TEMPUS Key Art — An hourglass containing icy mountains and a figure reaching through time

"What would you do if you had more time?"

A new musical about life and death…and life

About the Show

Dr. Annie Lawson is dying. The first woman to lead an expedition to the South Pole in 1926, she finds herself lost on the ice where she takes her last breath. 100 years later, her body is recovered and she's brought back to life by Dr. Chloe Watling and her team at Revivia. Using cutting edge biotech, Revivia has found a way to restore frozen tissue. Annie awakens in 2026 to find herself 100 years out of time, no longer the scientist but the experiment.

As Annie struggles to adjust to this brave new world, TEMPUS explores what it means to "move fast and break things," when the things you could break are people. And it asks the question: "what would you do if you had more time?"

TEMPUS features music and lyrics by singer/songwriter Jonatha Brooke (The Story, "10 Cent Wings"), book by Jaclyn Backhaus (MEN ON BOATS, OUT OF TIME). TEMPUS is directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt (STILL, FINN).

TEMPUS explores the ethics and implications of scientific discovery and startup culture at a time when AI is bringing unimaginable change to our world. The story considers how ground-breakers weigh their impact on humanity while pushing forward the boundaries of human existence. How do we address existential issues concerning climate change, privilege and what it means to be human? What does it mean to "move fast and break things" when the thing that gets broken might be us?

The Company

Cast

Julia Knitel

Julia Knitel

Annie

Tony nominee, DEAD OUTLAW; OPERATION MINCEMEAT

Khaila Wilcoxon

Khaila Wilcoxon

Chloe

SIX, REDWOOD

Manik Choksi

Manik Choksi

Stone

NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812; INDIA INK

Kayla Davion

Kayla Davion

Janine

LIBERATION, TINA, WAITRESS

Andrew Butler

Andrew Butler

Ervil

STEREOPHONIC; RAGS PARKLAND SINGS THE SONGS OF THE FUTURE

Adam Harrington

Adam Harrington

Joseph

HERE WE ARE; JOAN; OTHER WORLD

Alan H. Green

Alan H. Green

Gregoire

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY; SCHOOL OF ROCK; THE VISIT

Isaac Gancher Stinson

Isaac Gancher Stinson

Charlie

Lipica Shah

Lipica Shah

Ensemble

INDIA PALE ALE; BUNTY BERMAN PRESENTS; COPING

Rodd Cyrus

Rodd Cyrus

Ensemble

RAGTIME; THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA

TEMPUS cast includes Julia Knitel (Tony nominee, DEAD OUTLAW; OPERATION MINCEMEAT), Khaila Wilcoxon (SIX, REDWOOD), Kayla Davion (LIBERATION, TINA, WAITRESS).

TEMPUS is produced by David Riemer and Mike Rafael, for Spiral Staircase Productions.

The Artists

Creative Team

Jonatha Brooke

Jonatha Brooke

Score/Lyrics

Jonatha Brooke has been writing songs, making records and touring since the early 90's. After four major label releases, she started her own independent label, Bad Dog Records in 1999, and has since released ten more albums – including the companion CD to her critically acclaimed, one woman, Off-Broadway show My Mother Has Four Noses. In 2014, Ms. Brooke debuted My Mother Has Four Noses at the Duke Theater on 42nd Street in NYC. It was a critics' pick in the NY Times and Time Out Magazine. She has performed "4 Noses" at People's Light in Malvern, PA; The Cleveland Playhouse; The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis; The Playwright's Center in Minneapolis; The Little Rock, Arkansas ACANSAS Festival; Philly Fringe Fest; The Warner Theater in Torrington, CT; and The Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. Jonatha has written two musicals with Anton Dudley - Hopper and Death and Venice (premiered at Adelphi University and Hangar Theater respectively). She is currently reviving Quadroon, which she wrote with the late legendary jazz pianist/composer Joe Sample (premiered at The Ensemble Theater in Houston, TX in 2014); and is also working on Switched with playwright Geoffrey Nauffts; and Evidence of V for History Theater in Minneapolis, with playwright Laurie Flanagan Hegge. ("Prick") Jonatha has co-written and/or produced songs with Katy Perry, The Courtyard Hounds and Jessica Simpson. She's written for four Disney films, numerous television shows, and she composed and performed the theme song for Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. Jonatha was the recipient of a McKnight Artist Fellowship Grant in 2018. She won the 2019 International Acoustic Music Award for Best Female Artist for her song "Put the Gun Down," and was the competition's overall grand prize winner. In 2020, she was awarded an Independent Music Award (IMA) for her EP, "Imposter."
Jaclyn Backhaus

Jaclyn Backhaus

Book

Jaclyn Backhaus is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, & educator from Phoenix, Arizona. Her Off-Broadway plays include OUT OF TIME (NAATCO and The Public Theater, dir. Les Waters), WIVES (Playwrights Horizons, dir. Margot Bordelon), INDIA PALE ALE (Winner, 2018 Horton Foote Prize, MTC, dir. Will Davis), MEN ON BOATS (Clubbed Thumb, Playwrights Horizons, dir. Will Davis), and YOU ON THE MOORS NOW (TRE, dir. John Kurzynowski). Her work for TV/film includes DOULAS, a half-hour comedy pilot about birth workers in New York City; PREETI POPPED IT (written with Mahira Kakkar and Purva Bedi), a Punjabi-American road trip comedy that was selected for last year's 1497 Features Lab; and ORACLE, an hourlong metaphysical drama set in the Sonoran Desert. She is one the core members of The Kilroys, a professor of playwriting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and a creative director at Fresh Ground Pepper, an artistic process lab in NYC. She was the 2016 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Clubbed Thumb and is currently a New Dramatists resident playwright. Her work in theater and for the screen centers the multigenerational impact of South Asian diasporic immigration to America, and many of her works examine the intersection of underhistoricized people and known historical timelines. She has several projects in development in film, tv, and theater.
Adrienne Campbell-Holt

Adrienne Campbell-Holt

Director

Adrienne Campbell-Holt is an award-winning NYC-based director and choreographer and the Founding Artistic Director of Colt Coeur. Recent world premieres: ***The Surgeon and Her Daughters*** by Chris Gabo (Colt Coeur at Theatre 154), ***Satellites*** by Erin Breznitsky (Dorset Theatre Festival), ***Still*** (Sheen Center, Colt Coeur at DR2, NYC & Dorset Theatre Festival, VT), ***Finn*** by Chris Dimond, Michael Kooman and Chris Nee, choreographed by Billy Bustamente (Kennedy Center, Helen Hayes nom.), ***Dodi & Diana*** by Kareem Fahmy (Colt Coeur at HERE), ***Afterwords***, by Emily Kaczmarek, music & lyrics by Zoe Sarnak, choreographed by Ebony Williams (5th Avenue Theater, Heileman & Haver Award for Best New Musical), (NY premiere of) ***Eureka Day*** by Jonathan Spector (Colt Coeur), ***Other World*** by Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen & Ann McNamee, choreography by Karla Puno Garcia (Delaware Theatre Company, BroadwayWorld Award for Best New Musical), ***We Are Among Us*** by Stephen Belber (City Theater, Pittsburgh), ***Hatefuck***, by Rehana Lew Mirza (WP/Colt Coeur), ***Joan*** by Stephen Belber (Colt Coeur), ***Downstairs*** by Theresa Rebeck starring Tyne and Tim Daly (Primary Stages), ***Dry Land*** by Ruby Rae Spiegel (Colt Coeur), ***Seven Minutes in Heaven*** by Steven Levenson (Colt Coeur). Currently developing work with Jaclyn Backhaus & Jonatha Brooke (*Tempus*). Associate Director of ***Dear Evan Hansen*** (OBC). Lucille Lortel Visionary Director Award, "25 Women to Watch on Broadway". AdrienneCampbellHolt.com.
Jodie Moore

Jodie Moore

Musical Supervisor

Jodie Moore has conducted many of Broadway's greatest hits including Spring Awakening, American Idiot, 9 to 5 the Musical, Hair, Hairspray, Waitress, Tina the Musical, Six, The Notebook and Tammy Faye the Musical, and most recently Papermill's Bull Durham the Musical. She has played in the Broadway pits of The Wiz, Back to the Future, Gutenberg the Musical, If/Then, Spiderman, Lion King, Shrek the Musical, and Catch Me If You Can to name a few. Learning to play piano while growing up in church equipped her with the skill and feel to resonate with artists that she has shared both staged and intimate rehearsal space with - Dolly Parton, Bruce Hornsby, Bebe Winans, Sara Bareilles, Wayne Brady and Jonatha Brooke. Gospel, classical, and musical theatre are all styles that she incorporates into her repertoire. She was the Musical Supervisor for the tour of Spring Awakening, associate conductor for the 1st national tours of Aida, Footloose, Rent, and Hairspray, and the conductor of The Putnam County Spelling Bee, along with numerous Off Broadway shows, workshops, and readings. Jodie helps bring to life music that connects a singer to an audience, an orchestra to a score, and the writer to a cast. Whether singing at Joe's Pub with her Broadway colleagues or leading a band on a Broadway cruise, playing a Broadway show, or Madison Square Garden with Jeff Beck (a fave credit), Jodie Moore finds her heart and home in music.
Nancy O'Connor

Nancy O'Connor

Music Director

Nancy is a music director, pianist, arranger, and voice over artist. She is currently working as the Associate Music Director for the world premiere of WONDER at A.R.T., after returning from a year as the Associate Conductor/Keys 2 player on the First National Tour of A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. She was previously the Associate Conductor/Keys 2 player for the Lulu National Tour of Waitress. Previously, Nancy has worked as Associate Music Director for Evita at the American Repertory Theatre and the Shakespeare Theatre Company, and as a sub conductor, keys sub and rehearsal and audition pianist on Titaníque Off Broadway. She has a passion for collaboration, especially working with actors. Nancy has a B.M. in Contemporary Writing and Production from Berklee College of Music, with minors in Conducting for Musical Theater and Musical Theater Writing. Nancy is originally from Central New York, where she was the Founding Music Director of At Rise Productions, a Central New York-based theater company.

Caren Celine Morris

Production Stage Manager

WHAT TO WEAR; HOUSE OF McQUEEN; MINOR*ITY

Paul Andrews

Associate Stage Manager

HOUSE OF McQUEEN; ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE; FATHERLAND

Get in Touch

Contacts

David Riemer

David Riemer

Producer, Spiral Staircase Productions

[email protected]
Mike Rafael

Mike Rafael

Producer, Spiral Staircase Productions

[email protected]
Margaret Leigh

Margaret Leigh

General Management, Turnkey Theatrical