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Monthly Archives: December 2013

HAL PRINCE ON “PARADE”

12/28/13

Parade debuted fifteen years ago this month at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre, and everything about my life changed because of it. In this clip, just posted to the Masterworks Broadway site, the director Harold Prince talks about the show, the score, and the original cast recording. I had no idea this interview existed until a friend alerted me to it on Facebook – I’m so moved hearing Hal talk about the show and the work we all did. It was a magical experience for me, and I’ll never stop trying to be worthy of Hal’s praise. Here’s the clip.

“THE LAST FIVE YEARS” IN AP’S TOP 10!

12/18/13

Thanks to Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press, who has named the Second Stage Theatre production of The Last Five Years as one of the ten best-in-theater of 2013. I am so proud of this production and so grateful for the way it has been received. Here’s what the AP writes: “The Last Five Years:” A revival of Jason Robert Brown’s song cycle about a troubled marriage was a highlight of Second Stage Theatre’s last season. But if you missed it, look out for a movie version soon with “Smash” star Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick from “Up in theRead More »

TWENTY-SIX NAMES, ONE YEAR LATER.

12/14/13

I do not want these names to be forgotten. I want them sung and spoken and remembered. It has been one year. Nothing is different. What is broken cannot be fixed, but we have to remember that it broke. Click here to view or download the piano/vocal score of “Twenty-Six Names.”

SETTING THE ROMANCE TO MUSIC

12/13/13

This is the first in what I’m presuming will be a series of videos in which the creative team of The Bridges of Madison County discusses the inspirations and aspirations of the show. Here’s me competing with myself by yammering away while I’m simultaneously singing and playing “It All Fades Away” at a recent concert at 54 Below. You can see Gary Sieger strumming madly away behind me, but you’ll also hear Jamie Eblen on percussion and Randy Landau on bass. Previews start January 17th and the show opens February 20th!

SETLIST: JRB and the Karaoke Winners at 54 Below 11/18-23

12/5/13

An extraordinary week at 54 Below with the Caucasian Rhythm Kings (featuring a new drummer, the irritatingly youthful Jamie Eblen), guest fiddlist Todd Reynolds, three amazing guest singers – Morgan Karr, Whitney Bashor and Dan’yelle Robinson – and the two thrilling winners of the 2012 JRB Karaoke Contest, ERIN MARTINEZ and LYNN SHORE. (Here’s a lovely article from Arkansas’s Sync Weekly about Erin and the contest.) These were my first concerts in over a year and so I wanted to have a good mix of old and new material, and also preview my two new shows (The Bridges of MadisonRead More »