Moby-Dick (2019 musical)

Moby-Dick is a musical in four parts with lyrics, music and book by Dave Malloy. An adaptation of the classic 1851 novel by Herman Melville, the musical made its world premiere in December 2019 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, directed by Rachel Chavkin.^[1]

Moby-Dick
Playbill for the Cambridge production
Music	Dave Malloy
Lyrics	Dave Malloy
Book	Dave Malloy
Basis	Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Productions	2014 "The Ballad of Pip" at Joe's Pub 2019 American Museum of Natural History 2019 Cambridge

Production history

Part III: "The Ballad of Pip" was performed as a standalone jazz song-cycle at Joe's Pub on March 20, 2014.^[2]

On July 26, 2019, and July 27, 2019, a 90-minute concert of excerpts from Moby-Dick was performed at the American Museum of Natural History, in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life underneath the whale.^[3]

The musical had its world premiere at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 11, 2019, after one week of previews.^[1]

Musical numbers

Prologue The Sermon – Mapple Etymology – Ishmael Part I "The Doubloon" "Loomings" – Ishmael, Company "Knights & Squires" – Ishmael, Company i. Knights & Squires (I) ii. Knights & Squires (II) iii. Isolatoes "A Bosom Friend" – Ishmael, Queequeg, Company "Ahab" – Company "The Quarter-Deck" – Ahab, Starbuck, Company {Whalesong Interlude (I)}/The Albatross – Daggoo, Pip Sunset – Ahab, Company Part II "The Honour and Glory of Whaling" Cetology – Ishmael, Company Stubb Kills a Whale – Company Fedallah – Fedallah The Whale as a Dish/Cutting In – Stubb, Company A Squeeze of the Hand – Company The Pequod Meets the Bachelor – Boomer, Sailors The Try-Works – Ishmael, Fedallah, Company {Whalesong Interlude (II)} – Tashtego The Cabin – Ahab, Starbuck Dusk - Starbuck, Company

Part III "The Ballad of Pip; or, The Castaway" Pip – Ishmael Tambourine – Elijah, Company Shanty – Shanty Singer, Company Ocean – Mapple, Company Coda – Ahab, Pip Part IV "The American Hearse" The Pacific – Queequeg, Ishmael Sextet – Company The Pequod Meets the Rachel – Gardiner, Company The Symphony – Company The Chase – Company i. First Day ii. Second Day iii. Third Day Roll On {Whalesong Interlude (III)} – Tashtego, Daggoo, Company Epilogue

Cast

Character	Original Cambridge Cast (2019)[4]
Ishmael	Manik Choksi
Captain Ahab	Tom Nelis
Father Mapple/Captain of the Albatross/Captain Boomer of the Bachelor/Captain Gardiner of the Rachel	Dawn L. Troupe
Queequeg	Andrew Cristi
Fedallah	Eric Berryman
Starbuck	Starr Busby
Stubb	Kalyn West
Flask	Anna Ishida
Tashtego	Matt Kizer
Daggoo	J.D. Mollison
Pip	Morgan Siobhan Green
Sailor 1/The Blacksmith	Ashkon Davaran
Sailor 2/The Carpenter	Kim Blanck

Reception

The Cambridge production was generally well reviewed, with praise for the music and the work of scenic designer Mimi Lien in particular, while common criticisms included the 3+1⁄2-hour length and "The Ballad of Pip" section. Don Aucoin of the Boston Globe wrote that it was "ambitiously conceived and superbly executed ... if occasionally self-indulgent,"^[5] while Carolyn Clay of WBUR's ARTery called it "an extraordinary sum of diverse parts."^[6] On the other hand, Christopher Caggiano of The Arts Fuse criticized the production for trying to adapt the entire book, and for "forcing" contemporary parallels.^[7]