A NEW BRAIN

New Line's 11th season continued with William Finn's brilliantly funny, neurotic, off-Broadway pop/jazz musical comedy.

Frogs, sail boats, kiddie TV, overbearing mothers, and arterial venous malformations -- A NEW BRAIN is the autobiographical story of a composer who is diagnosed with a brain tumor and who worries that he'll die without leaving anything of value behind. The score ranges from gorgeous power ballads to wildly comic pop/jazz production numbers, like "Gordo's Law of Genetics," "Poor, Unsuccessful, and Fat," "A Really Lousy Day in the Universe," "Eating Myself Up Alive," and "The Homeless Lady's Revenge."

This is a comedy like none you've ever seen before, one that manages to be one of the most life-affirming, most heartfelt musicals written in the last decade, perhaps a show only someone who has actually faced death could have written.

From the composer/lyricist of the Falsettos trilogy, this is one of the most exciting, most original musicals to hit New York in years, and it made its St. Louis debut with New Line.

Want to explore more? We recommend:

The original off-Broadway cast album of A New Brain

A New Brain vocal selections

The CD Infinite Joy: The Songs of William Finn, a revue of songs by the composer/lyricist of A New Brain, including several songs from A New Brain, most notably the beautiful song “Anytime” that was cut from the original production

An interview with composer William Finn and New Brain original lead Malcolm Gets, and an interview with Finn and original Broadway director Graciele Daniele

A short biography of William Finn and a list of his shows.

A great article about arterial venous malformations, and an entry from the Boston Children's Hospital Medical Encyclopedia.

William Finn's Falsettos trilogy - In Trousers, March of the Falsettos, and Falsettoland, all on CD

An analysis of A New Brain by Scott Miller, New Line Artistic Director