All tagged Jason Robert Brown
Mark my words, Jessica Vosk has transcended from Broadway star to Broadway superstar, launching herself across the precipice between the two with her debut album Wild and Free. The current Elphaba of Broadway’s Wicked has been tiptoeing up to the edge of greatness, teasing us with her promises, but with this new album (produced by Michael Croiter and Robbie Rozelle and released by Broadway Records), Ms. Vosk makes good with a refreshing plunge into artistry that surpasses our greatest expectations.
I started out writing this piece, intending to explore all styles of musical revues, the "best of" the genre. I soon realized that, if I didn't apply certain parameters, I'd be writing until the end of time. So, I set some rules: the musical revues that I would discuss had to have original music, not an assemblage of showtunes such as in And the World Goes 'Round, or be composed of radio hits a la Smokey Joe's Café. Both are fine revues, but I decided I wanted to concentrate on the pieces that were written, from conception, as original revues. Here are some of my favorites to listen to and read about.
For me, there has been no more exciting composer-lyricist regularly represented on Broadway in the last ten years than Jason Robert Brown. Every project he touches drips with a fierce honesty and lyrical poetry that sets him apart from just about everyone writing these days (save Adam Guettel). There is something inherently theatrical about the premise of each piece, which is probably why they register so beautifully on the stage. I admit that I was skeptical about how a film version of Brown's The Last Five Years would play. It turns out that my concerns were well-warranted.
Every season, we are inundated with a long list of musicals that are in development and that are based on famous source material. We speculate about their potential and wonder if they will work, often resigning ourselves to the fact that they will never live up to the movie, play or book that we adore. Sometimes, we are surprised when we enter the theatre and find that the music and lyrics, along with a fresh viewpoint, concept and/or casting choice can illuminate the piece in ways we hadn't imagined. This article is a valentine to the musicals that DID work and either captured their source material beautifully, or improved up them. I am limiting my list to pieces that I personally saw AFTER I had read the play, book or watched the movie from which they derived.
