Jason Robert Brown

To my utter astonishment, as of right now, you can turn on Netflix and see the film adaptation of my musical 13! Directed by Tamra Davis, produced by Neil Meron, with a screenplay by Robert Horn based on the original script written with Dan Elish, choreography by Jamal Sims, and new (and old) songs by me, the movie features a wonderful cast of kids from all over the US and Canada as well as Big Famous Actors like Debra Messing, Rhea Perlman, Josh Peck and Peter Hermann. Making this movie was a ridiculously complicated process that took years and yearsRead More »

Shoshana Bean and I have been yodeling, complaining, cracking each other up and messing up lyrics together for about fifteen years now. We sang together at a wedding, we sang together at a benefit for a preschool. We sang together in Portland, in Dallas, in Indianapolis, in London, at the Library of Congress, on a private island for an audience of four. We sang together onstage with Stephen Sondheim. We were the oldest Jamie and Cathy in the history of The Last Five Years. She is the only person who has ever sung the only song I’ve ever written withRead More »

Nineteen years after I started writing 13 with Dan Elish, I have the flabbergasting joy of presenting to you… the trailer for the Netflix motion picture “13: The Musical,” which begins airing on August 12! In this trailer, you get to see all of our teen stars – Eli Golden, Gabriella Uhl, Jonathan Lengel, JD McCrary, Frankie McNellis, Lindsey Blackwell – and so many of our amazing supporting cast – I see Ramon Reed, Nolan Dubuc, Luke Islam, Willow Moss, and if I freeze-frame, I can see Shechinah Mpumlwana, Khiyla Aynne, Kayleigh Cerezo and Liam Wignall – not to mention the grown-upsRead More »

When Mr. Saturday Night opened on April 29 at the Nederlander, it marked the first time I’ve had a new full score on Broadway since Honeymoon In Vegas closed in 2015. Certainly there’s been a lot going on in these seven years, but getting back on the Main Stem (and getting a Tony nomination to boot!) seemed like cause for celebration, and so I gathered the band, piled on the horns, brought along some new friends, and spent three nights at 54 Below singing and sharing what’s coming next. I had two aims: 1) showcase some new material, and 2)Read More »

One of my kids’ camp counselors needed to interview a composer for her school, so I got volunteered. I ended up kind of liking what I had to say, so I thought I’d post it here in case it gives a little inspiration. Q: What is your background as a composer? A: I started off wanting to play the piano when I was seven years old. My parents found an old piano and I immediately sat down and started making noise. Making my own music seemed like much more fun than playing what was on the page, so I startedRead More »