Jason Robert Brown
Encyclopedia
Jason Robert Brown is an American
musical theater composer
, lyricist
, and playwright
. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. An accomplished pianist, Brown has often served as music director
, conductor, orchestrator, and pianist for his own productions.
, and attended the Eastman School of Music
in Rochester
, New York
for 2 years. During summer, he attended French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts
in Hancock, New York. He said Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
and Sunday in the Park with George
were two of his biggest influences, and had it not been for them, he would have joined a rock band and tried to be Billy Joel
.
When Brown was 23, he and a friend were invited to see a Stephen Sondheim
show by Sondheim himself. Brown's friend, whom he refers to only as "Franz Liszt", wrote to Sondheim, and that is how they both got the tickets. Sondheim also invited them to dinner afterward. At the show, they sat in front of the New York Times' Frank Rich
. They went to dinner, and after twenty minutes, Sondheim asked them what they thought of the show: they both were silent. Brown described the dinner after that moment as "many extremely awkward silences punctuated by bursts of frantic, desperate conversation about anything other than the slaughtered elephant in the room." Brown called mutual friend Daisy Prince the next day, asking if there might be any way to repair the damage after the dinner. She and her family decided that Brown should call Sondheim. Brown paraphrased what Sondheim said:
He began his career in New York City as an arranger, conductor, and pianist, working on shows such as William Finn
's A New Brain
, and playing at several nightclubs and piano bars in the city. Songs for a New World
marked the first major New York production of Brown's songs. An off-Broadway revue with a limited run, the show was directed by Daisy Prince, daughter of director/producer Hal Prince
, and featured the 25-year-old Brown's pop-rock-influenced music. The song "Stars and the Moon" has since become a cabaret standard, and is probably Brown's best-known composition to date.
Brown was introduced to Harold Prince through his association with Daisy Prince, and was hired to write songs for the Broadway musical Parade
, based on the trial and lynching of Leo Frank
. Parade, directed by Hal Prince, and with a book by Alfred Uhry
, won Brown the 1999 Tony Award
for Best Original Musical Score.
Brown went back to working with Daisy Prince for his third major show The Last Five Years
, for which he wrote the book as well as songs. Inspired by his own failed first marriage, the show is a two-person musical which tells the history of a relationship from two different perspectives. The male's narrative begins at the beginning of the story and progresses through marriage, infidelity, and divorce, while the female narrative begins at the end of the relationship and ends with the couple's first date; the two actors' only direct interaction takes place mid-point, during the wedding sequence. The original Chicago cast consisted of Norbert Leo Butz
and Lauren Kennedy
, with Sherie Rene Scott
over the New York run. The Last Five Years received mixed critical reviews and was not a commercial success, lasting only two months off-Broadway, although Brown garnered 2 Drama Desk Award
s for music and lyrics. Additionally, due to the cast recording featuring Scott and Butz, the show has gained popularity among contemporary musical theater aficionados and is an oft-performed piece in regional and community theatres.
Brown contributed several songs to the Broadway flop Urban Cowboy
, and was nominated, with 30 other composers, for the 2003 Tony Award
for best Musical Score, losing out to Hairspray.
In June 2005, Brown released a solo album, entitled Wearing Someone Else's Clothes
.
In December 2005, his Chanukah Suite
received its world premiere with two performances by the Los Angeles Master Chorale
at the Walt Disney Concert Hall
.
He also teaches courses in musical theatre performance and composition at the University of Southern California
. Brown is an active performer of his own work, singing and playing the piano with or without his band, the Caucasian Rhythm Kings (Gary Sieger, guitar, and Randy Landau, bass).
His most recent completed work, 13
, premiered at the Mark Taper Forum
in Los Angeles, CA on January 7, 2007. It opened on Broadway October 5, 2008 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
, and closed on January 4, 2009.
According to Brown, Brian Lowdermilk
used to be an assistant to him. Brown has recently publicized his personal efforts to discourage the unauthorized online sharing of his copyrighted sheet music
via an e-mail conversation with a teenager named Eleanor.
with Marsha Norman
. Other projects include adapting a French musical with Alfred Uhry
for Kathleen Marshall
, screenplays for movies of 13
and The Last Five Years
, and releasing a solo album in the summer of 2011. One of his songs, entitled "Another Life", is featured on Kelli O'Hara
's 2011 album Always.
, Adam Guettel
, Andrew Lippa
, and Jeanine Tesori
, among others). "They're all smart writers and excellent musicians with lots of interesting ideas for shows. But they don't write take-away tunes." writes New York Post theatre columnist Michael Riedel.
Brown has many trademarks in his composing style. His piano music is often extremely rhythmically challenging; his sheet music is released in a mostly unmodified format, posing many challenges to anyone who tries to play it. His songs are by no means easy to sing, either, with his choral music including many complex and unconventional harmonies and his songs (for men, in particular) covering a very wide vocal range. Most of his songs are written in AABA' form, the exceptions coming mostly in his show Parade. Perhaps most characteristic are his love duets; all four (I'd Give it All for You from Songs for a New World, All the Wasted Time from Parade, The Next 10 Minutes from The Last Five Years, and Tell Her from 13) are written in a very distinct format: male-female-both, compound time in the duet section (two using hemiola
), and three of the four end with the couple singing the same pitch.
;. Together, they have two daughters.
's Way Back to Paradise and Betty Buckley
's Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar.
Actress Lauren Kennedy
, who originated the role of Cathy in the Chicago production of The Last Five Years, released Songs of Jason Robert Brown, featuring Brown's compositions from his previous shows, as well as several previously unreleased songs.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musical theater composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. An accomplished pianist, Brown has often served as music director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
, conductor, orchestrator, and pianist for his own productions.
Career
Brown grew up in the suburbs of New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and attended the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
in Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
for 2 years. During summer, he attended French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts
French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts
On a majestic hillside, high in the Catskill Mountain Region of New York less than three hours from New York City is French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts . A family run camp since 1970, French Woods has been the innovative leader of individualized programming for children...
in Hancock, New York. He said Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1936 British film produced and directed by George King.-Plot:The film features Tod Slaughter in one of his most famous roles as barber Sweeney Todd. Sweeney Todd was wrongly sentenced to life in prison. After his release 15 years later, he begins...
and Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat...
were two of his biggest influences, and had it not been for them, he would have joined a rock band and tried to be Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
.
When Brown was 23, he and a friend were invited to see a Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
show by Sondheim himself. Brown's friend, whom he refers to only as "Franz Liszt", wrote to Sondheim, and that is how they both got the tickets. Sondheim also invited them to dinner afterward. At the show, they sat in front of the New York Times' Frank Rich
Frank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
. They went to dinner, and after twenty minutes, Sondheim asked them what they thought of the show: they both were silent. Brown described the dinner after that moment as "many extremely awkward silences punctuated by bursts of frantic, desperate conversation about anything other than the slaughtered elephant in the room." Brown called mutual friend Daisy Prince the next day, asking if there might be any way to repair the damage after the dinner. She and her family decided that Brown should call Sondheim. Brown paraphrased what Sondheim said:
Nobody cares what you think. Once a creation has been put into the world, you have only one responsibility to its creator: Be supportive. Support is not about showing how clever you are, how observant of some flaw, how incisive in your criticism. There are other people whose job it is to guide the creation, to make it work, to make it live; either they did their job or they didn't. But that is not your problem.
If you come to my show and you see me afterward, say only this: "I loved it". It doesn't matter if that's what you really felt. What I need at that moment is to know that you care enough about me and the work I do to tell me that you loved it, not "in spite of its flaws", not "even though everyone else seems to have a problem with it", but simply, plainly, "I loved it." If you can't say that, don't come backstage, don't find me in the lobby, don't lean over the pit to see me. Just go home, and either write me a nice email or don't. Say all the catty, bitchy things you want to your friend, your neighbor, the Internet.
Maybe next week, maybe next year, maybe someday down the line, I'll be ready to hear what you have to say, but at that moment, that face-to-face moment after I have unveiled some part of my soul, however small, to you: that is the most vulnerable moment in any artist's life. I beg you, plead with you to tell me what you really thought, what you actually, honestly, totally believed, then you must tell me "I loved it." That moment must be respected."
He began his career in New York City as an arranger, conductor, and pianist, working on shows such as William Finn
William Finn
William Alan Finn is an American composer and lyricist of musicals. His musical Falsettos received the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Music and Lyrics and for Best Book.-Biography:...
's A New Brain
A New Brain
A New Brain is a musical with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Finn and James Lapine.The musical was first produced Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, with previews beginning on May 14, 1998...
, and playing at several nightclubs and piano bars in the city. Songs for a New World
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...
marked the first major New York production of Brown's songs. An off-Broadway revue with a limited run, the show was directed by Daisy Prince, daughter of director/producer Hal Prince
Hal Prince
Harold Smith Prince is an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical productions of the past half-century...
, and featured the 25-year-old Brown's pop-rock-influenced music. The song "Stars and the Moon" has since become a cabaret standard, and is probably Brown's best-known composition to date.
Brown was introduced to Harold Prince through his association with Daisy Prince, and was hired to write songs for the Broadway musical Parade
Parade (musical)
Parade is a musical with a book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The musical was first produced on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on December 17, 1998. The production was directed by Harold Prince and closed 28 February 1999 after only 39 previews and 84 regular...
, based on the trial and lynching of Leo Frank
Leo Frank
Leo Max Frank was a Jewish-American factory superintendent whose hanging in 1915 by a lynch mob of prominent citizens in Marietta, Georgia drew attention to antisemitism in the United States....
. Parade, directed by Hal Prince, and with a book by Alfred Uhry
Alfred Uhry
Alfred Fox Uhry is an American playwright, screenwriter, and member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He is one of very few writers to receive an Academy Award, Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing....
, won Brown the 1999 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Original Musical Score.
Brown went back to working with Daisy Prince for his third major show The Last Five Years
The Last Five Years
The Last Five Years is a one-act musical written by Jason Robert Brown. It premiered in Chicago in 2001 and was then produced off-Broadway in March 2002. Since then it has had numerous productions both in the United States and internationally....
, for which he wrote the book as well as songs. Inspired by his own failed first marriage, the show is a two-person musical which tells the history of a relationship from two different perspectives. The male's narrative begins at the beginning of the story and progresses through marriage, infidelity, and divorce, while the female narrative begins at the end of the relationship and ends with the couple's first date; the two actors' only direct interaction takes place mid-point, during the wedding sequence. The original Chicago cast consisted of Norbert Leo Butz
Norbert Leo Butz
Norbert Leo Butz is an American actor best known for his work in Broadway theatre.-Personal life:Butz was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elaine and Norbert Butz...
and Lauren Kennedy
Lauren Kennedy
Lauren Kennedy is an actress and a singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She most recently starred in the Off-Broadway show Good Ol' Girls at the Black Box Theatre during the 2009-2010 season...
, with Sherie Rene Scott
Sherie Rene Scott
Sherie Rene Scott is an American actress, singer and writer. She is a co-founder of Grammy winning Sh-K-Boom Records and Ghostlight Records and has appeared in numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway musicals and plays appears on numerous solo and original cast recordings.-Life and career:Scott was...
over the New York run. The Last Five Years received mixed critical reviews and was not a commercial success, lasting only two months off-Broadway, although Brown garnered 2 Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
s for music and lyrics. Additionally, due to the cast recording featuring Scott and Butz, the show has gained popularity among contemporary musical theater aficionados and is an oft-performed piece in regional and community theatres.
Brown contributed several songs to the Broadway flop Urban Cowboy
Urban Cowboy (musical)
Urban Cowboy is a musical with a book by Aaron Latham and Phillip Oesterman and a score composed of numbers by Broadway composer-lyricists Jeff Blumenkrantz and Jason Robert Brown and a variety of country music tunesmiths, including Clint Black and Charles Daniels.Based on the 1980 screenplay by...
, and was nominated, with 30 other composers, for the 2003 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for best Musical Score, losing out to Hairspray.
In June 2005, Brown released a solo album, entitled Wearing Someone Else's Clothes
Wearing Someone Else's Clothes
Wearing Someone Else's Clothes is a solo album by musical theater composer Jason Robert Brown. It was released by Sh-K-Boom Records on June 28, 2005 to generally positive critical reception. Amazon.com named it as one of its ten Editors' Picks in Broadway and Vocal Albums for 2005...
.
In December 2005, his Chanukah Suite
Chanukah Suite
Chanukah Suite is an original chorale composition by Jewish composer Jason Robert Brown. The work was debuted in December, 2005, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in two performances by the Los Angeles Master Chorale...
received its world premiere with two performances by the Los Angeles Master Chorale
Los Angeles Master Chorale
The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a professional chorus in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one of the three original resident companies of the Music Center of Los Angeles County...
at the Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
.
He also teaches courses in musical theatre performance and composition at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. Brown is an active performer of his own work, singing and playing the piano with or without his band, the Caucasian Rhythm Kings (Gary Sieger, guitar, and Randy Landau, bass).
His most recent completed work, 13
13 (musical)
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...
, premiered at the Mark Taper Forum
Mark Taper Forum
The Mark Taper Forum is a 739 seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles...
in Los Angeles, CA on January 7, 2007. It opened on Broadway October 5, 2008 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 242 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it opened as the Royale Theatre on January 11, 1927 with a musical entitled Piggy...
, and closed on January 4, 2009.
According to Brown, Brian Lowdermilk
Brian Lowdermilk
Brian Lowdermilk is an American musical theater composer and lyricist.-Biography:Brian Lowdermilk is a composer and lyricist of musicals. He is also a music director, arranger, vocal coach, and pianist....
used to be an assistant to him. Brown has recently publicized his personal efforts to discourage the unauthorized online sharing of his copyrighted sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
via an e-mail conversation with a teenager named Eleanor.
Current Projects
He is currently working on several projects, including a musical version of the hit movie Honeymoon in Vegas. On July 18, 2010, Brown revealed, via twitter, that he was working on a new show with previous collaborator Daisy Prince. Further details are yet to be announced. He is writing a musical adaption to The Bridges of Madison CountyThe Bridges of Madison County
The Bridges of Madison County is a 1992 best-selling novel by Robert James Waller which tells the story of a married but lonely Italian woman, living in 1960s Madison County, Iowa, who engages in an affair with a National Geographic photographer from Bellingham, Washington who is visiting Madison...
with Marsha Norman
Marsha Norman
Marsha Norman is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play night, Mother...
. Other projects include adapting a French musical with Alfred Uhry
Alfred Uhry
Alfred Fox Uhry is an American playwright, screenwriter, and member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He is one of very few writers to receive an Academy Award, Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing....
for Kathleen Marshall
Kathleen Marshall
Kathleen Marshall is an American choreographer, director, and creative consultant.-Life and career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Marshall graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School and Smith College. She worked in the Pittsburgh theatre scene when she was younger, performing with such...
, screenplays for movies of 13
13 (musical)
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...
and The Last Five Years
The Last Five Years
The Last Five Years is a one-act musical written by Jason Robert Brown. It premiered in Chicago in 2001 and was then produced off-Broadway in March 2002. Since then it has had numerous productions both in the United States and internationally....
, and releasing a solo album in the summer of 2011. One of his songs, entitled "Another Life", is featured on Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara is an American actress, singer, and songwriter.O'Hara has been nominated for three Tony Awards: for her performance as Clara Johnson in The Light in the Piazza; for her performance as Babe Williams in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of The Pajama Game, where she starred...
's 2011 album Always.
Musical style
He is cited by Mark Shenton as one of the new theatrical composers (a list that includes Michael John LaChiusaMichael John LaChiusa
Michael John LaChiusa is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for complex, musically challenging shows such as Hello Again, Marie Christine, The Wild Party, and See What I Wanna See...
, Adam Guettel
Adam Guettel
Adam Guettel is an American composer-lyricist of musical theater and opera . He is best known for the musical The Light in the Piazza, for which he won two Tony Awards, for Best Score and Best Orchestrations, and two Drama Desk Awards, for Best Music and Best Orchestrations.-Early years:Guettel...
, Andrew Lippa
Andrew Lippa
Andrew Lippa is an American composer, lyricist, book writer, performer, and producer. He is a resident artist at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City.-Biography:...
, and Jeanine Tesori
Jeanine Tesori
Jeanine Tesori is an American musical arranger and composer who won the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play for Nicholas Hytner's production of Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center and the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music for Caroline, or Change.Tesori made her Broadway...
, among others). "They're all smart writers and excellent musicians with lots of interesting ideas for shows. But they don't write take-away tunes." writes New York Post theatre columnist Michael Riedel.
Brown has many trademarks in his composing style. His piano music is often extremely rhythmically challenging; his sheet music is released in a mostly unmodified format, posing many challenges to anyone who tries to play it. His songs are by no means easy to sing, either, with his choral music including many complex and unconventional harmonies and his songs (for men, in particular) covering a very wide vocal range. Most of his songs are written in AABA' form, the exceptions coming mostly in his show Parade. Perhaps most characteristic are his love duets; all four (I'd Give it All for You from Songs for a New World, All the Wasted Time from Parade, The Next 10 Minutes from The Last Five Years, and Tell Her from 13) are written in a very distinct format: male-female-both, compound time in the duet section (two using hemiola
Hemiola
In modern musical parlance, a hemiola is a metrical pattern in which two bars in simple triple time are articulated as if they were three bars in simple duple time...
), and three of the four end with the couple singing the same pitch.
Personal
Since 2003, Brown has been married to fellow composer Georgia StittGeorgia Stitt
Georgia Stitt is an American composer and a lyricist.-Early life:Stitt spent her childhood in Covington TN. She attended Vanderbilt University and received a B.Mus. degree in Music Theory and Composition, and New York University M.F.A...
;. Together, they have two daughters.
Major works
Sources:Internet Off-Broadway Database listing, Internet Broadway Database listing- Songs For a New WorldSongs for a New WorldSongs 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...
- Revue, Ran Off-BroadwayOff-BroadwayOff-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
at the WPA Theatre, October 11 - November 5, 1995. Also conducted, played piano, and sang one line in the last song. - ParadeParade (musical)Parade is a musical with a book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The musical was first produced on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on December 17, 1998. The production was directed by Harold Prince and closed 28 February 1999 after only 39 previews and 84 regular...
- Ran on Broadway from December 17, 1998 to February 28, 1999. Won the Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Score, and a Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Best Music. Also plays piano on the cast recording. - The Last Five YearsThe Last Five YearsThe Last Five Years is a one-act musical written by Jason Robert Brown. It premiered in Chicago in 2001 and was then produced off-Broadway in March 2002. Since then it has had numerous productions both in the United States and internationally....
- Ran Off-Broadway from March 3, 2002 to May 5, 2002. Won Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics, and nominated for Outstanding Orchestrations. Also wrote the book, conducted, and played piano. - Urban CowboyUrban Cowboy (musical)Urban Cowboy is a musical with a book by Aaron Latham and Phillip Oesterman and a score composed of numbers by Broadway composer-lyricists Jeff Blumenkrantz and Jason Robert Brown and a variety of country music tunesmiths, including Clint Black and Charles Daniels.Based on the 1980 screenplay by...
- Ran on BroadwayBroadway theatreBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
from March 27, 2003 to May 18, 2003. Tony-Nominated for Best Original Score. Brown contributed five songs to the score of the musical. Also orchestrated, arranged, music directed, conducted, played keyboards, and sang. - Wearing Someone Else's ClothesWearing Someone Else's ClothesWearing Someone Else's Clothes is a solo album by musical theater composer Jason Robert Brown. It was released by Sh-K-Boom Records on June 28, 2005 to generally positive critical reception. Amazon.com named it as one of its ten Editors' Picks in Broadway and Vocal Albums for 2005...
- 2005 - Brown's solo debut album, composed entirely of tracks which were previously unreleased, some of which were cut songs from shows or written for shows which were never finished, and some of which were written as stand-alone songs for the album. The album features his vocals and compositions on every song, and his arrangements and musicianship on almost every track. - Chanukah SuiteChanukah SuiteChanukah Suite is an original chorale composition by Jewish composer Jason Robert Brown. The work was debuted in December, 2005, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in two performances by the Los Angeles Master Chorale...
- 2005 - an 8 minute chorale fanfare in three parts, featuring traditional Hebrew songs infused with up-tempo rock and rollRock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
rhythms and Leonard BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
inspired chordal flavors. - 1313 (musical)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...
, Composer. Premiered January 7, 2007, at the Mark Taper ForumMark Taper ForumThe Mark Taper Forum is a 739 seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles...
in Los Angeles, California and subsequently opened on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs TheatreBernard B. Jacobs TheatreThe Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 242 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it opened as the Royale Theatre on January 11, 1927 with a musical entitled Piggy...
, running from October 5, 2008 to January 4, 2009 after 22 previews and 105 regular performances.
Other works
- The Waverly Gallery - Off-Broadway run from March 22, 2000 to May 21, 2000 at the Promenade Theatre. Play by The Waverley GalleryThe Waverley GalleryThe Waverly Gallery is a play by Kenneth Lonergan. It is considered a "memory play". The show, first produced in 2000, follows a grandson watching his grandmother slowly die from Alzheimer's disease. Charles Isherwood of Variety said, "The life trauma being depicted has an inherent pathos, and in...
, with music by Brown. - John and Jen - Orchestrations
- A New BrainA New BrainA New Brain is a musical with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Finn and James Lapine.The musical was first produced Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, with previews beginning on May 14, 1998...
- Vocal arrangements/additional musician - New York RockNew York RockNew York Rock is an off-Broadway musical by Yoko Ono. It is a thinly veiled account of her life with John Lennon. The musical contains many songs from Ono's albums throughout the years, as well as several new tracks, some of which were reworked for inclusion on Rising.-Track listing:# "It Happened"...
- Orchestrations
Recordings
Original cast recordings were made for Songs for a New World, Parade, The Last Five Years, and "13." "Stars and the Moon" has been recorded many times, including on Audra McDonaldAudra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
's Way Back to Paradise and Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley
Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
's Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar.
Actress Lauren Kennedy
Lauren Kennedy
Lauren Kennedy is an actress and a singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She most recently starred in the Off-Broadway show Good Ol' Girls at the Black Box Theatre during the 2009-2010 season...
, who originated the role of Cathy in the Chicago production of The Last Five Years, released Songs of Jason Robert Brown, featuring Brown's compositions from his previous shows, as well as several previously unreleased songs.
External links
- Jason Robert Brown's Official Website
- Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Production: Urban Cowboy - Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing.orgAmerican Theatre WingThe American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
, April 2003 - Parade to Make West End Premiere in 2007
- BroadwayWorld.com interview with Jason Robert Brown, August 16, 2007