I've been told that this is a concert much like the one done in New York in May, where Jason will conduct and play some of the show with a full orchestra (35+ people) and his band and some of the better known Boston area performers. Apparently this is a Benefit for the North Shore Music Theatre (to help with its fire fund). It will be officially announced early this week and tickets will be on sale then too.
If it's at NSMT, it's so in my town! JRB in my townnnn.
yes.
Idina: Somehow I got myself to the stage, came out at the end of the show, and I had some kind of closure.
Some guy: You looked great!
Idina: Thanks...I WAS SO HIGH!
8/21/05
Its in Boston. NSMT sent out the release this morning...
BOSTON THEATER COMMUNITY UNITES FOR NORTH SHORE MUSIC THEATRE FUNDRAISER Tony McLean directs Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World Cast to be joined by Jason Robert Brown, Lauren Kennedy, the Caucasian Rhythm Kings, and a 35- piece orchestra One performance only- October 24, 2005 Tickets on Sale Now
CLICK HERE for a print quality courtesy photo of Jason Robert Brown
The Boston theater community will come together on Monday, October 24, 2005 to support the fire ravaged North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT). In an unprecedented event, composer Jason Robert Brown, performer Lauren Kennedy, and Brown’s band, The Caucasian Rhythm Kings, will join Boston area performers on stage for a one-night only performance of Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World. Tony McLean, former President of Broadway in Boston/Clear Channel Entertainment, will direct the concert and Paul S. Katz will musically direct. The cast will be accompanied by a full symphonic orchestra comprised of area musicians. The production will be held at The John Hancock Hall, 180 Berkeley Street, Boston, at 8:00 pm.
“What occurred at NSMT was devastating for their patrons, the theater community, and the region and everyone involved with Songs for a New World is honored to play a role in this fundraising effort,” explained Tony McLean. “Thousands of people in New England have ties to North Shore Music Theatre and we encourage the public to support the Theatre by attending this performance and donating to a theater that has had a major influence on our community and now needs our help.”
The cast of Songs for a New World will feature such Boston audience favorites as Leigh Barrett, Mary Callanan, Brian Robinson, Kerry Dowling, Andrew Giordano, Brendan McNab, Maryann Zschau, and Lynn Von Thaden. Joining this talented cast will be Songs for a New World composer and lyricist Jason Robert Brown, Lauren Kennedy and The Caucasian Rhythm Kings. A Tony Award-winning composer/ lyricist, Brown is also an accomplished arranger and conductor and has been has been hailed as “one of Broadway's smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim,” by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Brown recently released “Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes,” now available on Sh-K-Boom Records. Kennedy has appeared on Broadway in Les Miserables, Side Show, and Sunset Boulevard. Her solo CD “Lauren Kennedy, Songs of Jason Robert Brown” is available on PS Classics.
The production will be directed by Tony McLean who was recently at the helm of Gloucester Stage Company’s A Grand Night for Singing. A theater industry veteran, McLean is currently directing On the Twentieth Century starring Alice Ripley and George Dvorsky for Overture Productions. McLean has also been the theater manager for such companies as the Parker Playhouse and Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Florida, and has managed the Las Vegas company of Starlight Express. For Disney Theatrical Productions, he was the Associate Producer/General Manager for Disney's Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, Los Angeles, Toronto and on tour.
In addition to Tony McLean, the creative team for Songs for a New World also includes Paul S. Katz as musical director, and Matt Kidd, in association with Tony McLean and North Shore Music Theatre, as producer.
Proceeds from the Songs for a New World performance will go toward NSMT’s Encore Fund which was established following the July 14th fire that destroyed the theater’s stage, orchestra pit, lighting, sound equipment and interior, including all 1,800 seats. The Fund’s goal is to secure $7 million in gifts and pledges by the end of this year. This amount is needed to ensure that NSMT can keep its doors open during the next six months and beyond, and to keep their staff intact so they can continue to provide important programming for schools and the community. The Encore Fund will also be used to address lost revenue from Cinderella, the Children’s Summer Musical Series, cancelled concerts, and the additional costs of producing two musicals at The Shubert Theater in Boston.
Songs for a New World tickets are priced at $50.00 and $35.00. For tickets call the NSMT Box Office at 978-232-7200 or visit www.nsmt.org. For more information about North Shore Music Theatre and how to make a donation to the Encore Fund, visit www.nsmt.org.
music and math...I thought the same thing, but I"m going to suck it up and buy a ticket.
Idina: Somehow I got myself to the stage, came out at the end of the show, and I had some kind of closure.
Some guy: You looked great!
Idina: Thanks...I WAS SO HIGH!
8/21/05
What??? So you're saying not only will Andrea Burns probably not be doing the concert, but that Lauren Kennedy will be probably be taking over her part??!
Damn, that concert is just going to SUUUUUUUUUUCK.
See you there.
Andrew, tonight isn't about you! It isn't even about me!!! - [FD]
Oh. my. gosh. I have a seat in the FRONT ROW for this concert. It was either sit allllll the way in the very back (40th row) or pay $15 more and get front row seat!! I am ridiculously excited. Especially after seeing the high caliber of Camelot.
Note to anyone going: CALL NSMT. Don't try and get tickets online. For some reason it gives you a very bad seat (it offered me Row T). I was playing around and adding extra seats to my order....and the extra seats just got better and better. It looks like the system doesn't give you the best, but the worst. I got drastically different results by calling.
I'm going all by myself...PM me if any of you will be there too!
I was sent a song list the other day and can't find it anywhere.
JRB himself posted information about this here somewhere, I believe.
I'm very excited. I was a the concert in May and it was a delight.
"You! You are the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber! And you, well, I just plain don't like you."
~Stewart Gilligan Griffin
I posted in another thread...all the out of towners coming should try out Fire and Ice before the show...it's so good there, and literally right across the street :)
Idina: Somehow I got myself to the stage, came out at the end of the show, and I had some kind of closure.
Some guy: You looked great!
Idina: Thanks...I WAS SO HIGH!
8/21/05
I'm going to the concert, but can't find my AMEX for students so I have to go to the box office tomorrow. I literally have to drive by NSMT whenever I leave my house, so it shouldn't be a problem...I need to find that card though!
Idina: Somehow I got myself to the stage, came out at the end of the show, and I had some kind of closure.
Some guy: You looked great!
Idina: Thanks...I WAS SO HIGH!
8/21/05
"You! You are the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber! And you, well, I just plain don't like you."
~Stewart Gilligan Griffin