Andrew Samonsky and Elizabeth Stanley in the national tour of The Bridges of Madison County. (Photo by Matthew Murphy) In 1992, everywhere you looked, people were reading Robert James Waller’s pulpy romance novel, The Bridges of Madison County. But Broadway composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown was not one of them. “I hadn’t read the novel. I’d seen about 15 minutes of the … [Read more...]
Composer, lead performers triumph in ‘Bridges,’ closing too soon
Increasingly, the Broadway stage has turned into a theme park, full of lightweight musicals anchored by spectacle and special effects. That is fine, when appropriate for the material — you wouldn’t want to see Aladdin without its magical bells and whistles, would you? — but the problem is that these shows crowd out the simpler, more artful, adult musicals. Musicals such as The … [Read more...]
Composer-lyricist gets showcase for a compassionate look at love
By Hap Erstein Chances are you do not know the name Daniel Maté, but if The Theatre at Arts Garage’s artistic director Lou Tyrrell’s hunch is right, you soon will. He is so excited by the talents of this 38-year-old composer-lyricist-playwright that he has scheduled two of Maté’s show for this season. The last time he did that was in the 2001-2002 season of Florida Stage, … [Read more...]