Milagro to Collaborate with Staged! on SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD, 6/18-7/3

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

Where: Milagro Theatre, 525 SE Stark Street, Portland, Oregon 97214
Admission: Tickets are $17-$22 ($13 for students/seniors) when purchased in advance;
$24-$29 ($19 for students/seniors) when purchased at the door

Tickets can be purchased from www.milagro.org, 503-236-7253
or the PDX Ticket Network box office at the Hollywood Theatre daily 1-9 p.m.

A new collaboration of an intimate musical that focuses on the songwriter as storyteller

ABOUT THE MUSICAL

It's about one moment. It's about hitting the wall and having to make a choice. Taking a stand, or turning around and going back. In this pop/rock musical revue from Jason Robert Brown ("Parade" and "The Last Five Years"), a startling array of characters seek the American dream through laughter, love, companionship, adventure and passion. Brown transports his audience from the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship to a ledge 57 stories above Fifth Avenue; from a young man who has determined that basketball is his ticket out of the ghetto to a woman whose dream of marrying rich nabs her the man of her dreams - and a soulless marriage. Hard choices and startling discoveries drive the songs and stories of this Off-Broadway hit, filled with a blend of savvy showmanship and exciting contemporary sounds.

ADDITIONAL INFO
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.

ABOUT MIRACLE THEATRE GROUP
Miracle Theatre Group, the Northwest's premier Latino arts and culture organization for over 25 years, provides high-quality Latino theatre, arts and cultural experiences for urban and rural communities. Miracle merges the highest aesthetic ideals with social responsibility, illustrated by a long tradition of innovative programs serving diverse artists and audiences at El Centro Milagro, its home in Portland, Oregon, and through national tours. The Miracle Theatre Group is dedicated to the growth of a vital, diverse, exciting regional and national arts community and is proud to nurture emerging arts organizations such as Staged!. For more information about Miracle Theatre Group, visit www.milagro.org or call 503-236-7253.

Miracle Theatre Group
The Northwest's premier Latino arts and culture organization
OFFICE: 425 SE 6th Avenue
THEATRE: 525 SE Stark St.
Portland OR 97214
503-236-7253
www.milagro.org

ABOUT 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.

Staged!
Portland's Musical Theatre Series
1002 15th Street
Oregon City, OR 97045
971-322-5723
www.stagedpdx.org

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.