Songs for a New World NYC Concert to Feature Nick Adams and Ashley Brown

By Adam Hetrick
05 Feb 2013

Nick Adams
Nick Adams

Nick Adams, Ashley Brown, Jessica Rush and Michael James Scott will be part of a one-night-only concert presentation of Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown's Songs for a New World March 11 at XL Cabaret.

Tony Award nominee Jeff Calhoun (Newsies, Jekyll & Hyde, Bonnie & Clyde) will direct the 7 PM presentation. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Performing Arts Project. James Sampliner will musical direct. Songs for a New World has music and lyrics by Brown.

Adams (Priscilla Queen of the Desert), Brown (Mary Poppins), Rush (Jersey Boys) and Scott (The Book of Mormon) will perform such standouts as "I'm Not Afraid of Anything," "Stars and the Moon," "She Cries," "I'd Give It All For You" and "Hear My Song."

The work is billed as "a series of songs, connected by the theme 'the moment of decision.' The show employs four performers who do not play the same characters throughout the show, but have consistently developing character arcs."

Daisy Prince directed the original 1995 Off-Broadway production of Songs for a New World that first received a Toronto workshop prior to its New York debut later that year at the WPA Theatre. A cast album preserved the work. It premiered at England's Bridewell Theatre in 2001. Brown is the Tony-winning composer-lyricist of Parade. His musicals also include 13 and The Last Five Years, which will receive a 2013 Off-Broadway revival from Second Stage Theatre, as well as the upcoming projects Honeymoon in Vegas and The Bridges of Madison County.

The concert is executive produced by Jeremy Merrifield and is assistant directed by Richard J. Hinds. For tickets, visit songsthemusical.com. XL Cabaret is located at 512 W. 42nd St. in Manhattan.