Tommy's Ali Louis Bourzgui to Star in Arab Spring Musical We Live in Cairo

Ali Louis Bourzgui will star in We Live in Cairo, the new musical inspired by the events of the Arab Spring. Performances begin at New York Theatre Workshop on October 9, with an official opening set for October 27. The limited engagement runs through November 24.

Bourzgui recently played Tommy in last season’s revival of The Who’s Tommy. He portrayed Paul in the national tour of Company and Haled in the national tour of The Band’s Visit.

We Live in Cairo also stars Drew Elhamalawy, John El-Jor, Nadina Hassan, Michael Khalid Karadsheh and Rotana Tarabzouni. Book, music and lyrics are by Daniel and Patrick Lazour. Taibi Magar directs, with choreography and movement direction by Ann Yee.

The show will also feature scenic design by Tilly Grimes, costume design by Dina El-Aziz, lighting design by Bradley King, sound design by Justin Stasiw and video design by David Bengali. Orchestrations are by Daniel Lazour and Michael Starobin, with vocal arrangements by Madeline Benson. Madeline Benson is the music supervisor, Mona Seyed-Bolorforosh is the music director, Xavier Clark is the voice and text coach and Jeff Brancato is the production stage manager.

We Live in Cairo follows six student activists using their street art, photography and song to overthrow a regime older than they are. As escalating division and violence lead to a military crackdown, the young revolutionaries of Cairo must weigh the cost of how—or even whether—to keep their dreams of change alive.