ɪ’liʒən: the process of joining together or merging things, especially abstract ideas
Ghost Quartet 2022
By Dave Malloy
“Ghost Quartet” is a song cycle about love, death and whiskey from Dave Malloy, the Tony-nominated creator of the Broadway hit “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.” A camera breaks and four friends drink in an interwoven tale spanning seven centuries, with a murderous sister, a treehouse astronomer, a bear, a subway, and the ghost of Thelonious Monk. The story draws from several fairy tales and "ghost stories", including Snow White and Rose Red, Edgar Allen Poe's Fall of the House of Usher, and One Thousand and One Nights (commonly known as Arabian Nights). There may also be some Princess Zelda references you might recognize. Cast members present the story and music as a "concept album" and accompany themselves on keyboard, ukulele, guitar, mandolin, banjo, autoharp, dulcimer and 9,000 percussion instruments.
Originally Developed and Arranged by Ghost Quartet (Brent Arnold, Britain Ashford, Gelsey Bell, Dave Malloy), Annie Tippe, and Christopher Bowsers. Ghost Quartet is presented by special arrangement with United Talent Agency.
"Musically gorgeous and truly haunting . . . " ~ Cherry and Spoon - 2022
2022 Highlight Video and Production Photos
Photos by Jessica Holleque
Cast & Creative
Dave Malloy
Creator
DAVE MALLOY is a composer, writer, performer and sound designer. He has written the music for eleven musicals, including Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, an electropop opera based on War & Peace. Comet premiered at Ars Nova in the fall of 2012, before transferring Off-Broadway to Kazino, a Russian supper club built specially for the show. The show transferred to the Imperial Theater on Broadway in the fall of 2016 and was nominated for twelve Tony Awards, winning two for lighting design and set design. The show has also won the Richard Rodgers Award, a Special Citation OBIE Award, an ASCAP New Horizons Award, five Drama Desk nominations, and eleven Lucille Lortel nominations (winning three). Malloy's Ghost Quartet, a song cycle about love, death, and whiskey, premiered in October 2014 at the Bushwick Starr for an extended, sold-out run; in January it transferred to The McKittrick Hotel, home of Sleep No More, for a twice extended run.
Production Team
Director/Designer: Lindsay Fitzgerald
Stage Manager: Constance Brevell
Music Director: Harrison Wade
Vocal Director: Christine Wade
Lighting: Laina Grendle
Sound: Uriyah Dalman
Past Reviews
Twin Cities Stages - 2019
"As someone who loves theater for the excitement of seeing a performance live,
and sharing that experience with others Ghost Quartet is a thrill."
The Global Dig - 2019
"The quartet of Kellen McMillen, Quinn Shadko, Tristen Sima and Christine Wade will give you the chills."
Aisle Say Twin Cities - 2019
" . . . a hauntingly beautiful story that you will want to see again."
Stages of Minnesota - 2019
"The performers were great, they sang well, I just didn’t connect with what they were singing."
Compendium Minneapolis - 2018
"There's literally no way to sum it up! There's literally no way it should work! Who even comes up with such a thing? Turns out it's all Theatre Elision, and yes it works (swimmingly, in fact), and you'll leave this taut 90-minute performance happy but not entirely sure why."
Cherry and Spoon - 2018
"Elision's production is really cool - immersive, participatory (the audience gets to play percussion!), performed by an excellent (and partly new this year) cast of singer/ actor/ musicians, and includes the serving of whiskey! It's a unique theater experience, musically haunting and beautiful, and an overall creepy cool vibe. This is my second* time seeing it, and I could definitely see it every year."
Twin Cities Stages - 2018
"The show has a special kind of magic that deserves being revisited so I am thrilled that Theatre Elision put it on again,
and hope that they make a pattern out of it."
Bucket Brigade - 2018
"Sonically rich, enjoyably eclectic evening of music with a sense of history, mystery and a dash of the eerie. Tight ensemble with excellent musicianship."
Cherry and Spoon - 2017
"Theatre Elision brings us their usual small cast and musically beautiful production . . . it's a perfect show for this Halloweekend . . .
ghostly, beautiful, and captivating"
Twin Cities Stages - 2017
"Perfect show for Halloween . . .voices are individually beautiful and piercing, but together they harmonize in such a way that gave me goosebumps."
Audience Reaction:
"Best production I've seen since moving from New York to Minneapolis six years ago"
"Stunning"
"Mind-blowing"
"An amazing show"
"The talent was remarkable"
" . . . astounding, awe inspiring, magical -- I will be talking about it for a very long time."
2018-19 Gallery and Media
2017 Gallery and Media
