We were once again honored to welcome Jason Robert Brown back to the Next Step Prep stage. Jason has an amazing resume (click here to read his bio) and the students were eager to perform "Brand New You" for him upon his arrival. As I've mentioned before, "Brand New You" is kind of the unofficial anthem of the Next Step Prep students.
Jason was accompanied by our wonderful pianists, Lizzie Webb and Anne Bashor.
Jason has a wonderful sense of humor and quick wit, which makes rehearsal a lot of fun for the students. He was constantly moving about the stage listening to the students and coaching them on pitch, rhythm, and beat. While he has a lot of fun with the students, Jason is nothing less than serious about his craft, and his passion is obvious. He encouraged the students to stretch themselves and to act professionally. He also gave them some sound advice about the performance world and advised to develop their talents but also keep a thick skin and persevere when faced with rejection. I think that rings true not only for theatrical performance but for life in general.
The students broke down into their vocal groups to sing... here are the rockin' sopranos...
And those altos...
Each ensemble sang a complicated verse of na-na-nahs...trust me...if you don't think that's hard, you haven't heard this song.
The gentlemen realizing how much effort beat-boxing takes. Please pass the oxygen...
Caleigh came all the way from India to participate in Next Step...wow!
Jason goes on the move again...he is so fun to watch conduct, and even more fun to photograph...
And this just goes to prove that even award-winning Broadway composers can strive to be "superstars"...
Jason works with Maddy...
And Michael...
And Skye...
And the group. Several students "auditioned" for solo parts in "Brand New You". Jason first started to develop an audition process so he could choose the soloists, but then decided that the students who were NOT auditioning would make these decisions. This was an interesting exercise for both sides involved, and this generated a lot of discussion.
Jason is a great coach and mentor. He doesn't pull any punches and tells the students how it is, but does so with constructive criticism and real-life examples.
Elinor is one of the two students who I would give a "bravery award" to if I had one to give. Any one of these students will tell you that auditioning for ANYTHING involves a certain amount of nervousness...couple that with auditioning for a famous composer and those nerves explode exponentially. Elinor stuck with it, though, and made it through, which was a very emotional experience for her. Jacque took a moment to celebrate Elinor's accomplishment (along with rousing cheers from the rest of the crew). My hat is off to you, young lady. Any number of people would have sat down, given up, maybe even run from the room, but you continued to work and THAT is the mark of a champion. Well done.
The other person I would acknowledge is Sierra, who also overcame some nerves during the audition process and came through much stronger at the end of the process.
And just a NOTE....ALL of these students are brave, talented folks who have triumphs and challenges every day. These are just a couple that stood out particularly tonight :)
Lizzie had to leave early to get back to her other job at the Opera House Theatre Company in Phillipsburg, so Anne took the reigns (er, ivories?) for the second half of rehearsal...
The second half of the night was a Master Class with Jason. Eric was up first...
Jason gives some feedback and some suggestions for how to interpret and perform the piece better...
I really like this picture, probably because Jason was having Eric picture a financier in the audience and singing to him like this was the last chance he was going to get to become a producer...Jason's silhouette seems to make this point...
Next up was Jadi, who is always so full of enthusiasm. I remember last year when Jim Caron was coaching her in singing "Memory" from "Cats". Jadi was worried about belting out some of the notes and worked through her fears with Jim. Jadi...that work paid off because you could really belt this one! Good job!
Annie was up next, singing an original Jason Robert Brown song from "The Last Five Years"...
Taking a short break to answer questions from the students and the general audience, many of whom were fellow performers, MCT staff, and community theater actors...
Back to it...Em was up next...
The other students were very attentive and learned as much from listening to the critique as they did performing.
Arielle sings from "Hairspray"...
Blake performed next...
Riley was up next...
After all the performances had concluded, Jason answered more questions and summarized the night with the students.
Thank you, Jason, for returning to Next Step Prep and for offering us your talents and your experience. We all very much appreciate it.
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