Brown Plans '13' Cast Album; Performs in NYC and L.A.

According to Jason Robert Brown, a commercial cast recording of his new musical 13 will be recorded at some point in the future.

In his March newsletter, the Tony Award-winning composer/lyricist writes:  "Once it opens in its new mysterious incarnation, we'll do a brand spanking new recording featuring whatever new songs, new cast members and new ideas we come up with."  A cast album of 13, which recently played a critically acclaimed run at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A., has already been recorded.  This album is intended for promotional purposes and will not be released commercially.  However, Brown writes that he'll likely post songs from the recording session on his website over the next few months and advises fans to keep checking his blog.

Brown and his band the Caucasian Rhythm Kings will return to Birdland for a week of performances from Wednesday, April 4 through Saturday, April 8 for two shows a night, at 9 pm and 11 pm.  He promises guest singers, new songs and old favorites.

He will also appear in L.A. for The Academy of New Musical Theatre's upcoming salon, in which he will perform songs from his shows, analyze and explain the writing process for a few of them, and then take part in a Q&A with the audience.  That event will take place on Sunday, March 11 at 2:30 PM.  Only eighty reservations will be accepted, and there is a $50 participation fee (more details are available at Brown's website).

As previously announced, Brown will conduct and perform in a production of his acclaimed song cycle Songs for a New World at the Strathmore Center in Bethesda, MD on May 16th and 17th.  The show will be produced by Signature Theatre and directed by Michael Baron.

Brown 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.  He 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. He also contributed to the Tony-nominated score of Urban Cowboy.  Brown is the winner of the 2002 Kleban Award for Outstanding Lyrics and the 1996 Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Foundation Award for Musical Theatre.  Brown's first solo album, "Wearing Someone Else's Clothes," featuring his band The Caucasian Rhythm Kings, is available from Sh-K-Boom Records.  13, a musical comedy written with Dan Elish, recently played the Mark Taper Forum in L.A.

Visit www.jasonrobertbrown.com for more information.