Jason Robert Brown (born June 20, 1970) is an American

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

, and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. He is the recipient of three

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

for his work on ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

'' and ''

The Bridges of Madison County ''The Bridges of Madison County'' (also published as ''Love in Black and White'') is a 1992 best-selling romance novel by American writer Robert James Waller that tells the story of a married Italian-American woman (WWII war bride) living on a ...

''.

Career

Brown grew up in the suburbs of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and attended the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ...

in Rochester,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

for 2 years, rooming with fellow student, and vocalist, Christopher Mooney.Weber, Bruc
"If Only the Cool Kids Could See Him Now (at Least Hear His Songs)"
'The New York Times'', October 1, 2008 During summer, he attended

French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts (or simply French Woods Festival or French Woods), is a private, co-educational performing and visual arts camp for youth aged 7 to 17. Located in Hancock, New York, French Woods is among the most presti ...

in Hancock, New York. He said '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' and ''

Sunday in the Park with George ''Sunday in the Park with George'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting ''A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande J ...

'' were two of his biggest influences, and had it not been for them, he would have joined a rock band and tried to be

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since th ...

. He began his career in New York City as an arranger, conductor, and pianist, working on shows such as William Finn's ''

A New Brain ''A New Brain'' is a musical with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Finn and James Lapine. Though many of Finn's previous musicals were to some extent autobiographical, ''A New Brain'' dealt directly with his own harrowing experience ...

'', and playing at several nightclubs and piano bars in the city. '' Songs for a New World'' marked the first major New York production of Brown's songs. An off-Broadway revue with a limited run, the show was directed by Daisy Prince, daughter of director/producer

Hal Prince Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre. One of the foremost figures in 20th century America ...

, and featured the 25-year-old Brown's pop-rock-influenced music. The song "Stars and the Moon" has since become a cabaret standard, and is probably Brown's best-known composition to date. Brown was subsequently hired to write songs for the Broadway musical ''

'', based on the trial and lynching of Leo Frank, after meeting

. ''Parade,'' directed by Prince and with a book by Alfred Uhry, won Brown the 1999 Tony Award for Best Original Score.Internet Broadway Database listing, Brown
ibdb.com, accessed February 1, 2011 During this production, Livent, one of the producers of ''Parade'', pulled out after reviews were not as positive as they'd hoped.

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, the other major producer, decided it would pull out as well. Brown said of the event in 1999, "Livent dropped out shortly after the reviews came out. They announced they would not spend another dime on the show. RCA had an agreement to record all of Livent's shows. But when Livent pulled out of 'Parade,' the RCA higher-ups said they were pulling out, too. I had to go to Billy Rosenfield and ask him: 'What if we pay for this record and you just distribute it?' Billy said, 'Sure.'" Brown had to try to scrounge money from every corner, "In the end, RCA put in $25,000, Lincoln Center put in a big chunk, around $200,000, including the producer Scott Rudin's $25,000, and there was a contribution from the Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla foundation, which has helped support a lot of musical theatre composers over the years, of $40,000. Even Roy Furman, the new guy at Livent, gave us a little money. Somehow, we pulled it together." Livent also was struggling at the time because the company had mishandled funds while applying for bankruptcy protection. Brown went back to working with Daisy Prince for his third major show ''

The Last Five Years ''The Last Five Years'' is a musical written by Jason Robert Brown. It premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and was then produced Off-Broadway in March 2002. Since then it has had numerous productions both in the United States a ...

'', for which he wrote the book as well as songs. Inspired by his own failed first marriage, the show is a two-person musical that tells the history of a relationship from two different perspectives. The male's narrative begins at the beginning of the story and progresses through marriage, infidelity, and divorce, while the female narrative begins at the end of the relationship and ends with the couple's first date; the two actors' only direct interaction takes place midpoint, during the wedding sequence. The original Chicago cast consisted of

Norbert Leo Butz Norbert Leo Butz (born January 30, 1967) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his work in Broadway theatre. He is a two-time winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and is one of only nine actors ever to have won th ...

and

Lauren Kennedy Lauren Kennedy (born September 3, 1973) is an American actress and singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She is now the producing artistic director of Theatre Raleigh in her home state of North Carolina. Education Kennedy was bor ...

, with Sherie Rene Scott over the New York run. ''The Last Five Years'' received mixed critical reviews and was not a commercial success, lasting only two months off-Broadway, although Brown garnered 2

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...

s for music and lyrics. Additionally, due to the cast recording featuring Scott and Butz, the show has gained popularity among contemporary musical theatre aficionados and is an oft-performed piece in regional and community theatres.Holden, Stephe
"A Composer Sells His Songs and Himself"
'The New York Times'', February 12, 2007 A film version of the show, featuring

Anna Kendrick Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Satellite Award, five Teen Choice Awards, three MTV Movie Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award a ...

and Jeremy Jordan, was released in February 2015. Brown contributed several songs to the Broadway flop '' Urban Cowboy''. He had worked as an orchestrator with director Phillip Oesterman on the Off-Broadway musical ''

New York Rock ''New York Rock'' is an off-Broadway musical by avant-garde artist Yoko Ono. It is a fictionalised account of her marriage to songwriter and Beatle John Lennon. The musical contains many songs from Ono's albums throughout the years, as well as s ...

'', and Oesterman called on him to help him out with ''Urban Cowboy''. ''Urban Cowboy'' had been denied the use of the

Clint Black Clint Patrick Black (born February 4, 1962) is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Signed to RCA Nashville in 1989, Black's debut album '' Killin' Time'' produced four straight number one singles on th ...

catalog, and Brown came in and wrote a few songs (with help from director Lonny Price, who replaced Oesterman after he died). The show was nominated, with 30 other composers, for the 2003

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

for Best Musical Score, losing out to ''Hairspray.'' In June 2005, Brown released a solo album, entitled '' Wearing Someone Else's Clothes''. In December 2005, his '' Chanukah Suite'' received its world premiere with two performances by the Los Angeles Master Chorale at the

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Ave ...

. He also teaches courses in musical theatre performance and composition at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. Brown is an active performer of his own work, singing and playing the piano with or without his band, the Caucasian Rhythm Kings (Gary Sieger, guitar, and Randy Landau, bass). Brown's tween-oriented musical '' 13'' premiered at the

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighborin ...

in Los Angeles, CA on January 7, 2007. It opened on Broadway October 5, 2008, at the

Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (formerly the Royale Theatre and the John Golden Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 242 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theat ...

, and closed on January 4, 2009. His '' Bridges of Madison County'', a musical adaption of the film with

Marsha Norman Marsha Norman (born September 21, 1947) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play '' 'night, Mother''. She wrote the book and lyrics for such Broadway musicals as '' T ...

"Jason Robert Brown to Bring '13' 'The Last Five Years' to Screen More"
broadwayworld.com, December 27, 2010 premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival on August 1, 2013. Directed by Bartlett Sher, the cast featured

Elena Shaddow Elena Shaddow is an American singer and actress. She is originally from Chagrin Falls, Ohio.Steven Pasquale. The musical opened on Broadway on February 27, 2014, at the

Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, formerly the Plymouth Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 236 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was ...

, starring Kelli O'Hara as Francesca. Brown wrote the music for the 2022 musical,

Mr. Saturday Night (musical) ''Mr. Saturday Night'' is a stage musical with music by Jason Robert Brown, lyrics by Amanda Green, and a book by Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz, and Babaloo Mandel, based on the 1992 film. The musical follows comedian Buddy Young, Jr, decades past h ...

with lyrics by Amanda Green and a book by

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...

, Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel. Brown was nominated for best score at the 2022 Tony Awards. According to Brown,

Bree Lowdermilk Bree Lowdermilk (formerly Brian Lowdermilk) is an American musical theater composer and lyricist. Biography In addition to writing music and lyrics, Lowdermilk is also a music director, arranger, vocal coach, and pianist. They are an alumnus of ...

used to be an assistant to him. In 2010, Brown publicized his personal efforts to discourage the unauthorized online sharing of his copyrighted

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, ...

via an e-mail conversation with a teenager named Eleanor. JasonRobertBrown07

As of 2020, Brown was working on a screenplay for a film version of '' 13'', a musical adaptation of Farewell My Concubine, and an original musical called The Connector.

Musical style

Brown has many trademarks in his composing style, which is often rhythmically dynamic and harmonically unconventional, calling for a wide vocal range. His vocal lines often include internal rhymes, as well as melodic phrases which do not adhere to a predictable 4-measure length. He favors songs written in AABA' form, with some exceptions to this form in his show ''Parade''. Perhaps most characteristic are his love duets; all five ("I'd Give it All for You" from ''Songs for a New World'', "All the Wasted Time" from ''Parade'', "The Next Ten Minutes" from ''The Last Five Years'', "Tell Her" from ''13'', and "One Second And A Million Miles" from ''The Bridges of Madison County'') are written in a very distinct format: male-female-both, compound time in the duet section (two using hemiola), and four of the five end with the couple singing the same pitch. In 2005, Brown was cited by Mark Shenton as one of the leading new theatrical composers (a list that includes

Michael John LaChiusa Michael John LaChiusa (born July 24, 1962) is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for musically esoteric shows such as '' Hello Again'', '' Marie Christine'', '' The Wild Party'', and ''Se ...

, Adam Guettel, Andrew Lippa, and

Jeanine Tesori Jeanine Tesori (known earlier in her career as Jeanine Levenson) is an American composer and musical arranger best known for her work in the theater. She is the most prolific and honored female theatrical composer in history, with five Broadway m ...

, among others).

Personal life

Brown was born in Ossining,

. He is Jewish. He was previously married to Theresa O'Neill, and their failed marriage inspired his musical ''

''. Since 2003, Brown has been married to fellow composer

Georgia Stitt Georgia Stitt (born June 17, 1972) is an American composer and lyricist, arranger, conductor, and musical director. Early life and education Stitt was born in Atlanta, but spent most of her childhood in Covington, Tennessee. She earned a B.Mus d ...

. Together, they have two daughters.

Major works

Musical theatre

*'' Songs for a New World'' – Ran

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

at the WPA Theatre, October 11 – November 5, 1995. Also conducted, played piano, and sang one line in the last song. The show was revived at

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and t ...

for four nights in June 2018. *''

'' – Ran on Broadway from December 17, 1998 to February 28, 1999. Won the

for Best Score, and a

for Best Music. Also plays piano on the cast recording. *''

'' – Ran Off-Broadway from March 3, 2002 to May 5, 2002. Won Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics, and nominated for Outstanding Orchestrations. Also wrote the book, conducted, and played piano. In 2014, a

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

was made starring

and Jeremy Jordan. *'' Urban Cowboy'' – Ran on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

from March 27, 2003 to May 18, 2003. Tony-Nominated for Best Original Score. Brown contributed five songs to the score of the musical. Also orchestrated, arranged, music directed, conducted, played keyboards, and sang. *'' 13 –'' Premiered January 7, 2007, at the

in Los Angeles, California and subsequently opened on Broadway at the

, running from October 5, 2008 to January 4, 2009 after 22 previews and 105 regular performances. *''

'' – Stage adaptation of the novel, with a book by Marsha Norman. The musical played an out-of-town tryout at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in August 2013. It opened on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on January 17, 2014 (in previews) and officially on February 20, 2014. The production closed on May 18, 2014 after 137 performances due to low ticket sales. He won two 2014

s, one for Best Original Score and one for Best Orchestrations. *'' Honeymoon in Vegas'' – Brown has written a stage adaptation of the motion picture of the same name, with the book written by Andrew Bergman. The Broadway production was originally scheduled to debut in Toronto in November 2012, but was canceled. Performances began on September 26, 2013, for the out-of-town tryout at the Paper Mill Playhouse starring

Tony Danza Tony Danza (born Anthony Salvatore Iadanza; April 21, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for co-starring in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983) and '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award a ...

and Rob McClure. The Broadway production starring Danza and McClure opened at the Nederlander Theatre on January 15, 2015, before closing on April 5, 2015, due to insufficient ticket sales. *'' Mr. Saturday Night'' – Brown has scored a musical version of this 1992 film starring

who will also star in the musical version. He scored this production alongside Amanda Green. It will premiere at the Nederlander Theatre on March 29, 2022. The show has since announced that it will conclude its Broadway run on September 4, 2022

Solo albums

*'' Wearing Someone Else's Clothes'' – 2005 – Brown's solo debut album, composed entirely of tracks which were previously unreleased, some of which were cut songs from shows or written for shows which were never finished, and some of which were written as stand-alone songs for the album. The album features his vocals and compositions on every song, and his arrangements and musicianship on almost every track. *''How We React and How We Recover'' – A second solo album, recorded from May–December 2017, features songs developed at his monthly Subculture concert residency in New York. The album was released June 29, 2018 by Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records. *''Coming From Inside The House (A Virtual SubCulture Concert)'' – A third solo album, featuring vocals by Shoshana Bean,

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

, and Brown's

wife A wife (plural, : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally Dissolution (law), dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, ...

and daughters. It was recorded on April 27, 2020 for the one-night video streaming event to benefit the SubCulture staff and musicians from the Jason Robert Brown Artist-in-Residence concerts, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. It was released worldwide on December 18, 2020 by

Craft Recordings Craft Recordings is a record label owned by Concord. Like UMe, Legacy Recordings and Rhino Entertainment, Craft is specialized in reissues of Concord's back catalog. The imprint was founded in 2017, along with an online store by the same name ...

Other works

*'' Chanukah Suite'' – 2005 – an 8-minute chorale fanfare in three parts, featuring traditional Hebrew songs infused with up-tempo

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

rhythms and

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

inspired chordal flavors. *" Jason's Song (Gave It Away)" – When Brown was in L.A. for a couple of weeks,

asked him to write a song for a new album. Since they have worked together before (in the Original Broadway Cast of 13), Brown agreed to help. Months later, their track was released on Grande's extended edition of '' Dangerous Woman''. *'' The Waverly Gallery'' – Off-Broadway run from March 22, 2000 to May 21, 2000 at the Promenade Theatre. Play by

Kenneth Lonergan Kenneth Lonergan (born October 16, 1962) is an American film director, playwright, and screenwriter. He is the co-writer of the film ''Gangs of New York'' (2002), and wrote and directed '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), ''Margaret'' (2011), and ' ...

, with music by Brown. *'' John and Jen'' – Orchestrations *''

'' – Vocal arrangements/additional musician *''

'' – Orchestrations *'' The Trumpet of the Swan'', 2011 – Composer and conductor for stage adaptation by

Awards and nominations

Recordings

Original cast recordings were made for ''Songs for a New World'', ''Parade,'' ''The Last Five Years,'' ''13'', ''The Bridges of Madison County'', and ''Honeymoon in Vegas''. "Stars and the Moon" has been recorded many times, including on

Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four act ...

's ''Way Back to Paradise'' and

Betty Buckley Betty Lynn Buckley (born July 3, 1947) is an American actress and singer. Buckley is the winner of a Tony Award, and was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and an Olivier Award. In 2012, she was inducted into the American ...

's ''Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar.'' Actress

, who originated the role of Cathy in the Chicago production of ''The Last Five Years,'' released ''Songs of Jason Robert Brown,'' featuring Brown's compositions from his previous shows, as well as several previously unreleased songs.

References

External links

* * *
archive
*
Production: Urban Cowboy
– ''Working in the Theatre Seminar'' video at American Theatre Wing.org, April 2003
''Parade'' to Make West End Premiere in 2007

''BroadwayWorld.com'' interview with Jason Robert Brown, August 16, 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Jason Robert 1970 births American musical theatre composers American musical theatre lyricists Broadway composers and lyricists Broadway music directors Drama Desk Award winners Eastman School of Music alumni Living people People from Ossining, New York Pupils of Samuel Adler (composer) Songwriters from New York (state) Tony Award winners University of Southern California faculty American male pianists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American male musicians American male songwriters