New Line's season continued March 7-30, 2002, with William Finn's brilliantly funny, neurotic, off-Broadway pop/jazz musical comedy

A NEW BRAIN

                       

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. 

WHAT THE CRITICS SAID

"A New Brain is the most exciting new musical to reach New York in quite a while. At its best, it is hypnotic and soulful and transporting. There's greatness here -- grandeur, even." -- NY Theatre

"Climaxing in a gorgeous ballad called 'I Feel So Much Spring' (in which the hero's new lease allows him to burst forth with the song he was trying to write when the show began), Finn's score is filled with beguiling melody and witty words. . . Potent original voices in today's musical theater are rare, and Finn remains one of them. Brain overflows with invention, buoyant music, class and stage smarts." -- USA Today

"A joyous musical collage that celebrates life with wit as well as honest sentiment. Yet it doesn't preach. The show delivers its final message with a sweet soft sell, particularly when its put-upon hero is able to admit 'I feel so much spring.' . . . Finn has a quirky, contemporary voice. His melodies are theatrically pop; his lyrics unfussy and often funny at the most unexpected times." -- Associated Press

"What goes through the mind of a composer suddenly facing capricious death in mid-career? Music, obviously. Beautiful, selfless, honest, playful, moving music. A New Brain isn't sentimental, but it is human; it doesn't preach, but it does take the 'Time and Music' to sing about life." -- Theatre Mirror

"A constantly surprising tone poem -- with almost no dialogue and an 
outlandish delight in the specificity of individual quirks. [Finn's] songs are 
especially seductive in the contrapuntal ensembles, with characters overlapping 
in contradictory passions." -- Newsday

"When it comes to considering their own mortality, there's no people like show people." -- New York Times

"Thoughtful and witty and ultimately a celebration of life. Mr. Finn has written a very appealing and beautiful score for this show." -- Talkin' Broadway.com

"A sweet and enjoyable musical gem. It is a paean not only to hope, supportive love and medical technology but the power of theatrical collaboration." -- Curtain Up!

"The piece is charmingly funny, full of nice tunes and very human laughs. It may be the best American musical since, well, Falsettos." - The Dallas Morning News

"An inspiring libretto and lovely score." - Houston Chronicle

 

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 unofficial New Brain website, and another New Brain site.

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



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