The Aim

Last fall, We Live in Cairo had a sold-out extended run Off-Broadway at New York Theater Workshop. Now, the musical is nominated for three Lucille Lortel Awards including Outstanding New Musical and Outstanding Ensemble, as well as four Outer Critics Circle Awards including Best New Off-Broadway Musical and Best Orchestrations.

After much demand from a burgeoning fan base, we are aiming to record and distribute the definitive Off-Broadway cast recording of this completely original musical with Center Stage Records. We will record at the legendary Power Station Recording Studio, where the likes of Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga recorded their legendary albums, not to mention where the cast of Hamilton laid down their tracks before the Broadway run.

The Journey

We Live in Cairo had its world premiere production in 2019 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge Massachusetts.

While the production journey was disrupted by the pandemic we recorded a concept album of reinterpreted songs (Flap My Wings, Songs from We Live in Cairo) collaborating with many Arab and Arab-American artists who were inspirational to the show over the many years of development.

After years of work on the script and score, we partnered with Madison Wells Live and presented We Live in Cairo at New York Theater Workshop in Fall 2024.

Now, having realized this stunning production Off-Broadway, it could be a better time to share the full musical theater score with the audiences who have been eager for it.

The Team

Our team is singular, with stalwarts of the American theater collaborating with the stars of Broadway’s next generation. Two-time Tony Award Winner Michael Starobin (Next to Normal, Assassins) will orchestrate We Live in Cairo’s score, with an extraordinary cadre of Lortel-nominated young luminaries including Ali Louis Bourzgui (Tommy in The Who’s Tommy), Nadina Hassan (Regina George in Mean Girls), Michael Khalid Karadsheh (Off-Broadway’s The Ally), John El-Jor (Mean Girls), Saudi-Palestinian singer-songwriter Rotana Tarabzouni and Drew Elhamalawy (Queen of Versailles) interpreting the music as they did so indelibly on the Workshop stage.

Your Support

With your help, we’ll be able to afford 18 hours of studio time with our cast of six actors, our band of seven musicians, our orchestrator, copyist, and the recording team at Power Station. Once we get the music “in the can” we will begin our post-production journey of mixing, mastering, marketing, and distributing.

The Creators

Daniel and Patrick Lazour are brothers and music theatre writers originally from Boylston, Massachusetts. Their original musicals include We Live in Cairo (American Repertory Theater, New York Theater Workshop, dir. Taibi Magar) and Night Side Songs (Under the Radar, Philadelphia Theater Company, American Repertory Theater, dir. Taibi Magar) They are writing a musical adaptation of Ritesh Batra’s film The Lunchbox (Lincoln Center Theatre commission, Berkeley Repertory Theater 2026) and wrote original songs for Caroline Lindy’s feature, Your Monster (Sundance 2023, Audience Award). Their movie musical Challenger: An American Dream is being developed with Bruce Cohen Productions and Spark Features. Original songs by the Lazours can be heard on their independently released albums: Two Short Songs in a Minor Key, Lullabies, Freres, Flap My Wings (Songs from We Live in Cairo) and Beth’s Homemade Cowboy Breakfast. They are Jonathan Larson Grant and Richard Rodgers Award recipients, MacDowell and Yaddo Fellows, and New York Theater Workshop Usual Suspects. Patrick holds a B.A. from Boston College and Daniel holds a B.A. from Columbia University.

Why This Album Now?

There could not be a better time to record the music of We Live in Cairo. An entirely original new musical about youth revolutionaries fighting for change in their country. The personal stories of bravery and resilience and the ways we survive when we are overwhelmed by powers beyond our control. Through the sounds of activism, celebration, love, We Live in Cairo tells a story that is distinctly of today.

"We Live in Cairo" Off-Broadway Album

By We Live in Cairo Off-Broadway Cast Recording

"We Live in Cairo" Off-Broadway Album

the Off-Broadway Cast Recording of the New York Theater Workshop Production of "We Live in Cairo"