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• I'm Not Ready To Make Nice

  Now that A Dream Of Arabia is a critically acclaimed success, I can honestly say that nothing we have done before has garnered more attention, both positive and negative, than this show. We'll start with the positive. Much to my delight, the Middle... Posted Jun 18 2008, 10:48 AM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: a dream of arabia, cultural, MAQAM, nanae, middle east, radio, Broadway World

• Blessed are those...

  Today we were blessed to have two of the Dominican sisters attend the show. The theater staff had informed me that both Sister Jean and Sister Janet would be in attendance and I got the feeling that impressing them would be no easy feat. I was actually... Posted Jun 16 2008, 01:05 AM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: a dream of arabia, abc, dominican, blessings, sisters

• We're very liberal but....

  First I must thank my team for being so wonderful and for their unwavering belief in our mission, our work, and the show. Truly, I couldn't do any of it without them. Tonight was an example of how important their work is as well as how attentive they... Posted Jun 14 2008, 10:40 PM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: a dream of arabia, tokyo, cultural, Gerri, liberal

• The Day The Music Shined...

  It is almost midnight and it feels like I haven't slept in a week... I think everybody is feeling that way after the amazing dress rehearsals we had today! It was a day of extreme focus and intensity as our entire cast and crew were preparing for... Posted Jun 11 2008, 11:36 AM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: Chicago, a dream of arabia, rehearsals, creative team, photos

• Tech Rehearsals

  Today was the first day of tech rehearsals at the theater. Everybody was excited to begin and the day began with the cast and Chicago crew getting to know each other. The day started very early and Nanae and I had a private breakfast to discuss some of... Posted Jun 09 2008, 11:18 PM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: Lund, a dream of arabia, rehearsals, nanae, press

• We're Here - Sweet Home Chicago!

  Today the entire cast and crew descended on Chicago for our week in residence at the Lund and the premier of A DREAM OF ARABIA in my hometown. Due to weather, there were a lot of flight delays but by the end of the day our little army had taken over the... Posted Jun 08 2008, 10:02 PM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: Chicago, Sets, a dream of arabia, rehearsals, nanae, Gerri

• Broadway World

  I just got back from taping an interview with Broadway World. Everything went quite well unlike most of the day! I was running so late, traffic was terrible (it was raining for a good part of the day), we had an issue at the theater that I had to go resolve... Posted Jun 03 2008, 11:46 PM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: Theater, Sets, a dream of arabia, MAQAM, Broadway World, interviews

• ABC 7 & Chicagoing

  A DREAM OF ARABIA is privileged to be featured on ABC's Chicagoing with Bill Campbell. The entire 30 minute program will highlight our show, how it all started, the importance of it, and will preview many clips from the live performance. We also had... Posted May 29 2008, 10:22 PM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: a dream of arabia, abc, chicagoing, bill campbell

• Bringing Arabic Music to America - NPR's Market Place

  Last month I taped the first of a series of interviews with NPR's Market Place ( www.marketplace.org ). I am thrilled that Market Place has an interest in Middle East related stories, and today marks the beginning of a month long broadcast from the... Posted Feb 25 2008, 08:47 AM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: a dream of arabia, MAQAM, middle east, market place, radio, npr

• Tangential Arabic Radio - San Francisco

  I just got back from three hours of live broadcast on KALW 91.7 San Francisco, where I guest host a world music radio show called Tangents with the show's producer and host Dore Stein. When I'm there, the show becomes "Tangential Arabic Radio"... Posted Feb 24 2008, 01:10 AM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: a dream of arabia, MAQAM, middle east, radio, npr, KALW, tangents, san francisco

• Roles and Formations

  After several months of rehearsals, we are ready now to do final casting and role assignments for A DREAM OF ARABIA. During that time, we have been thinking about the pieces, who fits where, and which dancers will do what numbers. Based on performance... Posted Jan 30 2008, 07:00 PM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: a dream of arabia, rehearsals, nanae, roles, connie, dancers, expectations, choreography, casting

• Costumes, Costumes, Anywhere?

  Read all about it! Nanae and I were so excited last November to come up with an idea for a new costume and rework one of the numbers of the show in Act 2. The costume is very traditional Middle Eastern with an incredible intricate design - in fact, the... Posted Jan 16 2008, 09:21 AM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: a dream of arabia, nanae, 2008, middle east, costumes

• Year-End Details

  2008 is only a few hours away and here I am trying to finish everything that must be done before the end of the day. I do run a global company and it has been quite a year with many technological investments, infrastructure upgrades, and significant growth... Posted Dec 31 2007, 10:49 AM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: Leslie, Lund, a dream of arabia, tokyo, rehearsals, MAQAM, nanae, holidays

• Chicago Rehearsals

  Nanae, the star of A DREAM OF ARABIA, is in town for a few days so that we can work on some of the dance numbers, do rehearsals, finalize details with the theater, and review dancer progress. We are very fortunate to have a great cast of professional... Posted Nov 20 2007, 08:06 PM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: a dream of arabia, tokyo, cultural, respect, rehearsals, MAQAM, nanae

• And now for the dates..

  Once we had selected the venue, we decided that May would be a good time to kick-off the tour, especially since our Tokyo preview is scheduled for May 9. Well it seems that we are going to have to change the Chicago dates to late May or early June. Being... Posted Oct 18 2007, 12:00 PM by Bashar with | with no comments Filed under: Chicago, a dream of arabia, june, may, dates