''Moby-Dick'' is a stage musical in four parts with lyrics, music and book by

Dave Malloy Dave Malloy (born January 4, 1976) is an American composer, playwright, lyricist, and actor. He has written several theatrical works, often based on classic works of literature. They include ''Moby-Dick'', an adaptation of Herman Melville's cla ...

. An adaptation of the classic 1851 novel by

Herman Melville Herman Melville (born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); '' Typee'' (1846), a r ...

, the musical made its world premiere in December 2019 at the

American Repertory Theatre The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

, directed by

Rachel Chavkin Rachel Chavkin (; born July 20, 1980) is an American stage director best known for directing the musicals '' Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812'' and ''Hadestown,'' receiving nominations for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical f ...

Production history

Part III: "The Ballad of Pip" was performed as a standalone jazz song-cycle at

Joe's Pub Joe's Pub, one of the six performance spaces within The Public Theater, is a music venue and restaurant that hosts live performances across genres and arts, ranging from cabaret to modern dance to world music. It is located at 425 Lafayette St ...

on March 20, 2014. 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 The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

underneath the whale. The musical had its world premiere at the

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to n ...

on December 11, 2019, after one week of previews.

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 * /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 * – 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 – Tashtego, Daggoo, Company ;Epilogue

Cast

Reception

The Cambridge production was generally well reviewed, with praise for the music and the work of scenic designer

Mimi Lien Mimi Lien (born 1976) is a Chinese American set designer, best known for doing the scenic design of '' Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812.'' In 2017, she received a Tony Award for her work with the Broadway production. Lien is also a 201 ...

in particular, while common criticisms included the -hour length and "The Ballad of Pip" section. Don Aucoin of the

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

wrote that it was "ambitiously conceived and superbly executed ... if occasionally self-indulgent," while Carolyn Clay of WBUR's ARTery called it "an extraordinary sum of diverse parts." On the other hand, Christopher Caggiano of

The Arts Fuse ''The Arts Fuse'' is an online arts magazine covering cultural events in Greater Boston, as well as Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New York. The Arts Fuse has published more than 2,000 articles and ...

criticized the production for trying to adapt the entire book, and for "forcing" contemporary parallels.

References

{{Moby-Dick Works based on Moby-Dick 2019 musicals Musicals based on novels Musicals by Dave Malloy