Jason Robert Brown

October 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 »

Last 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 »

When we did the inaugural concert of this residency back in December, the only real regret I had was that many of my favorite collaborators just weren’t available to join the stellar group that we had, and among all those people, the most important one was Andréa Burns. Andréa and I went to French Woods together as teenagers, and the first time we performed together was as Mr. and Mrs. McAfee in Bye Bye Birdie in 1983. Sitting on stage together making music thirty-two years later is nothing but wonderful. And then there’s Joshua Henry, who delivered the DEFINITIVE JimRead More »

A cornucopia of wonderfulness at SubCulture, as the Glorious Laur-ius joined the Caucasian Rhythm Kings and our special guest Mairi D-P on the Big Violin. Laura sang virtually every note she sang in the Avery Fisher Hall concert of Parade earlier this year as well as a song cut from Bridges during previews, Mairi did a gorgeous arrangement of “Someone To Fall Back On,” we brought our usual destructive tendencies to one of Paul Simon’s greatest songs (with Eblen getting his Gadd on big-time), and I premiered another song from the show that I haven’t admitted I’m working on yet.Read More »

A real honor to be featured at this year’s St. Louis Cabaret Festival, alongside such amazing performers as the incredible Marilyn Maye and the truly magnificent Christine Ebersole. Not only were we all performing, but we also were part of the teaching faculty (along with some rather distinguished company like Faith Prince, Don Rebic, Alex Rybeck, Peisha McPhee and others), working with a group of remarkably gifted performers, all in the service of the Art of the Song, a thing in which I fervently believe. And to top it all off, what a gorgeous joint to do a gig –Read More »