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World Premiere

The Great American All-Star Traveling War Machine

Directed by Jim Niesen

Theater for the New City
155 1st Avenue (East 9th and East 10th)

May 16th through June 15th, 2008

“Stirring, Memorable…The cast is young and Energetic!”
– Charles Isherwood, NY Times

“Lighthearted Tomfoolery” – New Yorker

“Intrinsically Interesting” – Adam Feldman, Time Out NY

The Great American All-Star Traveling War Machine is a 90 minute cabaret drawn from "States of War" in Lewis Lapham's popular journal Lapham's Quarterly. It combines songs from the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish American War, both World Wars, Viet Nam, and the Iraq War with scenes, sketches and monologues taken from first hand accounts, speeches, poetry and songs related to the machinations of war and the people who either perpetuate or try to stop it.

The pieces range from moving (the relationship between horsemen and their steeds at the Charge of the Light Brigade), to rousing (Elizabeth I addressing her forces before the clash with the Spanish Armada), to weird (Kissinger counseling Nixon against the use of nuclear weapons), and include original material developed by the company.

Press about The Great American All-Star Traveling War Machine

BackStage - The Great American All-Star Traveling War Machine
written by Ron Cohen - May 18, 2008
"This show is cleverly mounted by director Jim Niesen and passionately performed by its eight-member cast." Read the full review...

New York Times - Once More Unto the Breach (It’s a Rambo World Out There)
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD Published: May 21, 2008
This revue of songs, sketches and speeches is based on the first issue of Lapham’s Quarterly, a journal edited by Lewis H. Lapham.