Review Roundup: What Did the Critics Think of SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD at City Center?

Opening the 2018 Off-Center season (running through June 30), is Songs for a New World- the first musical from three-time Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown. This powerful collection of songs examines life, love, and the choices ordinary people make when faced with extraordinary moments. From the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship to the ledge of a Fifth Avenue high-rise, each character faces a new world which follows the unique challenge they encounter.

Kate Whoriskey, director of the recent Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony-nominated Sweat, directs this City Center revival. The production will star Shoshana Bean, Colin Donnell, Mykal Kilgore, and Solea Pfeiffer, and will feature choreography by Rennie Harris for an ensemble of dancers being added to the cast for the Off-Center engagement.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

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Laura Collins-Hughes, The New York Times: There are plenty of musicals that welcome every bell and whistle that a director can throw at them - shows that, in the spareness of a concert performance, set spectators to dreaming about how gorgeous a full production might be. Then there are rarer creatures that demand simplicity above all - shows that find their true best form in concert. Jason Robert Brown's "Songs for a New World" is one of these, currently flourishing in a glorious Encores! Off-Center iteration, savvily directed by Kate Whoriskey at New York City Center. In desperate need of a restorative evening? Here's one.

Matt Windman, amNY: Shoshana Bean ("Wicked"), Colin Donnell ("Anything Goes"), Solea Pfeiffer (national tour of "Hamilton") and Mykal Kilgore ("Motown") provide powerhouse vocals coupled with great acting choices (including Bean's comic flourishes, Donnell's beat up bitterness, Pfeiffer's soft romanticism and Kilgore's all-out soulfulness).

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

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