Jason Robert Brown Luncheon – July 11. 2012

JASON ROBERT BROWN has been hailed as “one of Broadway’s smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim” (Philadelphia Inquirer), and his “extraordinary, jubilant theater music” (Chicago Tribune) has been heard all over the world, whether in one of the hundreds of productions of his musicals every year or in his own incendiary live performances.  The New York Times refers to Jason as “a leading member of a new generation of composers who embody high hopes for the American musical.”His four major musicals as composer and lyricist include: “13”, a musical written with Robert Horn and Dan Elish, which began its life in Los Angeles in 2007 and opened on Broadway in 2008; “The Last Five Years”, which was cited as one of Time Magazine’s 10 Best of 2001 and won Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics; “Parade,” a musical written with Alfred Uhry and directed by Harold Prince, which premiered at Lincoln Center Theatre in 1998, and subsequently won both the Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best New Musical, as well as garnering Jason the Tony Award for Original Score; and “Songs for a New World,” a theatrical song cycle directed by Daisy Prince, which played Off-Broadway in 1995, and has since been seen in hundreds of productions around the world.  “Parade” was also the subject of a major revival directed by Rob Ashford, first at London’s Donmar Warehouse and then at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. “Honeymoon In Vegas,” a musical adaptation of the 1992 film, written with Andrew Bergman, will premiere in December 2012; and “The Bridges of Madison County,” a musical adapted with Marsha Norman from the bestselling novel, follows in the 2013 season.

Jason is also working with Daisy Prince and Jonathan Marc Sherman on a new chamber musical called “The Connector.” His orchestral adaptation of E.B. White’s novel “The Trumpet of the Swan” premiered at the Kennedy Center with John Lithgow and the National Symphony Orchestra, and the CD was released on PS Classics.  Jason is the winner of the 2002 Kleban Award for Outstanding Lyrics and the 1996 Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Foundation Award for Musical Theatre.  Jason’s songs, including the cabaret standard “Stars and the Moon,” have been performed and recorded by Audra McDonald, Betty Buckley, Karen Akers, Renée Fleming, Philip Quast, Jon Hendricks and many others, and his song “Someone To Fall Back On” was featured in the Walden Media film, “Bandslam.”

As a soloist or with his band The Caucasian Rhythm Kings, Jason has performed sold-out concerts around the world.  His first solo album, “Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes”, was named one of Amazon.com’s best of 2005, and is available from Sh-K-Boom Records.  His collaboration with singer Lauren Kennedy, “Songs of Jason Robert Brown”, is available on PS Classics. Jason’s piano sonata, “Mr. Broadway” was commissioned and premiered by Anthony De Mare at Carnegie Hall.  Jason is also the composer of the incidental music for David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Kimberly Akimbo” and ”Fuddy Meers,” Marsha Norman’s “Last Dance,” David Marshall Grant’s “Current Events,” Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery,” and the Irish Repertory Theater’s production of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” and he was a Tony Award nominee for his contributions to the score of “Urban Cowboy the Musical.”  He has also contributed music to the hit Nickelodeon television series, “The Wonder Pets.”  His scores are published by Hal Leonard.  Jason currently teaches musical theater performance and composition at the USC School of Dramatic Arts.

For the new musical “Prince of Broadway,” a celebration of the career of Harold Prince, Jason will be serving as the musical supervisor and arranger.  Other recent New York credits as conductor and arranger include “Urban Cowboy the Musical” on Broadway; Oliver Goldstick’s play, “Dinah Was,” directed by David Petrarca, at the Gramercy Theatre and on national tour; and William Finn’s “A New Brain,” directed by Graciela Daniele, at Lincoln Center Theater. Jason was the musical director of the pop vocal group, The Tonics, with whom he performed at the 1992 tribute to Stephen Sondheim at Carnegie Hall (recorded by RCA Victor); he was the conductor and orchestrator of Yoko Ono’s musical, “New York Rock,” at the WPA Theatre (on Capitol Records); and he orchestrated Andrew Lippa’s “john and jen,” Off-Broadway at Lamb’s Theatre (Varese Sarabande).  In 1994, Jason was the conductor and arranger of Michael John LaChiusa’s “The Petrified Prince,” directed by Harold Prince, at the Public Theatre.  Additionally, Jason served as the orchestrator and arranger of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams’s score for a proposed musical of “Star Wars.”  Jason also took over as musical director for the Off-Broadway hit “When Pigs Fly.” Jason has conducted and created arrangements and orchestrations for Liza Minnelli, John Pizzarelli, Tovah Feldshuh, and Laurie Beechman, among many others.

Visit him on the web at http://www.jasonrobertbrown.com.