Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#1
Posted: 6/13/22 at 12:01pm
I guess people have been speaking about this for years but it really seems like Jason Robert Brown can just not get a hit on Broadway (most recent likely flop Mr Saturday Night but also Honeymoon in Vegas, Bridges, 13, Parade etc. - all flops). I absolutely love 'Parade' and 'Bridges of Madison County' and consider both some of my fav scores of all time so I don't mind that he keeps getting work - and maybe his shows being flops don't have anything to do with the appeal/enjoyment of his scores - but I do wonder if his work has trouble resonating with a wide audience. For those that have 'non-theatre' friends who go to the theatre what do they think of JRB shows/scores? (the only people I know who actually have engaged with his material are theatre fans, which is probably not a good indicator).
Do the producers/directors of his shows need to provide some feedback perhaps?
"There's not a tune you can hum.
There's not a tune you go bum-bum-bum-di-dum.
You need a tune you can bum-bum-bum-di-dum ?
Give me a melody!"
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#2
Posted: 6/13/22 at 1:18pm
Ultimately it all probably boils down to subject matter and collaborators. The score itself is rarely a problem (except in the case of Mr. Saturday Night, for which it is the weakest element of the show) –– he writes melodic, accessible music. This isn't a LaChuisa or Dave Malloy situation where they're being overly esoteric.
I hope someday he will have a hit that can run more than a year on Broadway with a positive critical/audience reception. Or maybe someplace like Disney would like to hire him to do songs for an animated film.
He's got a new off-Broadway show next year, The Connector, cowritten with Jonathan Marc Sherman and directed by Daisy Prince. But that doesn't sound like a big commercial project.
- MR. SATURDAY NIGHT feels like a work-for-hire job. It's barely a musical.
- HONEYMOON IN VEGAS is a good solid show, tailored for a star who was never going to be a major draw
- BRIDGES was hurt –– badly –– by Marsha Norman and Bart Sher
- THIRTEEN was hurt by its premise; it may find new life on Netflix soon.
- LAST FIVE YEARS still confuses people, but if you ignore any story, the score slaps. And it might be his best-known work because of the film.
- PARADE was probably a little too heady for Broadway in 1998, and LCT/Livent did not have the resources to keep it running. That could have found an audience with a different producer.
- SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD set him on his path and was a great calling-card.
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#3
Posted: 6/13/22 at 1:29pm
as I have said before, his music does not resonate beyond a narrow circle. As I also have said before, his is work for non-profit theatre. Opera, dance, classical music are well-wrought/executed undertakings but the difference with Broadway musicals is that they are almost 100% non-profit whereas JRB for some reason wants to traffic in derivative commercial projects that repeatedly fail.
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#4
Posted: 6/13/22 at 1:35pm
I agree his career has been a really interesting conundrum.
It seems to me, as an outside observer, that Brown's work has frequently displayed a kind of desperation to TRY to get a hit. And every time it fails, he seems to misattribute the reason, and overcorrects with his next project, leading it to flop for totally different reasons.
In the past, this approach has still led to some good score. But his most recent overcorrection seems to be to pick projects that appear overtly commercial in nature, but are bland and soulless. And with both of these most recent projects, he ends up delivering a score that's (IMO) just as bland and soulless as the show itself - perhaps thinking that he needs to be more generic to get wider appeal, but he's just not good at writing generic, popular-style music the way some musical theatre composers are.
But I think the irony is that, in all the intervening time, the tides have started to shift back toward more serious musicals being accepted on Broadway. There's once again a viable commercial model for smaller, prestige musical - much of which gets incubated in the non-profit theatre world, which he seems to have avoided entirely since Songs for a New World (even the original Last Five Years was a commercial production, wasn't it?).
I know this is easier said than done, but I can totally see a path for JRB where he picks some material that's serious but not dour, writes another really gorgeous, sophisticated score a la Bridges, but then takes it to a non-profit theatre, with collaborators who are used to working on more artsy, creative, non-profit shows. He pours all his creative energy into it, it gets critical acclaim, becomes a hot-ticket prestige show at, say, the Public, Atlantic, NYTW, whathaveyou. It gets a Broadway transfer, wins Best Musical - and voila, he has a modest hit on his hands. Maybe even throw in a Jake Gyllenhall-type star who can handle a JRB score, and it's an even bigger hit.
EDIT: In the time it took me to type out my post, Ermengarde and Hogan came in with thoughtful responses that cover some of the same ideas - thanks guys!
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#5
Posted: 6/13/22 at 1:50pm
I think Bridges is one of the best scores of this century, at least the O'Hara/Pasquale material. Last Five Years and Parade are similarly stunning (the overdone cabaret numbers from New World are the only songs worth knowing from that show). I will say, I haven't been a fan of his post-Bridges work and 13 and Urban Cowboy felt like poor choices for musicalization. I think his choices of material just isn't that great. When it's good, it's good, but did anyone need a Honeymoon In Vegas musical? (Yes, "Anywhere But Here" is good and for some reason I find myself humming "Do you love me, Jack?" more often then I should). IDK, I like his work and he has considerable talent, but I don't really see him getting a success unless he gets a good producer and collaborator to steer him in the right direction. And at this point,I don't think he would be willing to take that kind of direction or make concessions to be commercially successful.
I will say, he was perfectly polite when I briefly spoke to him after an early preview of Honeymoon, but reports of his nasty attitude have soured me to him somewhat. Still love his music, though.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/14/04
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#6
Posted: 6/13/22 at 1:53pm
Parade will return to Broadway one day, and when it does, I hope it gets its due. Though I could also see it being like the 2009 Ragtime revival - critically-acclaimed return of a show that is loved by theater people, but still fails to strike enough of a chord with the general public to sustain a run. I could also see Bridges being revived at some point.
Did awareness of the Last Five Years really grow because of the movie? I agree it's probably his best known work, but I would have chalked that up to it being a huge cult favorite, especially among younger people just getting interested in musicals. It seemed to me like no one even noticed the movie other than people who were already fans.
I could be wrong, but I doubt he is so desperate for a commercial hit that he chooses his projects on this basis. He's won three Tonys, so it's not like he's in need of validation. I assume he just pursues opportunities and collaborations that interest him, but it does seem he has had quite a bit of bad luck with shows that just don't hit it out of the park, despite all the talent involved and the great work he is doing.
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#7
Posted: 6/13/22 at 2:19pm
Rentaholic2 said: "I doubt he is so desperate for a commercial hit that he chooses his projects on this basis. He's won three Tonys, so it's not like he's in need of validation."
But that's just it: the whole point of actively pursuing a commercial hit is that it's NOT about the validation; it's about the money.
And I don't say that with judgement; he has kids to help support, and maybe a mortgage to pay off. Tony Awards and artistic renown don't pay the bills on their own. Licensing has been good to him (Last Five Years and 13 in particular), but I'm sure he'd love to have steady income from a Broadway show.
For all we know, he has every intention of returning to more artsy work, but wanted to wait until he had a steady income so he could put in the time and effort.
Of course, all of this is pure speculation; I don't know for a fact that he chooses projects based on what he thinks will be successful, nor do I actually know anything concrete about his financial situation. I'm just making guesses based on the circumstances, and observing the trajectory of his career.
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#8
Posted: 6/13/22 at 2:23pm
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Ultimately it all probably boils down to subject matter and collaborators. The score itself is rarely a problem (except in the case of Mr. Saturday Night, for which it is the weakest element of the show) –– he writes melodic, accessible music. This isn't a LaChuisa or Dave Malloy situation where they're being overly esoteric."
Obviously YMMV but I agree that there's nothing all that inaccessible about Bridges or The Last Five Years. Bridges in particular really should appeal to the core theatergoing demographic of 50-60 something women. Maybe with more lushly romantic staging and star casting it can be revived and be a hit in a decade or two. I wonder if the adultery bothers people.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#9
Posted: 6/13/22 at 7:08pm
Bridges is probably my favorite score ever second to only Sunday in the Park, but I thought that production was just awful. It looked cheap, felt cheap, and I think the book just didn't work. They need to trim it down to just 4 characters - the two couples - and make it a small, chamber piece. We don't need a noisy neighbor song, we don't need the kids, etc. Focus on the romance.
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#10
Posted: 6/14/22 at 7:52pm
Rentaholic2 said: "Did awareness of the Last Five Years really grow because of the movie? I agree it's probably his best known work, but I would have chalked that up to it being a huge cult favorite, especially among younger people just getting interested in musicals. It seemed to me like no one even noticed the movie other than people who were already fans."
I’d think the movie makes it easier for people to discover the musical, hence the “younger people just getting interested in musicals” demographic. Finding out about then deciding to sit down and watch the movie is much more likely than getting into a show that was only ever a broadway musical + cast recording
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#11
Posted: 6/14/22 at 8:00pm
I guess we'll see how 13 does for Netflix.
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#12
Posted: 6/14/22 at 9:05pm
JBroadway said: "It seems to me, as an outside observer, that Brown's work has frequently displayed a kind of desperation to TRY to get a hit. And every time it fails, he seems to misattribute the reason, and overcorrects with his next project, leading it to flop for totally different reasons.
In the past, this approach has still led to some good score. But his most recent overcorrection seems to be to pick projects that appear overtly commercial in nature, but are bland and soulless. And with both of these most recent projects, he ends up delivering a score that's (IMO) just as bland and soulless as the show itself - perhaps thinking that he needs to be more generic to get wider appeal, but he's just not good at writing generic, popular-style music the way some musical theatre composers are."
I think this summary hits the nail on the head with regards to JRB
Understudy Joined: 2/4/05
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#13
Posted: 6/14/22 at 10:06pm
JBroadway said: "But I think the irony is that, in all the intervening time, the tides have started to shift back toward more serious musicals being accepted on Broadway. There's once again a viable commercial model for smaller, prestige musical - much of which gets incubated in the non-profit theatre world, which he seems to have avoided entirely since Songs for a New World (even the original Last Five Years was a commercial production, wasn't it?)."
Just noting that the original NYC production of Last Five Years was supposed to be at the Mitzi Newhouse (LCT), but his ex-wife’s lawsuit caused LCT to drop the show.
Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion#14
Posted: 6/14/22 at 10:28pm
VintageSnarker said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Ultimately it all probably boils down to subject matter and collaborators. The score itself is rarely a problem (except in the case of Mr. Saturday Night, for which it is the weakest element of the show) –– he writes melodic, accessible music. This isn't a LaChuisa or Dave Malloy situation where they're being overly esoteric."
Obviously YMMV but I agree that there's nothing all that inaccessible about Bridges or The Last Five Years. Bridges in particular really should appeal to the core theatergoing demographic of 50-60 something women. Maybe with more lushly romantic staging and star casting it can be revived and be a hit in a decade or two. I wonder if the adultery bothers people."
Obviously, your last point didn’t hinder Waitress from being the success it was. Maybe waitress was better received because Sara Bareilles is a much more accessible songwriter for the general public than JRB is.
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