'Songs for a New World' at the Nancy Marine - My Review

Songs for a New World is a musical with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and was conceived by Daisy Prince. With very little dialogue, the songs tell a collection of stories of moments of decision and how the characters survive in their new world. Ordinary people survive extraordinary circumstance while singing the beautiful score.

The production running at the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre in Torrington is masterfully directed by Katherine Ray with music direction by Dan Koch. Ms. Ray writes in her notes that the show "has a very strong sense of unity about it, mainly because every song in the show is essentially about the same thing, those moments in life when everything seems perfect and then suddenly disaster strikes." Executive in Charge of Production Sharon A. Wilcox called the show "remarkable" and one of her favorites. The projections that she and the director put together looked beautiful on the draped set designed by Nathan Bourke.

The cast consists of four unnamed roles, two men and two women. To my mind, the top notch orchestra in this production would qualify as a fifth role, but more on them later. All four of the performers in this cast are supremely talented and the show gave each of them a chance to shine. My favorite pieces in the show were those featuring the entire company, sung in inspired harmony, especially "The River Won't Flow" and "The Steam Train" in the first act and  "Flying Home" after intermission. The motif of "The New World" was woven into other numbers, and rightly so. While the solo pieces were well-acted and sung beautifully, I couldn't help wishing that this cast had more duets and full cast pieces to perform. But that is just me...

Caitlin Mandracchia made her Warner debut after a two year maternity hiatus so it was very appropriate that she sang "Christmas Lullaby" in the second act. I loved her performance with her husband Nathan in Brigadoon at Musicals at Richter and it was so good to see and hear her back onstage. Holly Martin was the only cast member that I could not recall seeing in another production but she is an amazing vocalist. A graduate of Western Connecticut, she is married to fellow cast member Man 1, Matt Martin.

Mr. Martin toured with two Magic Tree House productions and is a professional sound designer/engineer. His outstanding tenor voice was on display in this production. Now that I have seen both Matt and his brother Meric onstage, I can confidently conclude that their mother gave birth to two super talented boys on the same day, for the resemblance of these two guys is uncanny. The final member of the cast is Mensah Robinson, also making his Nancy Marine debut. I enjoyed his performance as a prince in Into the Woods, but wished he had more to do. This gentleman has a voice made for gospel and in fact serves on the worship team at his church.

The orchestra did an amazing job with the score that covered many musical bases. Mr. Koch played a grand piano while he conducted the rest of the musicians. Brian Pia covered keyboard 2, Mike Conroy was on bass, Scott Kellogg played drums while Seth Kellogg and Bob Kogut covered percussion. The music was flawless. The flawless sound was designed by WAMS graduate Chris Laplante. Renee Purdy did the lovely costumes