Songs For A New World

Songs For A New World

July 7*, 8, 9, 10 2011songsforanewword-200x99
Music by JasonRobert Brown
Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
 
 
 

“It’s about one moment. It’s about hitting the wall and having to make a choice, or take a stand, or turn around and go back.” Newcomer Jason Robert Brown (composer-lyricist of the critical smash “Parade”, "The Last 5 Years" and "13") has had the whole theatre community talking about his blend of savvy showmanship and exciting contemporary sound for years, starting with this revue.

Brown will you from the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship to a ledge 57 stories above Fifth Avenue to meet a startling array of characters ranging from a young man who has determined that basket-ball is his ticket out of the ghetto to a woman whose dream of marrying rich nabs her the man of her dreams and a soulless marriage. These are the stories and characters of today, the songs for a new world.

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* Pay What You Will Preview limited to 50 audience members. Even if you order a ticket from Brown Paper Tickets for July 7th, only the first 50 audience members in line will be admitted. 

 

 

4 From 13 Photos

Production and publicity photographs from the 2011 producton of 4 From 13 (the curtain warmer for Songs For A New World) by Jim Gratiot and Marina Nims.

Read more: 4 From 13 Photos

Songs For A New World Photos

Production and publicity photographs from the 2011 producton of Songs For A New World by Jim Gratiot and Marina Nims.

Read more: Songs For A New World Photos

Songs for a New World Opens

Songs for a New World opens on Friday, July 8 at 8pm.  The show also plays on July 9 at 8pm and July 10 at 2pm.  This show will amaze you with the power of the songs and the performers.  But don't take our word for it, here is an unsolicited review from the preview -

"Just came back from the preview of Songs for a New World. What a wonderful show. Don't miss it! You'll regret it if you don't buy a ticket and see it this weekend. Jim Poulos did a wonderful job working with this group of young people. They were fantastic!"

Tickets are available for all three shows on line and at the door. 

NOVATO ACTOR RETURNS FROM BROADWAY

Jim Poulos Gives Back To The Place Where It All Started

Photo_1_-_Jim_Poulos-webFor Jim Poulos, life in the theater is a combination of continual preparation, patience and not letting any opportunity pass.  Mr. Poulos, a star on Broadway, native Marinite and San Marin High School alumnus is in Novato for four weeks to direct Songs for a New World, which opens Marin Summer Theater’s 2011 season and performs on July 8, 9, and 10 at San Marin High School.  July 7 is a limited seating “pay-what-you-will preview”.

Read more: NOVATO ACTOR RETURNS FROM BROADWAY

Songs to include sections from "13"

Marin Summer Theater has recevied special permission from Jason Robert Brown, the composer and lyricist of "Songs For A New World" to present selections from the his Broadway Musical "13" as a preshow to "Songs For A New World".

MST had asked Mr. Brown for permission to include material from "13" so that we could feature some of our younger company members in "Songs"  Most of the numbers in "Songs", are of a serious and mature nature. 

13" is a musical with lyrics and music by Jason Robert Brown and a book by Dan Elish, with Robert Horn newly joining as co-librettist. The story concerns the life of 13-year-old Evan Goldman as he moves from New York City to Appleton, Indiana, and his dilemma when the move conflicts with the celebration of his Bar Mitzvah. It premièred in 2007 in Los Angeles and transferred to Broadway on September 16, 2008.

In both the Los Angeles and Broadway productions, the cast and band were all teenagers. 

More About Songs for a New World

Songs for a New World is a work of musical theater written and composed by Jason Robert Brown. Its original off-Broadway production ran for 28 performances at the WPA Theater in New York City in 1995. The show sits on the boundary between musical and song cycle, but it is neither; it is an abstract musical, a series of songs all connected by theme rather than narrative. The show employs four performers who do not literally play the same characters throughout the show but who do have consistently developing character arcs nonetheless. Composer Jason Robert Brown has said of his show, "It's about one moment. It's about hitting the wall and having to make a choice, or take a stand, or turn around and go back."[1]

The original cast consisted of Brooks Ashmanskas, Andrea Burns, Jessica Molaskey, and Billy Porter (Porter's part was sung by Ty Taylor on the original cast recording). Daisy Prince, daughter of Broadway director Harold Prince, directed. The original band consisted of Jason Robert Brown on piano, Randy Landau on bass, Tom Partington on drums, Joe Reina on keyboards, and Warren Smith & Rob McEwan on percussion. Songs for a New World was Jason Robert Brown's first produced show.

The piano features heavily throughout the show's music and because of its small cast and orchestra, Songs for a New World has become a favorite small show for colleges and local theatres, despite its vocally demanding score. The music of Songs for a New World is heavily influenced by a broad range of musical genres, including pop, gospel, jazz and classical music. Many of the songs combine elements of two or more of these genres. An extensive background and analysis essay about the stage show is online.  Click here for the full article.

Novato Patch Article about Jim Polous

Here is a great article the Novato Patch wrote about Jim Polous and some of the reasons why he is returning to Novato to work with MST in 2011. 

Songs Director Announced

Marin Summer Theater is very happy to announce that Jim Poulos will be directing Songs For A New World, the opening show of MST’s 3rd season.

On Broadway Jim starred as Mark Cohen in Rent and Huck Finn in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.   Across the country, he has been seen in the national touring productions of Little Shop of Horrors, The Graduate, and South Pacific, as well as regional theater productions including Amadeus, Urinetown, A Little Night Music, The Odd Couple, Lend Me A Tenor, and Nerds:// A Musical Software Satire.  He has worked with Hal Prince, Susan Stroman, Michael Greif, Jerry Zaks and Paul Gemignani.  Jim is an alumni of San Marin High School, class of 1990.

It is very exciting to have Jim work with Marin Summer Theater.  MST’s primary goal is to put on the best in theater, and having Jim’s professionalism, experience and vision onboard will be instrumental to helping us accomplish it this year.

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About Marin Summer Theater

Marin Summer Theater (MST) is an award winning non-profit theater company for students of performing arts between the ages of 13 and 23. The MST company prepares and presents three fully-staged productions in a six-week summer season. MST's mission is threefold: To present exciting, professional quality drama, musical theater and musical revue productions; to keep tuition as low as possible so that cost is not a barrier to participation; to create a diverse company of college and high school students.

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