A New Brain

Beyond the Musical:
A Reading List Inspired by A New Brain

Recommended by and on display at

Berkshire Athenaeum

One Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA 

413.499.9480 | pittsfieldlibrary.org

HOURS • Mon–Thurs: 9am–9pm | Thurs–Fri: 9am–5pm | Sat: 10am–5pm

Below are select works from a vast curated collection! From our friends at the library:

“As well as relating directly to A New Brain and the works of William Finn, we chose a variety of materials for you associated with songwriting, brain injury, genetics, housing insecurity, perception, classic children’s TV, the healing power of art, and what’s important in life!”

A New Brain: 2015 New York Cast Recording by William Finn

Deluxe two-CD edition. 2015 New York City Center Encores’ Off-Center production of William Finn and James Lapine’s A New Brain.

The Secrets of Songwriting: Leading Songwriters Reveal How to Find Inspiration & Success 

by Susan Tucker

Fifteen of the nation’s most accomplished songwriters reveal how they write, what inspires them, and how they are able to produce regularly, blending personal stories with serious discussion of the creative process.

Waking the Spirit: A Musician’s Journey Healing Body, Mind, and Soul by Andrew Schulman

This book documents the story of the musician-author’s brush with death and survival through music therapy at Mount Sinai-Beth Israel, an experience that compelled him to dedicate his life to help other critically ill patients with music.

Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum

“One of the most readable books in the whole library of adventure.” —Sports Illustrated. Slocum performed the extraordinary feat of sailing the planet alone in a 34-foot boat in 1895, and gave new understanding to the discipline of sailing.

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street, DVD

This documentary takes audiences inside the hearts and minds of the Sesame Street creators, artists, and educators who established one of the most influential and enduring children’s programs in television history.

Rough Sleeper by Tracy Kidder

This masterful work of reporting and nonfiction storytelling takes us deep into the world of Dr. Jim O’Connell, a Harvard Medical School graduate, who serves Boston’s homeless community, facing one of American society’s most shameful problems instead of looking away.

The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life 

by Janice Kaplan

Kaplan recounts how she spent a year living gratefully, drawing on advice from psychologists, academics, doctors, and philosophers to gain a fresh outlook that transformed her relationships, work, health, and daily life.

---

---

CAST

ADAM CHANLER-BERAT he/him (Gordon Schwinn) BSC Debut.Originated roles on Broadway in Next to Normal, Peter and the Starcatcher and Amelie, and starred in the revival of Shaw’s Saint Joan. Off Broadway: Assassins, Fortress of Solitude (Lortel Nomination), Rent, Fly by Night, How to Load a Musket and Nantucket Sleigh Ride. Adam has appeared on television in Gossip Girl, Veep, Elementary, The Good Wife, Doubt, The Code, NCIS: Nola and Soundtrack; and starred in the film Delivery Man. As a writer, Adam’s work has been developed by Barrington Stage, the Civilians, NYSaF, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat and Ars Nova. Adam is a proud founding member of the social justice-minded theater collective The Commissary.

DEMOND GREEN (The Minister) BSC: You’re Standing in My Way, Romance in Hard Times, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Funked Up Fairytales. Broadway: Sister Act. Off Broadway: Neil LaBute’s Romance (59E59), The Toxic Avenger (New World Stages, Drama Desk nomination). Regional: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (McCarter Theatre/ Paper Mill Playhouse), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Baltimore CenterStage), The Wiz (La Jolla Playhouse). European Tour: Hair. Film and television: Billy & Billie, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Peep Show. Mr. Green has a BFA in Drama from Texas State University and has also studied with both the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. Dedicated to the memory of his longtime Barrington Stage Company friend, Katie Johnson. @demondlgreen

ANDY GROTELUESCHEN (Mr. Bungee) BSC Debut. Broadway: Tootsie (Tony Nomination, Best Featured Actor), The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Cyrano de Bergerac. Off Broadway: Assassins (CSC), Tumacho (Clubbed Thumb), The Odyssey (Public/Delacorte), The Taming of the Shrew (TFANA), Fiasco Theater’s Into the Woods (Lortel Nomination), Cymbeline, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (St. Clair Bayfield Award), Measure for Measure, The Imaginary Invalid and Twelfth Night. Film and television: Musica, Here Today, Coin Heist, Still on the Road,The Gilded Age, Lincoln Rhyme, The Good Wife, The Good Cop, The Knick. MFA Brown/Trinity, Fiasco Theater core company.

DORCAS LEUNG (Rhoda) BSC: Into the Woods. Broadway/National Tour: Miss Saigon, Hamilton. Off Broadway: Romeo & Juliet (Two River Theater/NAATCO), Snow in Midsummer (Classic Stage Company). Regional Favorites: The Notebook (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Tale of Despereaux (Berkeley Repertory); Les Misérables, A Christmas Carol (Dallas Theater Center); Les Misérables (MUNY); Bye Bye Birdie (Goodspeed). Film and television: Bull, Madam Secretary. BFA Musical Theater University of Oklahoma. For Olive. @dorca_the_orca 

DARRELL PURCELL, JR. (Roger) BSC Debut. Theater: Dreaming Zenzile (New York Theatre Workshop), Rock of Ages: 10th Anniversary (National Tour), The Scottsboro Boys (Signature Theatre, Helen Hayes Award Winner), Ragtime (Axelrod PAC), Hairspray (New Hampshire Theatre Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Musical Nominee), Gypsy, West Side Story (Weathervane Theatre). East Carolina University/New York Film Academy. Many thanks to McCorkle casting, my family, friends and community. @Waynebomb

JUSTINE HORIHATA RAPPAPORT (Nancy D.) BSC Debut. National Tours: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Regional: A Chorus Line (Phoenix Theatre), Cabaret (Hangar Theatre), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Tuacahn Amplitheatre). Television: Instinct. BFA Musical Theatre, Syracuse University. Thanks to friends, family and the Hudson Artists Agency team for all your continued support. Justinehrappaport.com

ELISEO ROMÁN (Richard) BSC: Fall Springs. Broadway: On Your Feet, Leap of Faith, In the Heights (Tony Award, Grammy Award), Hair. Off Broadway: The Pirates of Penzance, In the Heights (Drama Desk Award), Godspell, A New Brain (Lincoln Center). Regional: In the Heights (Kennedy Center), Zorro (Alliance Theatre), Little Miss Sunshine (La Jolla Playhouse). Film and television: Annie Live!, Fire Island, Across the Universe. Eliseo has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center and he’s also performed with Sting, Jason Mraz, Vanessa Williams, Sir Elton John, Michelle Williams and Mariah Carey, to name a few. Proud member of the Broadway Inspirational Voices.

TALLY SESSIONS (The Doctor) BSC Debut. Broadway: Company, Anastasia, War Paint, Falsettos, Paramour, School of Rock, Big Fish, The House of Blue Leaves. Off Broadway: Giant (Public Theatre); Queen of the Mist (Transport Group); Anyone Can Whistle (Encores!); Yank!, Godspell and Hallelujah, Baby! (York Theatre); Love + Science. Tours: Legally Blonde, South Pacific, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Regional: Old Globe, Paper Mill Playhouse, Goodspeed, Muny, Signature Theatre, Kansas City Rep, Asolo Rep, Westport Country Playhouse, Olney Theatre, Studio Theatre, Kennedy Center, Milwaukee Rep. TV/Film: …Maisel, Falling Water, Elementary, Burning Man. Awards: Henry, Carbonell (2x), Helen Hayes (2 nominations), Connecticut Critics Circle (nomination). @tallysessions

SALOME B. SMITH (The Homeless Woman) BSC Debut. Theater: 1776 (Broadway), Little Shop of Horrors (Off Broadway), 1776 (National Tour), The World Goes ‘Round (Everyman Theater), The Wiz (TUTS), Five Points (Goodspeed), 1776 (A.R.T.). Film and television: East New York. BA Theatre, Alabama State University. MFA Musical Theatre, Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music. YouTube: Salome Smith. @offsalomebsmith

Mary Testa (The Mother) BSC Debut. The Legend of Off Broadway Award, three Tony nominations, two Lucille Lortel nominations, six Drama Desk nominations, two Drama League nominations, two Outer Critics Circle nominations, an Obie Award, and a special Drama Desk Award celebrating Queen of the Mist and ‘Three Decades of Outstanding Work.’ Broadway: Oklahoma!, Wicked, Guys and Dolls, Xanadu, Chicago, etc. Opera: Anna Nicole (BAM). Off Broadway: Oliver! (City Center Encores), Oklahoma!, The Portuguese Kid, The Government Inspector, First Daughter Suite, A New Brain, etc. Film and television: The Mother, Big Stone Gap, Eat Pray Love,The Good Fight, Divorce, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, etc.

UNDERSTUDIES

Courtney Balan she/her (u/s: Rhoda, Homeless Woman, Mother) BSC Debut. Original Broadway Companies: The Prom, Finding Neverland, [title of show], Cry-Baby, In My Life and the 2016 revival of Falsettos. National tour: The Prom. Off Broadway: I Love You Because, The Marvelous Wonderettes and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Regional: The Humans (Pittsburgh Public), Funny Girl (Riverside, FL), Into the Woods (Alliance, Atlanta), The Little Mermaid (Argyle), Company (Pittsburgh Public), The Music Man (CT Rep), Oklahoma! (OK Lyric), The Odyssey (ArtPark, NY), Urinetown (Theatre Raleigh). Graduate: University of Michigan, Musical Theatre.

ROSS GRIFFIN he/him (u/s: Gordon, Richard, Minister) BSC Debut. Theater: Little Shop of Horrors (NSMT); Legally Blonde (The Palace Theatre); Million Dollar Quartet (Norwegian Cruise Line); The Buddy Holly Story (Legacy Theatre); Hunchback of Notre Dame, Young Frankenstein, Bright Star, The Old Man & The Old Moon, Barefoot in the Park, Lend Me a Tenor, The Mousetrap (Cumberland County Playhouse); Fresh Takes Play Reading: In Her Bones (WAM); BA Susquehanna University. @GriffRM

Jamen Nanthakumar he/him (u/s: Doctor, Roger, Mr. Bungee) BSC Debut. Theater: Monsoon Wedding (St. Ann’s Warehouse); Fairycakes (Off Broadway); Other World (World Premiere, Delaware Theater Company); Hood (World Premiere, Asolo Rep.); Diana (World Premiere, La Jolla Playhouse); Mary Stuart (Pioneer Theatre Co.); A Funny Thing…Forum, The Fantasticks (Pittsburgh Public). BFA MT Pace University. @jamen_nanthakumar

---

CREATIVE TEAM

WILLIAM FINN (Music & Lyrics, Book) BSC: Associate Artist, The Royal Family of Broadway, premiere 2018; Romance in Hard Times, 2014; workshopped and premiered The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee which moved to Broadway and won two Tony Awards, 2004, second production 2008; Falsettos, 2003. Under his mentorship, 11 world premiere musicals and 6 workshops have been produced in the Musical Theatre Lab. He has written/composed In Trousers (L.A. Drama Critics Award), Falsettos (two Tony Awards: Best Book [with James Lapine] and Best Original Score), March of the Falsettos (Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Musical; L.A. Drama Critics Award), Falsettoland (two Drama Desk Awards; Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical), Romance in Hard Times (Public Theater), A New Brain (Lincoln Center—Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical), Elegies: A Song Cycle (Lincoln Center) and Little Miss Sunshine with James Lapine. He graduated from Williams College, where he was awarded the Hutchinson Fellowship in Musical Composition, and currently teaches a weekly master class at NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. A Broadway revival of his musical Falsettos under the direction of James Lapine and starring Christian Borle, Andrew Rannells, Stephanie J. Block and Brandon Uranowitz was nominated for Best Musical Revival (2017).

JAMES LAPINE (Book) is a playwright and director. On Broadway he has worked with Stephen Sondheim on Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods and Passion. He also conceived and directed the musical review Sondheim on Sondheim. With William Finn he created Falsettos recently revived by Lincoln Center Theater, Little Miss Sunshine, Muscle and directed Finn’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Other Broadway credits include his play based on Moss Hart’s memoir Act One (also LCT), Amour, The Diary of Anne Frank, Golden Child and Dirty Blonde. He has written the plays Table Settings, Twelve Dreams, The Moment When, Fran’s Bed and Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing. Lapine has been nominated for eleven Tony Awards, winning on three occasions. He has also been the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, SDC’s Mr. Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater, and inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.

JOE CALARCO he/him (Director) BSC: Associate Artist, Waiting for Godot, Into the Woods, Ragtime, Breaking the Code and Kiss Me, Kate, among others. Theater: Floyd and Clea Under the Western Sky, The Burnt Part Boys (Playwrights Horizons); Boy, In Transit (Primary Stages), The Memory Show, Bury the Dead (The Transport Group); In the Absence of Spring (Second Stage); R&J, Sarah Plain and Tall (Off Broadway); Ring of Fire (National Tour); The Glass Menagerie (Old Globe); Gypsy, Assassins, Urinetown, Elegies, Side Show (Signature Theatre); The Last Five Years, The Light in the Piazza (Philadelphia Theater Company). Awards: Lucille Lortel Award, four Helen Hayes Awards, two Barrymore Awards, Berkie Award.

CHLOE O. DAVIS she/her (Choreographer) BSC Debut. Theater/Dance Choreography: Ain’t Misbehavin’ (REV Theatre); The Memorial (*New Development); Broadway Bares (Hammerstein Ballroom); Paradise Square, Associate Choreographer (Broadway); for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (Associate Choreographer, The Public). Film and television: Harlem (Assistant Choreographer, Amazon). Chloe is a Drama Desk winner for Outstanding Choreography and Broadway Black’s The Award winner for Best Choreographer. She is also the author of The Queens’ English: The LGBTQIA+ Dictionary of Lingo and Colloquial Phrases. Graduate of Hampton University, BA and Temple University, MTHM. thequeensenglishus.com

VADIM FEICHTNER (Musical Director) BSC: Associate Artist, …Spelling Bee (Ver. 1.0); A Little More Alive; Presto Change-O; Fall Springs; The Memory Show; See Rock City…; Falsettos; Mormons, Mothers, and Monsters; The Royal Family of Broadway; Surviving the Avalanche; Mysteries of Harris Burdick; Leslie Kritzer: Hello, Gorgeous. Broadway: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Falsettos (revival). Off Broadway: Fly By Night, A New Brain (Encores); Little Miss Sunshine, Nobody Loves You, The Other Josh Cohen, As You Like It (Public); Elegies: A Song Cycle, The Memory Show, The Burnt Part Boys, Ordinary Days, Long Story Short, I Sing! TV: Last Week Tonight, Live at Lincoln Center.

ELIZA RANDALL she/her (Associate Music Director) BSC Debut. Off Broadway: Village Songs (Rattlestick Theatre), Broadway’s Future Songbook (Lincoln Center). Theater: Annual Gala ft. Joe Iconis (Two River Theatre), Then She Ran (Scranton Fringe), Black Holes Like Donuts (Prospect Theatre), The Yellow Wallpaper (Irvington Theatre), Charlotte Lucas is 27 and Not Dead (Dixon Place), Every(b)one (New Studio on Broadway), 9 to 5 (Pace University). BM Piano Performance BYU, MFA Musical Theatre Writing NYU Tisch. elizarandall.com

PAIGE HATHAWAY she/her (Scenic Designer) BSC Debut. Theater: A Distinct Society (Writer’s Theatre); On the Far End, Jennifer Who is Leaving (Round House Theatre); The High Ground (Arena Stage); No Place to Go (Signature Theatre); Gloria: A Life (Theater J); Bars and Measures (Mosaic Theatre); Much Ado About Nothing (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival); Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Matilda, Cinderella (Muny); Fireflies (Pioneer Theatre). MFA in Scenic Design from the University of Maryland, BFA in Scenic Design from the University of Oklahoma. USA 829. paigehathawaydesign.com @paigehathawaydesign

DEBRA KIM SIVIGNY she/her (Costume Designer) BSC: Waiting for Godot, Sister Sorry. Theater: Ink, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Small Mouth Sounds (Round House Theater); Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Once (Hangar Theatre); John, Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes (Signature Theatre); The Royale, Tiger Style! (Olney Theatre). Winner of the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Scenic Design. She is an Asst. Professor of Scenic and Costume Design at George Mason University. @indepenguin / @twincat.art

JASON LYONS (Lighting Designer) BSC: The Pirates of Penzance, The Black Suits, On the Town and Kiss Me, Kate. Broadway: Hand to God, On the Town, Bronx Bombers, Bring It On, Rock of Ages, The Threepenny Opera, Barefoot in the Park and Good Vibrations. Theater: Gloria: A Life (ART & McCarter); Austen’s Pride (5th Ave); Junk (Arena Stage); Skylight (McCarter); Jerome Robbins’ Broadway (TUTS); Clueless (The New Group); Sugar In Our Wounds (MTC); Between the Lines (KC Rep); Romy & Michele’s… (5th Ave); Familiar, Robin Hood, Red Velvet, Macbeth, Love’s Labour’s Lost (Old Globe); Kings, Dry Powder, Barbecue (Public); Crazy for You, Jesus Christ Superstar, La Cage Aux Folles, Girlstar, Cabaret (Signature); Heathers (NWS). Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Lighting Design. jasonlyonsdesign.com

KEN TRAVIS (Sound Designer) BSC: Cabaret. Broadway: Aladdin, In Transit, Jekyll & Hyde, A Christmas Story: The Musical, Scandalous, Newsies, Memphis, The Threepenny Opera, Barefoot in the Park, Steel Magnolias. Numerous New York and regional theaters and companies including: DCPA, Asolo Rep, Old Globe, 5th Avenue Theater, McCarter Theater, Seattle Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, LA Center Theater Group, ACT Seattle, Guthrie Theater, KC Rep, Dallas Theater Center, Playwrights Horizons, New Group, NYSF Public Theater, CSC, Signature Theater NYC, SoHo Rep, Vineyard Theater, The Civilians, Mabou Mines, national and international festivals and tours.

JOHN GODBOUT (Production Stage Manager) BSC: Assistant Stage Manager 10×10 2023. He has stage managed at North Shore Music Theater, Capital Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Shakespeare & Company, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Northern Stage and Weston Theatre Company.

LESLIE SEARS she/her (Assistant Stage Manager) BSC: The Happiest Man on Earth; Andy Warhol in Iran; If I Forget; A Doll’s House, Part 2; Taking Steps; Georgie; Kunstler; 10×10 2018. Off Broadway: Sons of the Prophet (Roundabout). Regional theater: Chester Theater Company, Barnstormers, New Rep, Gloucester Stage, Poets’ Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Huntington Theater Company and the Old Globe. Opera and Symphony: Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Tanglewood Music Festival, Inland Northwest Opera, Concert Theater Works, Jacksonville Symphony, Boston Lyric Opera and Boston Early Music Festival. Ms. Sears is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and a core member of FairWage.

WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL For seven decades, the Tony Award-recognized Williamstown Theatre Festival has brought emerging and professional theater artists together in the Berkshires to create a thrilling summer festival of diverse, world premiere plays and musicals, bold new revivals, and a rich array of accompanying cultural events.

Artists are drawn to Williamstown Theatre Festival to make great theater in an environment conducive to artistic risk-taking. Matthew Broderick, Audra McDonald, Dominique Morisseau, Mary-Louise Parker, Susan Stroman, Uma Thurman, and Blair Underwood are just a few of the luminous theater artists who have worked at the Festival. Many others, including Chris Pine, Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti, Allison Janney, Sterling K. Brown, Brie Larson, George C. Wolfe, Ty Burrell, and Charlie Day, began their careers at the Festival.

Productions and artists shaped at the Festival fill theaters in New York City and around the world. Recently, Williamstown Theatre Festival was represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally by The Sound Inside, Grand Horizons, The Rose Tattoo, The Visit, Fool for Love, The Elephant Man, Seared, Selling Kabul, Unknown Soldier, and Lempicka, to name just a few. Cost of Living, which was developed and premiered at Williamstown Theatre Festival, was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and made its debut on Broadway last fall.

Learn more about Williamstown Theatre Festival at wtfestival.org.

MCCORKLE CASTING: PAT MCCORKLE, CSA; REBECCA WEISS, CSA (Casting) Casting actors for Barrington Stage for 21 years. Pat McCorkle is pleased to be an Associate Artist at BSC. Broadway: Over 50 productions including On the Town, Amazing Grace, End of the Rainbow, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus, She Loves Me, A Few Good Men. Off Broadway highlights: Clever Little Lies; Sheer Madness; Tribes; Our Town (Barrow Street); Freud’s Last Session; Toxic Avenger; Almost, Maine; Driving Miss Daisy. Feature film: Premium Rush, Ghost Town, The Thomas Crown Affair, Die Hard with a Vengeance, School Ties, etc. Television: Twisted, St. George, Sesame Street, Hack, Californication, Max Bickford, Chappelle’s Show, Strangers with Candy, Barbershop, etc. mccorklecasting.com

CHARLIE SIEDENBURG (Berkshires Press Representative), Associate Artist (19^th Season), joined the BSC family in 2005 and has represented over 150 BSC productions. His work has led to features in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Associated Press and American Theatre Magazine. His many PR credits include the Metropolitan Opera (Live in HD), Paper Mill Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Hartford Stage, Goodspeed Musicals, Long Wharf Theatre, Surflight Theatre and Two River Theater Company. He serves as Press Rep for Wagner College Theatre, The Minty Awards, Ghostlight Productions and Forestburgh Playhouse. Charlie is a 1995 Theatre/Arts Administration graduate of Wagner College on Staten Island, where he currently teaches Theatre Appreciation. In 2021, he received a Berkshire Theatre Critics Association Special Award for Exceptional Support of Arts Journalism in the Berkshires.

THE PRESS ROOM (National Press Representatives) Broadway: Hamilton, The Book of Mormon, Prima Facie. Off Broadway: Blue Man Group, Death Drop, The Fears. Upcoming: Female Troubles, Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical, A Wonderful World. Recent credits: Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, Paradise Square, The Waverly Gallery, Three Tall Women, Farinelli and the King. Clients include: The Acting Company, Drama Book Shop, Hershey Felder, Hunter Theater Project, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, New York Classical Theatre, Ogunquit Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Rosie’s Theater Kids, Shakespeare’s Globe, Theatre Row, Vineyard Theatre, The Wooster Group.