SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD
Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
A new collaboration of an intimate musical that focuses on the songwriter as storyteller

Four actors, two musicians and a baby grand ... Miracle Theatre Group and Staged! Portland's Musical Theatre Series are collaborating to unplug the traditional summer musical in an intimate, acoustic presentation of Tony Award-winning Jason Robert Brown's first produced musical, the off-Broadway hit SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD.

From a ledge 57 stories above Fifth Avenue to the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship ... from a young man who hopes basketball is his ticket out of the ghetto to the wife of a certain North Pole resident who loves her husband but just can't face another Christmas alone ... it's the hard choices and startling discoveries we make at pivotal moments in life that drive the stories of this theatrical song cycle filled with love, laughter, adventure and, above all, passion for life.

"One of Broadway's smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim." — Philadelphia Inquirer

"Extraordinary, jubilant theater music." — Chicago Tribune

"A leading member of a new generation of composers who embody high hopes for the American musical." — The New York Times

"In Songs for a New World, Brown is dizzily, unabashedly confident, and infuses his songs with optimism ... shot through with wit, intelligence, and enthusiasm for life's crazy possibilities." — Time Out New York

"These are songs to pierce the heart and raise the rafters." — The Hollywood Reporter

When Jason Robert Brown came to New York at age 20, he was determined to write for musical theater, but had no connections. He began playing his songs in the city's various cabaret venues, and was lucky enough to meet Daisy Prince, daughter of the legendary Broadway director and producer Hal Prince. The two hit it off, and Brown asked Daisy Prince to direct a revue of his songs, even though she had no previous directing experience.

The two began working on the revue, and at first the songs were not connected. Many songs were written and discarded, but then Brown realized that the show was about "one moment. It's about hitting the wall and having to make a choice or take a stand, or turn around and go back."

Following a Toronto workshop, Songs for a New World premiered at the WPA Theater in New York City on October 11th, 1995. The original cast featured Jessica Molaskey, Andrea Burns, Brooks Ashmanskas and Billy Porter. Although the show played out its 28 performance run, it did not immediately catch fire. However, after the cast recording was released in 1996, the show began to develop a cult following and is now a favorite among college theater departments. It also premiered at England's Bridewell Theatre in 2001. The breakout song "Stars and the Moon" has been recorded by many of Broadway's most famous divas, including Audra McDonald and Betty Buckley.

On May 1, 2005, three members of the original cast reunited for a symphonic concert of the song cycle at New York's Symphony Space. The concert, a benefit for a youth orchestra featured 90 gifted members of said orchestra, as well as appearances by some of Broadway's most exciting performers

ABOUT THE COMPOSER/LYRICIST
Jason Robert Brown has been hailed as "one of Broadway's smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim" (Philadelphia Inquirer), and his "extraordinary, jubilant theater music " (Chicago Tribune) has been heard all over the world, whether in one of the hundreds of productions of his musicals every year or in his own incendiary live performances. The New York Times refers to Jason as "a leading member of a new generation of composers who embody high hopes for the American musical." Jason is the composer and lyricist of the musical, "The Last Five Years," which was cited as one of Time Magazine's 10 Best of 2001 and won Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics. Jason won a 1999 Tony Award for his score to "Parade", a musical written with Alfred Uhry and directed by Harold Prince, which premiered at Lincoln Center Theatre in December 1998, and subsequently won both the Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for Best New Musical. "Parade" was also presented on a national tour in 2000, which Jason conducted. Jason's first musical, "Songs for a New World," a theatrical song cycle directed by Daisy Prince, played Off-Broadway at the WPA Theatre in the fall of 1995, and has since been seen in more than two hundred productions around the world. Jason's newest musical, "13," written with Dan Elish and directed by Todd Graff, premiered this January to rave reviews at Los Angeles's Mark Taper Forum, and opens on Broadway in the spring of 2008. Jason is the winner of the 2002 Kleban Award for Outstanding Lyrics and the 1996 Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Foundation Award for Musical Theatre. Jason's songs, including the cabaret standard "Stars and the Moon," have been performed and recorded by Audra McDonald, Betty Buckley, Karen Akers, Renée Fleming, Philip Quast, Jon Hendricks and many others.

Jason's first solo album, "Wearing Someone Else's Clothes," featuring his band The Caucasian Rhythm Kings, was named one of Amazon.com's best of 2005, and is available from Sh-K-Boom Records. His collaboration with singer Lauren Kennedy, "Songs of Jason Robert Brown," is available on PS Classics. Jason's piano sonata, "Mr. Broadway" was commissioned and premiered by Anthony De Mare at Carnegie Hall. Also in the wings: an musical adaptation of the 1992 film "Honeymoon in Vegas," in collaboration with screenwriter/director Andrew Bergman. Jason is also the composer of the incidental music for David Lindsay-Abaire's "Kimberly Akimbo" and "Fuddy Meers," Marsha Norman's "Last Dance," David Marshall Grant's "Current Events," Kenneth Lonergan's "The Waverly Gallery," and the Irish Repertory Theater's production of "Long Day's Journey Into Night," and he was a Tony Award nominee for his contributions to the score of "Urban Cowboy the Musical." His scores are published by Hal Leonard. Jason currently teaches musical theater performance and composition at the University of Southern California.

As a conductor and arranger, Jason's recent New York credits include "Urban Cowboy the Musical" on Broadway; Oliver Goldstick's play, "Dinah Was," directed by David Petrarca, at the Gramercy Theatre and on national tour; and William Finn's "A New Brain," directed by Graciela Daniele, at Lincoln Center Theater. Jason was the musical director of the pop vocal group, The Tonics, with whom he performed at the 1992 tribute to Stephen Sondheim at Carnegie Hall (recorded by RCA Victor); he was the conductor and orchestrator of Yoko Ono's musical, "New York Rock," at the WPA Theatre (on Capitol Records); and he orchestrated Andrew Lippa's "john and jen," Off-Broadway at Lamb's Theatre (Varese Sarabande). In 1994, Jason was the conductor and arranger of Michael John LaChiusa's "The Petrified Prince," directed by Harold Prince, at the Public Theatre. Additionally, Jason served as the orchestrator and arranger of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams's score for a proposed musical of "Star Wars." Jason also took over as musical director for the Off-Broadway hit "When Pigs Fly." Jason has conducted and created arrangements and orchestrations for Liza Minnelli, John Pizzarelli, Tovah Feldshuh, and Laurie Beechman, among many others.

Jason studied composition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., with Samuel Adler, Christopher Rouse, and Joseph Schwantner. He now divides his time between Los Angeles, California and Spoleto, Italy. Jason is a proud member of the Dramatist's Guild and the American Federation of Musicians Local 802 & 47.

Miracle Theatre Group and Staged! Portland’s Musical Theatre Series
present a collaborative production of
SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD
Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown

June 18-July 3, 2010
Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.,
Sundays at 2 p.m.

CAST
David Cole
Elizabeth Klinger
Vin Shambry
Rebecca Teran

PRODUCTION TEAM
Jamie M. Rea … Director
Eric Nordin … Musical Director
Peter West … Lighting Designer
Marit Estergreen … Production Manager/Costume Designer
Elizabeth Hadley … Stage Manager
Chanda Hall … Co-Producer, Staged! Portland's Musical Theatre Series
Tim Krause … Co-Producer, Miracle Theatre Group

STAGED!
PORTLAND’S MUSICAL THEATRE SERIES
Staged! is dedicated to the art of the musical — the marriage of story, song and movement. Staged! productions celebrate the creators of this art form: the lyricists, composers and book writers who craft the stories that make us burst out in song. Since bounding onto Portland’s art scene in 2005, Staged! continues to delight audiences with stripped-down productions of complex musical theatre, focusing on musicians and actors telling stories together through song. Staged! is proud to be a Portland-based theatre company, producing stellar musical theatre, providing pre-professional training to young people, and nurturing talent. For more information about Staged!, visit www.stagedpdx.org or call 971-322-5723.