Jason Robert Brown interview!!!!!!!!!!!

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 8/10/06 at 12:53pm

Duno whether this has been posted before:
http://www.theatre.com/buzz/buzz_story.aspx?id=3003099&p=2

Is this guy great or what???

[bjivie2]

Posted: 8/10/06 at 2:46pm

Can't believe he thinks of The Last Five Years as a critical failure. It's become a huge regional success, probably one of the most licensed shows in the last few years. I'm interested to see what this new aesthetic is for him.

[GodIHopeIGetIt]

Posted: 8/10/06 at 2:47pm

He means that the critics didn't love Last 5 Years (especially the Times).

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 8/10/06 at 3:17pm

Lots of other people loved L5Y. There have been many many regional production's of it because it is only two people and sets are minimal. I LOVE JRB!

[GodIHopeIGetIt]

Posted: 8/10/06 at 3:22pm

I'm also looking to see 'commercialized' JRB. I don't think he's capable as a composer to write something that pop-y and annoying, but we'll see with 13.

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 8/10/06 at 3:32pm

Commercial dose not have to be annnoying. I think by commercial he means, just a bigger production. I hear in London with L5Y there is much more than there was off Broadway and in Chicago.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 8/10/06 at 3:33pm

I disagree. I found his solo CD to be obnoxious and even boring. I am a huge fan of his work up to that point. I just found his solo CD to be either too theatrical or just not rock enough. He sounds like Billy Joel and incorporates elements but he doesn't write with the same conviction or attitude. I'm not saying he should be a carbon copy of anybody but he just doesn't have the goods to back up what I feel his solo music is trying to be.

His theatre music, however, is gorgeous.

[GodIHopeIGetIt]

Posted: 8/10/06 at 3:40pm

I'm not trying to sound bitchy (and I know I do), but sum- what does his solo music being boring have to do with the conversation? I personally didn't love it.. but I don't know what it has to do with the conversation....?

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 8/10/06 at 5:48pm

"I'm also looking to see 'commercialized' JRB. I don't think he's capable as a composer to write something that pop-y and annoying, but we'll see with 13."

That's what I was responding to. And I don't have a problem sounding bitchy.

[Days of Inspiration]

Posted: 8/11/06 at 10:41am

Thanks for the link! I have to say that reading his blog (especially the Q&As) is much more fun than a straight interview.

I'm looking forward to 13, we'll see how that turns out. He's trying to appeal to a younger audience. As I can recall, he wrote about or said in an interview that he didn't quite get why teens related to the Last 5 Years and wanted to relate to us.

But, I think that's just his magic. All of his pieces of work, especially Songs for a New World, reach out to me, a teenager. Anyway.

As for Wearing Someone Elses Clothes, I think it's wonderful. Someone to Fall Back on is definitely a standout, though I like the version from Inaudible much more.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 8/11/06 at 11:01am

I think JRB is an amazing composer. He came upon a certain amount of success very early on, getting to work with Hal Prince on his, what, second production ever?, and then winning a Tony for it. His interviews immediately after that struck me as totally pretentious and self-absorbed ("well, when you've worked with Hal Prince, as I have, you learn...blah blah blah"), but the critical drubbing he received for L5Y seems to have toned that down. Which is good, in a way, because I think he's come to terms with being a theatre composer with a bit of a cult following instead of the mainstream success he thought he might be as a composer or a rock musician. With that I feel he stands to offer more to the theater community and can continue to write his own stuff, taking his lumps along the way. His insights into how much harder it's getting for composers to get their work out there and develop their craft are very interesting. I have bought about 5 copies of L5Y and SFANW for friends and family members, and I consider Parade's score practically flawless, so don't get me wrong, I love his work to this point. I just wish he was as poor as Michael John LaChiusa and had to write more to get by.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 8/11/06 at 12:42pm

Does anyone know if L5Y in London will get recorded. I would love to have a fresh look at this material I love so much.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 8/11/06 at 12:42pm

Does anyone know if L5Y in London will get recorded. I would love to have a fresh look at this material I love so much.

[Days of Inspiration]

Posted: 8/11/06 at 4:53pm

" His interviews immediately after that struck me as totally pretentious and self-absorbed ("well, when you've worked with Hal Prince, as I have, you learn...blah blah blah"), but the critical drubbing he received for L5Y seems to have toned that down. "

That's exactly what I love about JRB. He doesn't take anyone's crap (eg: a fan asking for his cd the inaudible jason robert brown and jrb's responce // [find>http://www.seriousliving.net/new-1343933-1049.html">find it here] He knows that he's good and what he does and tells it like it is. You can definitely see this is his blogs.

I would be pretty self absorbed if I had been chosen to replace Sondheim to write the music for Parade.

--

As for recording L5Y in London? I really doubt it, but I would love to hear it.

[rclocalz]

Posted: 8/11/06 at 6:46pm

Don't ya'll remember the days when Jason Robert Brown would talk with us on these boards? It was so funny that first time when he just randomly popped onto the "Where the hell did Jason Robert Brown Go?" thread.
"Where the hell did Jason Robert Brown Go?" Thread