Songs For A New World
Sunday night we drove into the theatre district of New Brunswick to see a performance of Jason Robert Brown's Songs For A New World. This is yet another show where I have been familiar with the music via CD, but have not seen it performed. Years ago, when we frequented Rose's Turn in the Village, one of the singing waitrons, Lizz Manners used to perform the beautiful "Stars and The Moon". Since then I have very much enjoyed Jason's work.
We caught a bite at Qudobo, a new Mexican chain, where they build your burrito for you. I had hoped to find a stromboli place that I frequented during my K&K (public accounting firm) days, but no luck there.
The show is mainly a musical review linked together by the theme of 'one significant moment' in the life of a person, whether fictional or real. The set was mainly a plain white area enhanced with colored lights, and the choreography was simple but effective. It included a cast of 6, with only 1 that did not have the same amount of belting power as the others. In addition to 'Stars and The Moon', 'Christmas Lullaby' and 'I'm Not Afraid of Anything' are other favorites.
I was very surprised that 2 of the songs on the CD that I don't really care for, come across very differently when performed. 'Surabaya Santa' has Mrs. Claus lamenting the fact that she's left alone each Christmas Eve and is not very happy about it. The performer uses a couple of accents and has the help of a couple of the men to lift her around the stage in a freaky ballet.
The other one that worked very well here was "Just One Step", in which a woman is on the ledge of the 57th floor of her apartment trying to get her husband to notice her. This performer was a large woman, who happened to be at least 7, if not 8 months pregnant. I was very amazed at her ability to fling her torso forward and back as she pretended to lose her balance.
Barbara Walsh, one of the only performers whose name I did recognize, did a stunning performance of "The Flagmaker".
This is a duplicate post, because I went to check on something and when I came back, my original draft was gone. I was fucking pissed. I hate it when I spend time trying to write an interesting and articulate entry, and then it gets lost before I save it. You can never create it the same.
We caught a bite at Qudobo, a new Mexican chain, where they build your burrito for you. I had hoped to find a stromboli place that I frequented during my K&K (public accounting firm) days, but no luck there.
The show is mainly a musical review linked together by the theme of 'one significant moment' in the life of a person, whether fictional or real. The set was mainly a plain white area enhanced with colored lights, and the choreography was simple but effective. It included a cast of 6, with only 1 that did not have the same amount of belting power as the others. In addition to 'Stars and The Moon', 'Christmas Lullaby' and 'I'm Not Afraid of Anything' are other favorites.
I was very surprised that 2 of the songs on the CD that I don't really care for, come across very differently when performed. 'Surabaya Santa' has Mrs. Claus lamenting the fact that she's left alone each Christmas Eve and is not very happy about it. The performer uses a couple of accents and has the help of a couple of the men to lift her around the stage in a freaky ballet.
The other one that worked very well here was "Just One Step", in which a woman is on the ledge of the 57th floor of her apartment trying to get her husband to notice her. This performer was a large woman, who happened to be at least 7, if not 8 months pregnant. I was very amazed at her ability to fling her torso forward and back as she pretended to lose her balance.
Barbara Walsh, one of the only performers whose name I did recognize, did a stunning performance of "The Flagmaker".
This is a duplicate post, because I went to check on something and when I came back, my original draft was gone. I was fucking pissed. I hate it when I spend time trying to write an interesting and articulate entry, and then it gets lost before I save it. You can never create it the same.