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WORLD PREMIERE
“Equal parts chilling, thrilling and incisive.” – Juan A. Ramírez, The New York Times
“[Theater in Quarantine] makes confinement a virtue, a prompt to imagination.” – Helen Shaw, The New Yorker
“These shows in their weirdness, humor, gravitas, intellectual curiosity, graphic boldness and electric vitality, offer the best argument by far for the artistic promise of streaming theater” – Jesse Green, The New York Times
ABOUT THE WORK
Just in time for Halloween, Theater In Quarantine (TiQ) returns with Phantom of the Opera, a fully remote world premiere inspired by the 1925 silent horror classic, created by Joshua William Gelb and Normandy Sherwood and commissioned by NYU Skirball. Following 2023’s Nosferatu: A 3D Symphony of Horror, Phantom continues TiQ’s gothic experiments in digital performance—broadcast live from a labyrinth of miniature stages inside an East Village apartment. Unlike its more lavish musical cousins, this Phantom strips the story to its bones: a portrait of the artist as saboteur, trapped in a system that preserves tradition by suffocating change. Performed by TiQ’s largest cast to date and featuring a brand new dual-streaming system, audiences can toggle between the show and its behind-the-scenes construction, offering unprecedented access to the mechanics behind the illusions — unmasked and unmistakably live.
PRODUCTION GUIDANCE
Please note this is a fully remote performance. The production is streamed through CultureHub’s Broadcaster, a platform that lets you toggle in real time between two simultaneous views — the onstage performance and the hidden world behind it.
Important: please take care to reserve your ticket using the same email where you’d like the access link sent. You will receive a link to the CultureHub Broadcaster at noon and at 7 pm on the day of your event.
Our Answers to Your Frequently Asked Questions
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Theater in Quarantine is an Obie and Drama League Award-winning performance laboratory dedicated to the exploration of the live theatrical experience in the digital space. Established in response to the pandemic by Joshua William Gelb, TiQ has developed and live-streamed dozens of visually distinctive, original works to its YouTube channel, working out of a closet in the East Village that’s only 8 sq feet. Embracing 21st century solutions to the question “what is “theatrical” TiQ has become a leading practitioner in the emerging field of live-stream digital performance. TiQ has been presented by NYUSkirball, NYTW, Lucille Lortel Theater, HERE Arts Center, The Invisible Dog, New Georges, A2SF, Theater Mitu, La Mama, CultureHub, Exponential, CulturalDC, among others. Theater in Quarantine has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, Japan’s NHK Television, and has been profiled in The New Yorker and The New York Times. Theater in Quarantine has been a five-time New York Times Critic’s Pick as well as one of Vulture’s “Top 10 Best Theater Moments of 2020” and the New York Times’ “Best Theater of 2021.” During the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic Theater in Quarantine was run by Founder Joshua William Gelb and Co-Creative Director Katie Rose McLaughlin, collaborating remotely with over a hundred collaborators and reaching audience across the globe. TiQ continues to create new and exciting digital performances for both in-person and digital audiences.
CREATIVE CREDITS
Co-Created by Joshua William Gelb & Normandy Sherwood
in collaboration with the Company
Joshua William Gelb: Erik
Sophie Delphis: Christine
Curtis Gillen: Raoul
Erin Amlicke: Management
Jon Levin: Management
Scenography: Normandy Sherwood
Sound: Alex Hawthorn
Mediaturgy: Shoshanah Tarkow
Direction and Video: Joshua William Gelb
Livestream Powered by CultureHub Broadcaster
Produced by Shannon Sindelar
Assistant Director: Madelyn Barkocy
Production Assistant: Tabby Muhammad
Social Media Manager: Kate Purdum
SUPPORT
Livestream Powered by CultureHub Broadcaster
NYU Skirball’s programs are made possible in part with support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the Howard Gilman Foundation; Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels; Culture Ireland; The Shubert Foundation; Collins Building Services; General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the USA; Goethe Institut New York with support from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany; Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; New England Foundation for the Arts; Harkness Foundation for Dance; and Marta Heflin Foundation; as well as our valued donors through memberships, commissioning, and Allies for Arts Access Fund support.