Jason Robert Brown???

[DickonDefysGravity]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 7:41pm

What is he working on??? I LOVE Parade!!!

[bythesword84]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 7:48pm

He just did a concert in London last weekend actually.

[bob8rich]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 8:10pm

JRB is working on a new musical called "Thirteen" about a group of 13 thiteen-year-olds. A song from the show was sung in his concert in London last week by talented teenager Vaness White - and it sounded fabulous. In fact the entire concert, in which Brown performed many of his own songs, aided by guest appeanances by West End Divas Clare Burt, Joanna Ampil, Frances Rufelle, Carlone Sheen, Rebecca Thornhill and Golda Rushevel, was a sheer joy. It was a privilege to be in the audience.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 2:47am

Previously posted:
I count myself very fortunate to have been at JRB's concert in London last weekend. As well as incredible piano playing, he offered amusing stories with a self-effacing charm- funny tales of 'Urban Cowboy' for instance. He invited us all to petition the National Theatre to produce 'Parade', and gave details of his next show '13', which, (I kid you not), features 13 13 year-olds. (He dead-panned, "I'm certainly not going to M.D. that show!") It is a show about growing up, friendship and fitting in. A young girl from a local theatre school sang 'Friends' and it was stunning!
Other guests included the sublime Jo Riding who dueted on 'All the Wasted Time', and the not-so-sublime Frances Ruffelle struggling through 'I'm Still Hurting'. Can't agree with the post on Golda- like Macy Gray with out the voice: all mannerism and no actual interpretation of the material.
Overall, though, an unforgettable 3 hours!

[JakeB]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 3:24am

He also has a CD out early next year.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 3:31am

how's his voice? did anyone see him perform the L5Y score with Lauren Kennedy? i'm always interested to hear which composers can sing and which can't. William Finn can't, nor can Webber. Sondheim's decent, same with Jonathan Larson. the winner IMHO for best voiced composer- Andrew Lippa.

[Guido Contini]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 4:23am

heck yeah Matt...I've often wondered what Lippa would sound like as Black in his "Wild Party".

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 9:55am

Gee I was hoping that Jason Robert Brown was working on you know, not being horrible anymore or overrated. But I doubt that will ever happen.

[meagan9848]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 9:59am

Speaking of Andrew Lippa...at Kristin's concert at Carnegie she sang a song from Betty Boop which was really really great. PM me if you want more details or something

[DancerGirl16]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 6:10pm

I LOVE Jason Robert Brown's music! All of it! I espeically favor The Last Five Years and A New Brain but I really like Parade alot too. If anyone is interested in his voice you can here it on the "Songs from a New World" Soundtrack he sings one line in the finale I think, or the world was dancing, if you own the cd he talks about it and says it was put in originally because they couldn't figure out who should sing it and then as the show started he just kept on doing it. And about 13 - JRB is coming to our youth theatre rehersals to find some people because our director knows him personally and he gives them the rights to do his songs! He ROCKS!

[Mattio98]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 6:18pm

Actually, Bill Finn wrote the music and lyrics to A New Brain. JRB did the orchestrations.

[DancerGirl16]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 6:24pm

yeah I meant words for some orchestrations for some....sorry if i didn't get that :)

[Mattio98]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 6:40pm

That's ok. Also, the song he sings one line in is Hear My Song from Songs For A New World. If you want a better sample of his voice, try Lauren Kennedy's cd where he duet with Lauren on I'd Give It All For You and does backup vocals for And I Will Follow.

Posted: 10/3/04 at 7:04pm

BWay Matt-- I saw the L5Y concert with him and Lauren Kennedy last November 8th (my birthday--mark it down). It was great. I mean, he's not the greatest singer ever, but he can pull it off. And it made some things so funny--when Lauren sang 'why does this pianist hate me?' they both *cracked* up. I also liked the first version of the song that became Shiksa Goddess-- I Could Be In Love With Someone Like You.

Overall, I thought he did well. Lauren overpowered him like no other on The Next Ten Minutes and Goodbye Until Tomorrow, but they only sing together twice, so all's good.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 7:06pm

Jason's not an incredible singer but there's something really special about a composer singing their own material.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 7:16pm

Lippa has a great voice (Little off topic, but oh well )

[Mattio98]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 7:18pm

I love Andrew Lippa's voice. He sounds really great doing Live Out Loud from A Little Princess. You can listen to it on the Radio Playbill archives.

[BreakingTheCircle07]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 7:55pm

Not a comparison (because I love JRB more than LIFE) but Gutell's voice isn't bad at all on the "Myths and Hymns" recording.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 7:59pm

I agree, Breaking. The songs he sings are the only ones I really like on the recording.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 8:00pm

Guettel has a beautiful high mix and falsetto. Very pretty indeed.

[dramafreak13]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 9:16pm

JRB is my favorite composer and i can not wait until he comes out with more material. i need more shows to listen to every day ;0P

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 9:20pm

dramafreak, i'm only comfortable saying this because we're friends and it's important: listen to THE FIX or someone gonna get cut!

Updated On: 10/3/04 at 09:20 PM

[tmz814]

Posted: 10/3/04 at 11:10pm

I really like JRB's music. I loved The Last Five Years. My friend actually is doing the recording of 13. He's really excited about it.

[dramafreak13]

Posted: 10/4/04 at 7:53am

haha, thanks matt...