March 22 – April 8, 2012

Conceived by Federico Restrepo and Denise Greber
Designed, Directed & Choreographed by Federico Restrepo
Music Composed by Elizabeth Swados
Text by Elias Khoury

Urban Odyssey depicts the experience of immigration to America through movement and visual theatre. This new work is the culmination of a ten-year investigation that began in 2002 with a production created from Federico Restrepo’s personal experience as a Colombian immigrant. The first episode 9 Windows revealed a series of multi-media experiences of being a displaced immigrant. The second episode Open Door (2006) addressed the impact of the many immigrants from diverse cultural backgrounds that make up NYC; revealing their histories and states of mind. The third episode Room to Panic (2008) depicted the joy, fear, alienation and struggle that reveal the allure, disillusionments and rites of passage to achieve the American Dream. Urban Odyssey will merge all these concepts, creating an epic journey that acknowledges the inevitability of a new American culture. A voyage of human experience, from leaving ones homeland, to finding a new country, to making a new home and setting down roots.

The NY Times called Loco7’s Room to Panic an “elegant multimedia show…consistently touching and evocative” and described Open Door as “a striking, evocative theater experience.” Back Stage lauded Open Door as a “fantastic multimedia work” that “impresses as a work of whirling intelligence.” NYTheatre.com called In Retrospect “a memorable experience to ponder and treasure…the production is never less than awe-inspiring” and The Village Voice described Bokan, the Bad Hearted as “magical.”

Featuring: Federico Restrepo, Penelope J. Armstead-Williams, Ching-I Chang,
Maura Donohue, Denise Greber, Rob Laqui, Gilbert Reyes
Voice Over: Dmitry Chepovetsky
Puppeteers : Rocky Bostick, Kiku Sakai, Kayla Schetter

Arrangement and Musical Direction : Kris Kukul
Video Edit & Design: Federico Restrepo & Angela “Nena” Sierra / Animation : Laura Restrepo
Tent Puppet Design: Catarina Leitão
Production Technical Director : Adriana Garcia-Pena
Production Stage Manager / Dance captain : Paula Wilson
Pres Representative : David Gibbs, DARR PUBLICITY
Photo by Jorge Mário Munera
Graphics by Raffael Toledo

This project made possible in part with public funds from The Jim Henson Foundation; NALAC Diverse Arts Spaces Grant Program and the Ford Foundation Diverse Arts Spaces; Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and the STAR Initiative.