Interview: Jessica Molaskey Talks Reuniting with Jason Robert Brown and Daisy Prince for New Musical THE CONNECTOR

MCC Theater is presenting the World Premiere of The Connector, a new musical featuring a book by Jonathan Marc Sherman (Clive), music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade), conceived and directed by Daisy Prince (The Last Five Years), and choreographed by Karla Puno Garcia (Days of Wine and Roses). The Connector begins performances on January 12, 2024 with an opening night set for February 6 and a limited engagement through February 18, 2024 at MCC Theater’s Newman Mills Theater (511 W 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019).

 One of the stars of The Connector, Jessica Molaskey, is a longtime Jason Robert Brown and Daisy Prince collaborator, having been an original cast member of Jason Robert Brown's Parade on Broadway, and the Daisy Prince-directed, Jason Robert Brown musical Songs for a New World Off-Broadway. 

Molaskey has reunited with Brown and Prince for the world premiere of this exciting new musical, set within the world of journalism in the 1990s. 

The cast of The Connector also includes Scott Bakula (“Quantum Leap;” “NCIS: New Orleans”), Joanna Carpenter (Sweeney Todd), Max Crumm (Millennials Are Killing Musicals), Hannah Cruz (MCC’s Only Gold), George Dvorsky (Closer Than Ever), Ashley Pérez Flanagan (Oratorio For Living Things), Danielle Lee Greaves (Parade), Mylinda Hull (Mr. Saturday Night), Daniel Jenkins (Oslo), Cedric Lamar (King Lear), Fergie Philippe (Hamilton),  Eliseo Román (In the Heights), Ben Levi Ross (Dear Evan Hansen), Ann Sanders (The Music Man), Kyle Sherman (Ordinary Days) and Michael Winther (Fun Home).

BroadwayWorld spoke with Molaskey about reuniting with Jason Robert Brown and Daisy Prince, what audiences can expect with this show, and much more.  

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How does it feel to be a part of the world premiere of a new Jason Robert Brown musical?

We go back so far, we’re talking almost 30 years now, so, I get very misty. Yesterday I had this feeling of being in a movie, where I sort of looked at him and he had grey hair- he was 23 when I first worked with him. I also worked with him this summer on another project he has called Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I’m almost maternal about it at this point in the game [laughs]. I feel like he’s doing some of the best work he’s ever done.

What is that like to have such a long working relationship with somebody?

It’s really wonderful. And Daisy as well! We all did Songs for a New World together, and we are all very good friends. But I’ve always believed profoundly in the talent of both of those people. But, Jason, having met him so young, and to see where he is now… and actually having just seen the revival of Parade, which I was a part of all those years ago, and to see how well-received it was, I’m proud, and I feel very lucky.

What can audiences expect to see with this show?

It is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, especially in a musical. The way the narrative works with the music, and how prescient it was. They started working on it 10 years ago, before the subject matter was so much a part of our every day lives, the idea of truth, and how important that is. And the music is absolutely fantastic, thrilling. And the cast. The guys from Songs From a New World we’re still all, almost 30 years later, such good friends. Brooks Ashmanskas is one of my dearest friends, Andrea Burns. Daisy has a way of collecting good people who do good work, and this cast is extraordinary.

Can you tell me about what it was like in rehearsals helping to bring an entirely new work to life?

It’s what you dream about! It’s why I’ve been in the business for 44 years, because every once in a while somebody gives you a bone and you say, ‘There’s no place else I’d rather be than in this room right now, hearing the composer hear the music for the first time that’s not just inside his head'. I’ve been really lucky to be in those kinds of rooms with people like, even Stephen Sondheim, and it’s thrilling.

What would you say that you’re most looking forward to with the premiere of this show?

These are extreme times, and art is sort of a great leveler. Everyone is so completely diametrically opposed all over the world, and we all listen to a piece of music and most of us, regardless of what camp we are in, have feelings that are similar. And I think that’s the only answer - for me anyway- as to what’s going on in the world, is to say, ‘Let’s sing a song.’ And that’s all we can do right now, is make art, and reflect what’s going on back to humanity. That’s all I know how to do. Also, I’ve never been at MCC Theater, it’s an extraordinary, open-hearted place to work in the city, singularly so, I think. It’s like a wonderful regional theater in the middle of Manhattan.

What do you hope that audiences take away from The Connector? 

This is set in pre-computer era, pre-internet. There is something that’s happened to our society where we all get in our little camps, and we only see what we believe, and we can’t open our minds and hearts to the other, and I think it’s a cautionary tale as to what can happen when that happens. That’s what I hope they take away, loosening up the rigidity of our separate camps.

Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share?

I’m thrilled to be doing good work in New York City, it’s a blessing, especially after Covid and us being in our houses, that people are gathering and willing to come and be challenged by a challenging piece.

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