Monthly Archives: October 2015
TWENTY YEARS IN A “NEW WORLD”
10/13/15October 12, 1995, was the first performance of Songs for a New World at the WPA Theatre on W. 23rd St. in Manhattan. Almost no one saw it, the reviews were polite but dismissive, and the theater doesn’t even exist anymore. Yet Songs for a New World lives on, in its wonderful cast album (produced by the great Jeffrey Lesser and released by the visionary Bill Rosenfield) and in the hundreds of productions the show receives all around the world every year. You can go here to see photos of the original production and read the reviews. And below, I’veRead More »
JRB RESIDENCY SET LIST 10/1: KATE McGARRY, CYNTHIA ERIVO & TONY YAZBECK
10/3/15Last night was exactly the kind of night that this residency was built for – the premiere of two new songs, beautiful performances and surprising reinventions of older material, a wide variety of styles and energies all feeding each other, great musicians making music together, and an audience that was ready to follow wherever the onstage performers went. Four amazing things: The first-ever performance in America by the astonishing Cynthia Erivo. Cynthia absolutely destroyed the Royal Festival Hall during my concert there in May, and I couldn’t wait for her to get to the US this fall for her starringRead More »