Jason Robert Brown, flops and public opinion

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.

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!

Updated On: 6/13/22 at 01:35 PM

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.

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.

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

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

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.