Project Description
“It’s about one moment.”
A MUSICAL BY JASON ROBERT BROWN | DIRECTED BY KYLER TAUSTIN
Songs for a New World, Jason Robert Brown’s breathtaking song cycle, weaves together the stories and voices of a diverse cast of characters in a musical journey that transcends time and space. A soaring, vibrant score transports the audience through a mesmerizing exploration of the unknown world and the tough choices that follow. Bursting with life and discovery, Songs for a New World begs to be liberated from the walls of a theatre, and will be presented at over 10 outdoor venues throughout Massachusetts and Delmarva as Brown Box’s premier musical spectacular.
Cast
Rob Yonkers
Rob is thrilled to be a part of her first production with Brown Box Theatre Project. Select choreography credits include: World Goes’Round (Emerson Stage), Thoroughly Modern Millie, select showcases with Emerson Dance Company, and the summer 2015 season of The Palace Youth Theatre. Favorite performance credits include: Merrily We Roll Along, Guys and Dolls (Emerson Stage), Bold Girls (RareWorks Theatre Co.), Jesus Christ Superstar (Winnipesaukee Playhouse), Carousel, Les Miserables, Singing in the Rain, Best Little Whorehouse… (Mac-Haydn Theatre). This past summer, Rob worked as an actor for Chgph./Dir. Richard J. Hinds through RWS & Assoc. at Hershey Park. Rob has just graduated from Emerson College with a BFA in Musical Theatre.
Joshuah Campbell
Joshuah is a singer and actor originally from Cheraw, SC. A 2016 graduate of Harvard College, Joshuah studied French and music and performs frequently as a vocal soloist and ensemble member. His undergrad credits include Dreamgirls (Harvard BlackC.A.S.T.), Endgame (Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club), and two years in the cast of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. Joshuah is also a great cook, an aspiring world traveler, and a believer that #blackartmatters. He just completed a guest artist residency with Boston’s The Theater Offensive. He makes his post-grad and Brown Box debut with Songs!
Alejandra Parrilla
Alejandra is thrilled to be joining Brown Box Theatre Project’s production of Songs for a New World. She was last seen as ‘Rose’ in Speakeasy Stage’s Production of Dogfight. Ale is a recent graduate of the Boston Conservatory, where she got her BFA in Musical Theatre. She would like to thank the cast and crew for this incredible experience.
Felix Teich
Felix is overjoyed to be working with Brown Box again after playing Posthumus in Cymbeline last summer. Boston Credits include Franklin (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), The Winter’s Tale (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), Lobster Girl and Meet Me in St. Louis (Stoneham Theatre), In the Summer House (Fort Point Theatre Channel), Invasion! and ¡Bocon! (Apollinaire Theatre Company) 27 Tips for Banishing the Blues and In the Wake of the Graybow Riots (Sleeping Weazel) and Two Gentlemen of Verona (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company). He graduated from Emerson College with a BFA in Acting in 2016. Love and gratitude for the constant support of Maya, Dad, Mom and Nana.
Crew
Band
Hear my song: It’ll help you believe in tomorrow.
– Chorus, Songs for the New World
Kyler Taustin – DIRECTOR
Kyler Taustin (Director) is the co-founder of Brown Box Theatre Project and has served as the Executive Artistic Director since its founding. Originally hailing from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Kyler has first hand knowledge of challenges faced by those living in areas where cultural opportunities are limited and distance is a barrier to access of the arts. Kyler received his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts and soon thereafter founded Brown Box Theatre Project to return home to invigorate a culturally vibrant community in his hometown. For Brown Box, Kyler directed all 6 installments of Outdoor Free Shakespeare (Cymbeline, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Twelfth Night). Contemporary productions Kyler directed include Brilliant Traces, Lab Rats, Echoes, Two Wrongs, The Nina Variations, Some Explicit Polaroids, and Two Rooms. As part of the Boxer Shorts series, Kyler directed Capricho, Play, and Talk to Me Like the Rain. Kyler was the co-director for both devised bi-lingual collaborations with Brown Box’s Mexican sister company Ícaro Compañia Teatral (When We Lived Together in the Belly of the Whale; No Soy Lo Que Soy). Kyler is honored to lead Brown Box as it strives to serve communities up and down the east coast as it has his home region.
Liz Kantor – MUSIC DIRECTOR
LIZ KANTOR (Music Director) is currently a junior at Harvard University where she is pursuing an A.B. in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Her music has been featured in the New York Musical Theatre Festival and in Soundbytes, a concert with Brian Lowdermilk. Her original musical SHE was produced last spring at the American Repertory Theatre’s second stage OBERON. Music direction/supervision credits: 35MM: A Musical Exhibition (with Ryan Scott Oliver and Lindsay Mendez), The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Cabaret, No Way to Treat a Lady, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Liz has also accompanied a number of master classes for performers such as Kelli O’Hara, Laura Osnes, Ana Gasteyer, Patrick Wilson, and Andrew Lippa. Many thanks to the Brown Box Team, the Terry-Kantor family, Dan Levine, and Lillian Weinberger for teaching her piano and a love for music.
Tyler Catanella – CHOREOGRAPHER
TYLER CATANELLA (Choreographer) is a proud graduate of the Theatre Education & Acting departments at Emerson College and the Artistic Director of Paradise Lost, a diverse company of Boston artists that share stories through movement and create from a process of collaboration and improvisation. Alongside co-founder Shannon Sweeney, Tyler aims to share the power and positivity that dance gives us to change lives as much as it does to transform bodies. His latest work Enough was recently remount at the Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts, and performs annually at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, where they will mount their third solo repertory show this April ’17. The heart of Tyler’s work lies in his training and practice in theatre education. He currently directs, choreographs and teaches several K-12 programs with Watertown Children’s Theatre, and has lead teaching residencies throughout the greater Boston area through Playhouse Education and the Massachusetts Cultural Council STAR Grants.
Alex Lonati – PRODUCER
ALEX LONATI (Producer) holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies and Journalism from Emerson College, where she spent four years hosting Standing Room Only, the Best of Broadway and Beyond, on 88.9 WERS. She is currently on the administrative staff at SpeakEasy Stage Company, on the board of the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund, and in the Arts Administration Masters program at Boston University. Alex was named the Greater Boston Theatre Community Member of the Year by ArtsImpulse in 2016.
Hannah Pryfogle – ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
HANNAH PRYFOGLE (Associate Producer) is a Boston transplant from the Bay Area of California. She is a proud alum of Emerson College, where she studied musical theatre and arts management. Hannah has worked in various positions at Lyric Stage Company of Boston, SpeakEasy Stage, and American Repertory Theater. She is also the Patron Relations Coordinator at Fresh Ink Theatre Company and directs throughout the city.
Erica Paige Brown – STAGE MANAGER
ERICA BROWN (Stage Manager) Previous Brown Box credits: Cymbeline, Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Echos, Lab Rats, Blue Window, Boxer Shorts I. Other Boston area credits: Cherry Orchard (ASP), Two Gentlemen of Verona (ASP), Magic Mirror (Juventas New Music Ensemble), She Kills Monsters (Company One). DC area credits: Rameau’s Nephew (Spooky Action), Coolatully (Solas Nua). Erica splits her time between Boston and DC, where she can be found working as a stage manager and house manager for a variety of theatres and independent projects.
Sloth Levine – ASST. STAGE MANAGER
Sloth Levine (Asst. Stage Manager) is a recent graduate of Emerson College with a BA in Theatre Studies: Directing & Playwriting. Sloth has served as the Assistant Stage Manager for Cymbeline with Brown Box. Their directing credits include The Hobbit and James and the Giant Peach at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, Marvelous Oz (Kidding Around), and Safety Exits (EmersonStage). Writing credits include Marvelous Oz with Bridget Driscoll and Murder at the Carlson’s with Madison Gerringer (RareWorks). Michael also has costume designed The Little Prince (Kidding Around) and Bold Girls (RareWorks).
Joey Guthman – LIGHTING & SCENIC DESIGNER
JOEY GUTHMAN (Scenic Designer/Lighting Designer) is elated to return to Brown Box Theatre Project for a fifth time with Songs for A New World. Previous Lighting Design’s at BBTP include: Cymbeline, Taming of the Shrew, Blue Window and Macbeth. Elsewhere, Joey has designed up and down both coasts: credits including Blood Sugar (Highways); What Happened to Where I’ve Been (Attic Theatre Collective); Sisters Three (Inkwell Theatre); Ajax in Iraq (Not Man Apart Theatre), Stray (Bootleg Theatre), Infidelity in Pieces (Greenway Court Theatre), Neva (Shock Pulse Theatre), The Wong Street Journal (REDCAT, Miami Light Project, Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts), Tell Me I’m Pretty (Greenway Court Theatre, REDCAT, Bootleg Theatre), Death Play (Circle X Theatre), and Swarm Cell (Greenway Court Theatre). He is a teaching artist at the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts in Los Angeles, CA. He has had the pleasure of working alongside esteemed designers at Center Theatre Group, Geffen Playhouse, Wooly Mammoth, Long Wharf Theatre, South Coast Rep, Music Academy of the West, ArtsEmerson, UCSD, USC, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, and Matrix Theatre. Huge thank you to the hardest working Artistic Director and Stage Manager in the world: Kyler and Erica. Emerson College, BFA. JoeyGuthmanDesign.com
Matthew Williams – TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
MATTHEW WILLIAMS (Technical Director, Boston Master Electrician) is a graduate of Emerson College where he studied Theatrical Design and Technology concentrating in Technical Direction. He is currently employed as the Assistant Technical Director at BostonConservatory at Berklee. His most recent credits include The Ouroboros Trilogy with Beth Morison Productions (Rail Chief and Deck Crew), The Birds and the Bees with Sleeping Weazel (Technical Director), and Il Campanello and L’Amico Fritz with Boston Midsummer Opera (Technical Director).
Lila West – COSTUME DESIGNER
LILA WEST (Costume Designer) is thrilled to be returning to Brown Box! She is a freelance costume designer in the Boston area and stitcher at Costume Works Inc in Somerville. Boston credits include Chicago, Hamlet, Urinetown, The Laramie Project (Belmont High School PAC), Hard and Fast: a love story (Boston Public Works), and From Water to Dust (Brown Box Theatre Project). She was the costume designer for the Mountain Playhouse 2015 summer season and designed for MainStage productions while attending UMass Amherst. Thank you to the Brown Box team for another wonderful process and production and thank you always to Amy for support, love, and rides to transport all the costumes she has to purchase. http://www.lilawest.com/
Johnny Quinones – AUDIO ENGINEER
JOHNNY QUINONES (Audio Engineer) is happy to return to Brown Box Theatre Project as an audio engineer after previously working on Cymbeline. Previous acting credits with Brown Box include Boxer Shorts II: From Water to Dust, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Nights Dream.
David D’aranjo – BASS
Dave is an electric & upright bassist, drummer, and producer originally from Singapore. He’s the founder of Interrobang Records and a triple-graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music. Dave also attended The Bass Collective in New York City, where he appeared on Victor Wooten’s instructional DVD “Groove Workshop” (2008). Recent bass credits include the 50th anniversary of “Hair” at the LaMama Experimental Theatre, In the Heights, Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde, AIDA, The Wiz, Next to Normal, Avenue Q, Cabaret, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, The Last Five Years, and more.
Brian Roman – DRUMS
Brian is very excited to be apart of his first Brown Box production. He is a current student at Berklee College of music where he is studying drumset performance and contemporary writing/production. Brian has performed in numerous shows including Legally Blonde, Anything Goes, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and The Addams Family all throughout the northeast. He would like to thank all of his past and present teachers, family, and the entire cast and crew.
Michael Mastroianni – TOURING PIANIST
Michael is a music director/musician originally from Westchester, New York, and Songs for A New World marks his 120th production. Credits as music director include Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Into the Woods, Pippin & [title of show]. Michael has also written orchestrations for over a dozen productions, including Legally Blonde, Rent & The Wiz. Upcoming projects include Cabaret, All Shook Up, & The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Michael currently attends Berklee College of Music as a film scoring major.