A new world calls across the ocean… A new world calls across the sky…

Many years ago, I saw a show at the Ahmanson Theatre by Bob Fosse called “Dancin’”. This show opened with an actor coming on stage, and telling the audience not to bother to look for a plot… the show was just about Dancin’.

Tonight, we saw Songs for a New World at the ELATE Lincoln Stegman Theatre. Don’t go looking for a plot. This show is 100% about the wonderful music of Jason Robert Brown. The show, which was originally mounted in 1995, is pure and simply a musical review. It was Jason Robert Brown’s first produced show. It features wonderful music, such as The Stars and the Moon (MP3 link).

ELATE did a wonderful job of the show. Their setup was as the “New World Cafe” and these were patrons telling their story, but that was just an excuse for four excellent performers to sing their hearts out. These performers were: Steve Niccoli, Sean Bishop, Debbie Lowe Smith, and Kathy Villanueva. None of these folks have extensive credits, but boy could they sing. Although the Tolucan Times liked Lowe Smith, we were most impressed by both Sean Bishop and Kathy Villanueva. These two had great pipes (Bishop had a great tenor voice), but they were also really into the show, and we enjoyed watching their facial expression and movement. Lowe Smith seemed a little off and distracted, although a cough at one point made me think that might be due to a slight cold. Steve Niccoli was also great, and seemed really into things. A note for shutterbug93: Based on her bio, it looks like Villanueva hails from Hawai’i–something you don’t see that often. One other reason to be impressed by Bishop and Villanueva: based on their writing during the show, they are both left-handed folks!

The show was directed by Michael McCambridge. Richard Berent provided musical direction for the band consisting of Berent on the keyboard (we learned he also used to do music for the Triple-M-and-V), with John Harvey on drums, and Jeff Thorsen on bass. The show was produced by Deb Johnsen and Marty McCambridge, and was a production of ELATE.

A few production notes: I did see a few late lighting miscues, and there was one set nit that bothered me. As I noted above, the show was theorized as a cafe with the patrons telling their story (which is different than the original approach, which was more of an open set). The door of the cafe had a “Open” sign that, during the show, read “Open” towards the audience. This was wrong: it needed to read “Open” to external patrons–if it was open to the outside, the inside version of the sign would read “Closed”. As I said… a nit.

A bit about the venue. ELATE is a ministry of Emmanuel Lutheran Church. First, the notion of a church with a theatre ministry is fascinating–I’m curious how it brings folks to the congregation. The congregation itself has a neat history, going back over 60 years. For example, this was the famous drive-in church in the valley. Going back to ELATE… The show is performed in the 73-seat basement of the church, the Lincoln Stegman theatre. This was originally built as a discussion space. It is a small stage, with no real side nor backstage. They did a remarkable job with what they had, but the space necessarily limited the scope of potential productions. Even given that, thought, they appear to have been doing productions in the space since 1991 (perhaps even since 1984, but 1984-1990 may not have been as ELATE). For those that were there in the past, I should note they have new seats, recently rescued from the Orange Cinedome.

In any case, ELATE seems to be a unique and interesting production team. I think we’ll try more of their productions.

What’s next on the calendar… a few more shows until we get into quiet April. Tomorrow we see “The Beatles Slept Here” (a Moorpark Melodrama from the High Street Theatre Foundation) at the Secret Garden Restaurant (tickets) at 1:30pm; “The Last 5 Years” at REP East on Sun Mar 25^th at 2pm; “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on Sat Mar 31^st at 2pm; and “Cuttin Up’” at the Pasadena Playhouse on Sat Apr 7^th at 8pm. I’ll be looking on Goldstar for tickets for “The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” through Broadway/LA (tickets go on sale 3/18)… and through HotTix, tickets for “Jersey Boys” at the TaperAhmanson (tickets on sale 3/12; HotTix on 5/4 or after).