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The cast of
Stagecrafters'
production of
"Songs for a New
World"• Stephanie
Elaine Samuel,
Patricia Raney,
Joe Quednau
and Jeff Drewno.
Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Musical
Theatre Award.
The musical numbers run the
gamut of time and places, and
include "On the Deck of a Spanish
Sailing Ship," "Just One Step," "The
World Was Dancing," "King of the
World," "Flying Home" and the
finale, "Hear My Song," which
Brown himself sang during the New
York run. "Stars and the Moon,"
which has probably garnered the
most audience recognition, was
recorded by Audra McDonald on her
debut CD, Way Back to Paradise.
Brown said he wasn't intimidated
by Harold Prince's presence during
parts of the show's production and
rehearsals, and Prince really had no
role in the creative side of it. "He
would sit and watch and just say,
`OK,' whenever anything was
explained to him," Brown recalled.
Vonnie Miller, who's producing the
show for Stagecrafters, called Songs for
a New World a "spirited revue that
covers a broad spectrum of musical
styles and moods. It's weaved together
seamlessly for choreography, singing
and patter," she said.
Taking advantage of Parade's notori-
ety, Miller added "All the Wasted
Time" from that show to the local
New World performances.
Parade is the true story of Leo
Frank, a Jew from the North who
moved to Atlanta to manage a pencil
factory, and was accused of murder-
ing a young teen-aged girl employed
there. He was convicted and sen-
tenced to death, but the governor
commuted the sentence to life
imprisonment.
In 1915, a mob took him out of
jail and hanged him.
Award-winning playwright Alfred
Uhry (Last Night of Ballyhoo, Driving
Miss Daisy) wrote the book for
Parade, which had a short run on
Broadway in 1998, then toured nine
cities last year.
"It's a tough show to sell," Brown
pointed out, "because it's a sad story ...
a dark musical, not the normal happy
John Tanasychuk, Detroit Free Press, January 8th, 1999
Broadway musical. It's quite a bit dif-
ferent than Songs for a New World."
Brown, who's been influenced by
everyone from Joni Mitchell to
Stephen Sondheim, currently is work-
ing with Daisy Prince on a Lincoln
Center Theatre-commissioned piece
called The Last Five Years. A character
piece about a man and woman who
fall in love, get married and then get
divorced, it's scheduled to open in
Chicago in the spring before moving
to New York for an Off-Broadway
run.
The cast of the Stagecrafters pro-
duction of New World consists of
Stephanie Samuel, Patricia Raney, Jeff
Drewno and Joe Quednau. Musical
director is Marty Mandelbaum of
Royal Oak, who plays the piano/key-
board and performs at local syna-
gogues and restaurants.
There are about 15-20 Jewish people
among the 300 members of
Stagecrafters, including Nancy and
Howard Baron of Bloomfield Township,
who met each other there in 1989 and
got married a year later. Nancy, a
banker, and Howard, a finance manager
at DaimlerChrysler, work behind the
scenes, both serving as treasurer and on
the board of directors. Howard used to
be a performer and producer.
"Being part of Stagecrafters is a
very rewarding experience," he said,
"whether you're performing or doing
the financial work behind the scenes.
It's an added plus-when we bring in
shows like Songs for a New World."
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Songs for a New World opens 8 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 16, at the historic
Baldwin Theatre, 415 S. Lafayette
Ave., Royal Oak. The show contin-
ues 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7
p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17 18; 8 p.m.
Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 22-24; 2
and 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25; 8 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, March 2-3; and 2
p.m. Sunday, March 4. $9/all seats
reserved. For tickets and informa-
tion, call (248) 541-6430.
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