(PRINCETON, NJ) -- McCarter Theatre Center, in partnership with the Department of Music at Princeton, is thrilled to present Memoir, a theatrical musical work by GRAMMY Award-winning composer and William Shubael Conant Professor of Music Steven Mackey, and director Mark DeChiazza. Performances take place at the Berlind Theatre on Saturday, April 18 at 7:30pm and Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 2:00pm.
Memoir explores the tumultuous 20th century through the eyes of a first-generation American woman in pursuit of the American Dream — drawn directly from the unpublished memoir of the composer’s mother, Elaine Mackey. Scored for string quartet, percussion duo, and narrator, the piece is, in Mackey’s own words, “hard to describe — maybe opera without singing or story-telling wrapped in music.”
The work speaks in three layers: the narrator’s text, a musical layer representing her inner emotional life, and a more playful layer portraying the physical world around her — from a mimeograph machine to a Model T Ford. The result is a piece that is witty, profound, and deeply personal. The production features narrator Natalie Christa Rakes, Aeolus Quartet, and arx duo.
Tickets are available for purchase online or by calling Patron Services at Box Office at 609-258-2787 Tues–Sat, 12:00pm–6:00pm, and 2 hours prior to showtime on Sunday. McCarter Theatre is located at 91 University Place in Princeton, New Jersey.
Mackey describes Memoir as a work he could not have written earlier in his career. “There is a level of vulnerability I would not have tolerated as a 50-year-old midcareer composer,” he explains. “By the time I became eligible for Medicare, and started working on Memoir, holding back seemed stingy, being ‘cool’ had lost its appeal. In short… I have a story to tell and not forever to tell it. What am I waiting for?”
The narration, taken directly from his mother’s unpublished memoir, becomes by the work’s end something close to the composer’s own.
“There is something both frightening and exciting about presenting such a personal work in front of my hometown crowd,” Mackey adds. “McCarter Theatre and the Department of Music are collaborating to bring one of my most ambitious — and certainly most personal — works to Princeton, marking the eve of my retirement.”
Dan Trueman, Chair of the Department of Music and Professor of Music, speaks to Mackey’s extraordinary legacy at the university and beyond: “Steve is a living legend! At Princeton, he served as Chair of the Department of Music for seven years and was a driving, inspirational force behind major transformations of the field of composition — it is safe to say that Steve is one of the most revered and influential composers of his generation.”
Trueman also notes the significance of the McCarter collaboration: “It’s exciting that we are able to celebrate Steve’s retirement at McCarter. His staged, narrated chamber work is touching and powerful, and will fit beautifully on the Berlind stage. This is a great example of the kind of collaboration between McCarter and the Department of Music that we have been seeing in recent years and imagine seeing more of in the future. McCarter can be a compelling ‘picture window’ between university and community, where the curtain is pulled to reveal some of what happens on campus and connections between people and ideas are cultivated. I can’t wait for the curtain to go up on Memoir!”
“Scholar’s Insights Talk” — Included with Each Performance: McCarter’s popular Scholar’s Insights series continues with Memoir. Steven Mackey will take the stage to share his personal journey in creating Memoir at the beginning of each performance (7:30pm on 4/18 and 2pm on 4/19). NOTE: there is no separate/early talk for this event in the traditional Scholar’s Insights format — the talk for Memoir is integrated into the show experience. The full event, including Mackey’s remarks and the show, runs 90–95 minutes with no intermission. Scholar’s Insights is a part of McCarter’s Arts & Ideas program which links Princeton University scholarship to the work on stage. Co-sponsored by the Princeton University Humanities Council.
McCarter is one of the country’s flagship theaters and a vibrant center for community and the performing arts. Located on the campus of Princeton University, the company is an independent nonprofit, serving as a nationally renowned, multi-disciplinary creative hub for arts and ideas, offering theatre, music, dance, spoken word, and educational programs for all ages. A two-time Tony Award winner, McCarter’s legacy of artistic excellence dates back to the theatre’s first performances in 1930. Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, Kaufmann & Hart’s You Can’t Take It with You, and William Inge’s Bus Stop all had their premieres on the McCarter stage, paving the way for a long history of collaborations with playwrights to launch remarkable works that have gone on to tens of thousands of performances, reaching millions of audience members around the world.
The company is equally revered for presenting global artists on its stages, including Alvin Ailey, Yo-Yo Ma, Samara Joy, Hasan Minhaj, Jon Stewart, Caetano Veloso, Rhiannon Giddens, Patti Smith, Esperanza Spalding, Lake Street Dive, and Herbie Hancock, among many others. Of the 100,000 community members who directly participate in the company’s work every year, more than 5,000 are students taking part in McCarter’s robust educational offerings in Princeton, Trenton, and schools throughout the region. McCarter leads with values of “justice and joy, and beauty in belonging,” creating stories and experiences that enliven minds, expand imaginations, and engage communities.
