A New Brain at Hoover-Leppen Theatre at Center on Halsted

Gordon Schwinn is a talented yet frustrated composer who is working on a children’s TV show and is having a hard time composing a song for the show’s demanding star. His day gets much worse when he collapses into a plate of spaghetti during lunch with his friend Rhoda. He’s rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with a life-threatening brain condition. As Gordon moves in and out of consciousness, a series of dreams and flashbacks help him come to terms with his career and the state of his relationships with his partner, his boss, and his mother; and remind him of all the songs he has yet to write. This life-affirming musical by William Finn and James Lapine (FALSETTOS) includes such great songs as “I’d Rather Be Sailing,” “Heart and Music,” “I Feel So Much Spring.”