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At the age of 25, aspiring composer Jason Robert Brown had cultivated a collection of pop/rock show-stoppers for various venues and events, but hadn’t yet written a complete show. Then, in 1995, Brown and director Daisy Prince noticed a common theme among several of his individual songs: “the moment of decision.” Brown andPrince put these songs together into a theatrical song cycle and called it Songs for a New World.

The original cast consisted of four performers splitting up the sixteen songs. Our production has expanded that number into a cast of fifteen. There is no story, no dialogue. Each song stands alone, yet there is a central theme. It’s “about one moment. It’s about hitting a wall and having to make a choice, or take a stand, or turn around and go back,” says Brown. You will be transported from a 1492 Spanish sailing ship to a ledge 57 stories above Fifth Avenue, then meet a startling array of characters ranging from a young man who believes basketball will be his ticket out of the ghetto to a woman who contemplates the consequences of marrying rich.

The global pandemic has brought to a halt so many of the performing arts. Being new to Arundel and hearing so much about the students in the theater department, I knew that skipping our spring musical this year wasn’t an option, no matter the obstacles. In order to make this show happen while maintaining safe practices, the students were responsible for submitting each of their audio and video recordings completely remotely. Our accompanist, Scott Etan Feiner, recorded the piano parts from his home in NYC. We held all of our rehearsals over Google Meet. I learned and recorded all the vocal parts in a digital audio workstation called BandLab so students could adjust levels, rehearse, and ultimately record their audio with accurate pitch and timing. We spent hours planning and typing explicit filming instructions into a shared document which our secret film crew of family and friends used to execute the filming. Students were responsible for following the instructions without the presence of a director, as well as uploading everything to a shared Google Drive folder and labelling their files with names and measure numbers. Once they submitted everything, I edited it all together using Logic and Final Cut Pro with special mixing/mastering by Bob Abbott.

This show is particularly special for us to be performing in Anne Arundel County because you will notice a few references to some familiar locations. Fellow Arundel music teacher, Bob Abbott, connected me with his friend Solon Snider, a native of Severna Park, who connected me with our accompanist, Mr. Feiner. On the very day we spoke, Snider wrote, “This is hilarious timing because about 45 minutes ago I went to a bakery in NYC and the only other person in there happened to be Jason Robert Brown. As we both waited, I asked him about the lyrics in the song “I’d Give it All for You” from Songs for a New World about Severna Park -- and he confirmed that he indeed was referencing the Severna park we all know… and apparently had a friend from there that inspired the lyric!” Shortly thereafter, Mr. Brown posted this tweet about his interaction with Snider:

I sincerely hope you enjoy this unique performance. May it inspire you to reflect on decisions, both past and present, and take comfort in the words of our final number: “I know it’s dark right now, but just believe somehow that soon there will be light.”

Emma Godfrey, Director