César Alvarez


César Alvarez is an American composer, lyricist and playwright. He is best known for the musical FUTURITY which he wrote with his band The Lisps. FUTURITY won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical in 2016.

Early life

Alvarez was born to a Cuban father and a Euro-American mother in Greensboro, NC. He was named for two friends of his parents, César Cauce and James Waller, who were both victims of the Greensboro Massacre.
Alvarez attended Interlochen Arts Academy and Oberlin Conservatory. He received an MFA from Bard College.

Career

Alvarez spent the early years of his career performing with his band The Lisps. The Lisps released 4 albums between 2006 and 2012."
In 2008, Alvarez conceived of the Civil War-era science fictional musical FUTURITY as his master's thesis at Bard. In 2009, The Lisps first performed FUTURITY at the now defunct New York City venue, The Zipper Factory. FUTURITY world premiered as part of the American Repertory Theater's 2011/12 season under the direction of Sarah Benson co-commissioned by Walker Art Center. FUTURITY went on to an Off-Broadway premiere co-produced by Soho Rep and Ars Nova in 2015. That production won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and received 4 other Lortel nominations.
In 2013 Alvarez composed original music with The Lisps for The Foundry Theater's production of Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan starring Taylor Mac. Alvarez and The Lisps received a Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Music in a Play.
In 2014 Alvarez composed original music for the World Premiere production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's play An Octoroon. He received another Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Music in a Play.
Alvarez also composed music for Soho Rep's site specific work Washeteria, Theatre for a New Audience's production of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth, and the documentary A Woman Like Me.
Alvarez's other musicals include The Universe is a Small Hat, The Elementary Spacetime Show and NOISE.
Alvarez is an Artist-in-Residence at The University of the Arts. He is also the Artistic Director of Polyphone, a festival of new musicals he co-founded at the University of the Arts.

Awards