scored live by the composer.

HOT HOUSE’06 Executive Producers - Nicola Miner & Robert Mailer Anderson
Executive Producers - Shepard P. Pollack & Paulette Long
Producers - Carol Streeter & Harold Goldstein

Nero (Another Golden Rome) was developed at Magic Theatre with generous support from The Tournesol Project and at the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance at Cornell University.