A New Brain
Music & Lyrics by William Finn
Book by James Lapine
A New Brain deals directly with Finn’s own harrowing experience suffering a brain seizure and being hospitalized. During this painfully difficult time, his doctors could not immediately pinpoint the cause of the seizure and were not sure if he would survive. Finn also feared that, even if he lived, he still might lose his ability to write. From such dire source material came this surprisingly joyous and funny musical about songwriter Gordon Schwinn. Bolstered by the support of his mother, his boyfriend Roger and many other good friends, Gordon finds the courage to confront his mortality and allow his doctors to perform the necessary surgery. In life and on stage, thankfully, there is a happy ending.
A New Brain (Original Broadway)
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center
June 18, 1998 - August 23, 1998
Photos by Joan Marcus
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Opening Night Production Credits:
James Lapine, Book
William Finn, Lyricist
William Finn, Composer
Graciela Daniele, Director
Lincoln Center Theater, Producer
Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer
Andre Bishop, Artistic Director
Ira Weitzman, Associate Producer
Ted Sperling, Musical Director
Graciela Daniele, Choreographer
Peggy Eisenhauer, Designer
David Gallo, Set Designer
Toni-Leslie James, Costume Designer
Tony Meola, Sound Designer
Steven C. Callahan, General Manager
Philip Rinaldi Publicity, Press Representative
Brian Rubin, Press Representative
Miller Wright, Press Representative
Bonnie Panson, Production Stage Manager
Laura Bontrager, Musician
Alva F. Hunt Jr., Musician
Philip Reno, Musician
Glenn Rhian, Musician
Ted Sperling, Musician
Roger K. Wendt, Musician
Ted Sperling, Additional Vocal Arrangements
Michael Starobin, Orchestrations
Alan Filderman, Casting Director
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Kristin Chenoweth: Nancy D./Waitress
Penny Fuller: Mimi Schwinn
Malcolm Gets: Gordon Michael Schwinn
Christopher Innvar: Roger Delli-Bovi (Norm Lewis on the Cast recording)
John Jellison: Dr. Jafar Berernstein
Keith Byron Kirk: Minister
Liz Larsen: Rhoda
Michael Mandell: Richard
Mary Testa: Lisa
Chip Zien: Mr. Bungee
Understudies:
Stephen Berger: Mr. Bungee and Richard and Dr. Jafar Berensteiner
Lovette George: Rhoda and Waitress and Nancy D.
Danny Gurwin: Gordon Michael Schwinn and Minister
Mark Hardy: Roger Delli-Bovi
Lauren Mufson: Mimi Schwinn and Lisa
A New Brain (Encores! 2015)
New York City Center Encores! Off Center Series
June 24, 2015 – June 27, 2015
Photos by Joan Marcus and Sara Krulwich/New York Times
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William Finn, Music, Lyrics, and Co-Librettist
James Lapine, Co-Librettist and Director
Josh Prince, Choreographer
Chris Fenwick, Encores! Off-Center Music Director
Donyale Werle, Set Design
Mark Barton, Lighting Design
Scott Lehrer, Sound Design
Clint Ramos, Costume Design
Jason Robert Brown, Vocal Arrangements
The Opening Production of the 2015 Encores! Off- Center Season:
Jeanine Tesori, Artistic Director
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Jonathan Groff: Gordon Michael Schwinn
Dan Folger (Christian Borle on the recording): Mr. Bungee
Ana Gasteyer: Mimi Schwinn
Alyse Alan Louis: Rhoda
Aaron Lazar: Roger Delli-Bovi
Josh Lamon: Richard
Rema Webb: Lisa
Jenni Barber: Waitress/Nancy D.
Bradley Dean: Dr. Jafar Berensteiner
Quentin Earl Darrington: The Minister
Reviews & Features
“A New Brain, the killer musical about a songwriter facing a life-threatening brain condition, could only have been written by William Finn… When Finn accepted his two Tony awards for Falsettos in 1992, he was already suffering from what he’d been told was an inoperable brain tumor… The musical itself began during his recovery, when James Lapine, his Falsettos book writer, insisted that he make notes about what he was experiencing. After the success of surgery… those notes organized themselves into songs that explored the unexpected gift of survival and the problem of creativity. Originally performed in revue format, the songs eventually became the basis of the more ambitious and nearly sung-through work, with a book by Lapine, that Lincoln Center Theatre produced in 1998 and… then there is the production, directed swiftly and simply by Lapine and cast nearly to perfection.”
“This quirky and intensely personal 90-minute work about Finn's own life-and-death medical crisis is practically sung-through. A few musical gems pop up in a score chockablock with character-driven songs, novelty numbers, pretty ballads and unexpected, grin-inducing rhymes (‘elbow/hell no’)... But the show rises or falls on Gordon. And Groff brings empathy, confidence and ease.”