Find Yourself in “American Rhapsody”

“American Rhapsody” premieres at the Adrienne Arsht Center January 12-29, with a dynamic juxtaposition of the past, present, and future American landscape.

The full-length play spans the life of the Cabot family over 63 years, from the moon landing in 1969 to America in 2032. “American Rhapsody” depicts a constantly evolving American society, bringing to light the most important issues of the latter part of the 20th century and up to today's turbulent times -- from the civil rights and feminist movements to the greed of the 1980s, the 9/11 attacks, the 2008 economic crisis, same-sex marriage, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The story is broad in scope due to the nature of the topics, yet intimate because it’s seen through the eyes of a single family. The Cabot family evolves with this new America and so does its cultural identity as members of different races, ethnicities and sexualities marry into and redefine the family.

“American Rhapsody” is directed by Stuart Meltzer and written by Michael McKeever, co-founders of Zoetic Stage. Once called “a playwright who gets better with every story he tells” by Christine Dolen, formerly of The Miami Herald, McKeever is a Miami-based playwright who has written more than 35 plays produced off-Broadway and internationally. He’s the recipient of five Carbonell Awards, two Silver Palm Awards, three Florida Individual Artist Fellowships and a Miami NEA Residency Grant.

In “American Rhapsody,” McKeever looks back on significant events, while also looking forward, predicting how today's society will affect the future.

"What I wanted to do was address America and the American Zeitgeist in the context of the life that I, myself, have lived.”

McKeever also said his goal is to demonstrate that, while the country has not progressed past many of the struggles of the 60s and 70s that he witnessed, technology has created a much smaller, more connected world with shifting perspectives and an evolution of the traditional family.

Wanting to write the play for over ten years, the pandemic provided him with the free time to finally dig in. While the play focuses more on societal issues, politics inevitably pierce the story. Many recent events will be included, from political scandals to George Floyd's death and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“American Rhapsody is complex, effortless, funny, inspirational but mostly, hopeful,” said Meltzer.

The play begins in Kansas and depicts how a family changes over four generations. The main characters include a civil rights leader and judge, his wife, and their children, who become a high-powered lawyer, a poet, and more.

There are only eight cast members, but more than 15 different characters. The set is “large and majestic” but simple and versatile, according to McKeever, to allow characters to easily travel across the country in different time periods. Video is utilized to show the passage of years. Costume changes are very simple for the cast's convenience, but significant enough for the audience to understand the period in which events take place.

The production is intended for ages 10 and over because it contains adult language and mature conversations as characters of various ethnicities and sexual orientation become members of the Cabot family and react to the world in which they are living. Mental health issues and their stigma are also addressed when one of the characters comes back from the Afghan war with post-traumatic stress disorder.

While the play was written in 2020, McKeever wrote about an imagined future war, not knowing that two years later Russia would start a war with Ukraine. He said it was an assumption based on trends and history, but he’s still shocked by it because as a younger man in the early 80s he believed “the days of boots on the ground combat were beyond us.”

American Rhapsody concludes in 2032 because McKeever wanted to push it a little further into the future and end on an optimistic note because he believes that no matter how bad things get, they always get better. He hopes the play will be a thread that connects us all, and that Miami’s diverse community will relate to and empathize with the family's conflicts.

The cast includes Alex Weisman, a Fort. Lauderdale native who is currently starring as Frank, the first LGBTQ+ character on Sesame Street; Lela Elam, a Miami native and Carbonell Award winner; Lindsey Corey, a Carbonell Award winner recently in “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas” at Actors’ Playhouse; Aloysius Gigl, who was previously in Zoetic Stage's “Sweeney Todd” and “Side by Side by Sondheim;” Stephen Trovillion, who recently appeared in Actors’ Playhouse and City Theatre productions; and Miami natives Laura Turnbull, Carlos Alayeto and Stephanie Vazquez.

McKeever said he and Meltzer have worked with most of the actors in the play and know that they will bring their point of view and life experiences to the table.

“American Rhapsody” is part of the Adrienne Arsht Center's Theater Up Close series for the 2022-2023 season in the Carnival Studio Theater.

“I think it's a very exciting season,” said McKeever, “I'm thrilled to be a part of it.”

For show times and tickets, visit arshtcenter.org.