Posted on February 5, 2013 at 4:00 am

Two glorious nights with the wonderfully gifted singers of the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, CA. Thirty-five committed, fiercely talented performers, a great band, in the beautiful Margaret A Webb Theatre. Thanks to the kids for working so hard to bring my music to life, and thanks to Karen Rymar and Jeff Paul and everyone at OCSA for honoring me with this amazing weekend. I can’t even begin to express how joyful and glorious it was to sing with Anika Noni Rose; I wish we could perform together all of the time. As for the program, I tried to pick things that would work well on the kids and still be representative of as much of my oeuvre as possible, but after the events of this past December, Karen and I decided we had to add one more song. I don’t know if I can bear performing “Twenty-Six Names” very often, but it felt very important and very special to hear these students sing it.

It All Fades Away from The Bridges of Madison County (JRB)
And I Will Follow (Madi Wackerman & Jackie Hishmeh)
I Love Betsy from Honeymoon In Vegas (JRB)
What It Means To Be A Friend from 13 (Chloe Horner)
Get Me What I Need from 13 (Archie: Mitchell Lemke; Evan: Max D’Ambra; Brett: Chase Del Rey; Kendra: McKenna Ryan; & Ensemble)
Mr. Hopalong Heartbreak from Urban Cowboy (Anna Belmer, Shannon Stahl, Pauline Guiuan)
King of the World from Songs for a New World (JRB)
The Old Red Hills of Home from Parade (Ian Hewitt & Ensemble)
Twenty-Six Names (Chase Del Rey, Ryan Garn & Ensemble)

Nothing In Common
from Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes(JRB)
Christmas Lullaby from Songs for a New World (Sophia Perez)
When You Say Vegas from Honeymoon In Vegas (JRB)
Being A Geek from 13 (JRB & Male Ensemble)
All Things In Time (Anika Noni Rose)
I Can Do Better Than That from The Last Five Years (Anika Noni Rose)
Caravan of Angels (JRB)
Hear My Song from Songs for a New World (Caroline Bethel, Madison Coyle, Alexa Zachary & JRB)
Brand New You from 13 (Zofia Weretka, Skylar Anderson, Kelly Vernon & Ensemble; Beatboxer: Ben Paltin; Dancers: Lorenzo Rangel-Santos & Max D’Ambra)

Ensemble:
Yasmeen Amid, Skylar Anderson, Bailey Beaudoin-Scanlon, Anna Belmer, Sivan Benjamin, Caroline Bethel, Madison Coyle, Kate Fahey, Miranda Galindo, Pauline Guiuan, Jackie Hishmeh, Chloe Horner, Rosie McDonald, Emily Moody, Miranda Mower, Sophia Perez, Raven Robledo, Jenna Lee Rosen, McKenna Ryan, Shannon Stahl, Kelly Vernon, Madi Wackerman, Zofia Weretka, Alexa Zachary
Lucas Blankenhorn, Max D’Ambra, Chase Del Rey, Ryan Garn, Ian Hewitt, Gavin Kane, Mitchell Lemke, Ben Paltin, Lorenzo Rangel-Santos, Brendan Williamson, Blaise Wopperer

Orchestra:
JRB: piano and vocals
Kevin Dukes: acoustic and electric guitars
Trey Henry: acoustic and electric basses
Mark Converse: drums and percussion

Directed by Jason Robert Brown & Karen Rymar
Associate Music Director Jarod Sheahan
Produced by Karen Rymar
Choreographed by Tyler Logan
Assistants to the Directors Annika Borg-Sundstrom & Connor Berkompas
Staff technical support: Shawn Fidler (lighting), Ray Gibson & Scott Collins (sound), Carson Sumner (stage mgr)