This weekend, I was invited to be part of the inaugural BROADWAY FESTIVAL, on the grounds of the Hutton Brickyards in Kingston, NY. I was a little wary of it because that kind of "rah rah Broadway" thing is not exactly my scene, but it turned out to be a really lovely experience on an absolutely gorgeous summer weekend. I got to perform with my amazing band (and my star soloist, Nasia Thomas) in front of about 2000 REALLY ENTHUSIASTIC people, and I also got a chance to reunite onstage with some original cast royalty: Kelli O'Hara from Bridges, Jenn Colella from Urban Cowboy, and Norbert Leo Butz from The Last Five Years, who did "If I Didn't Believe In You" with me for the first time in probably 24 years* and sounded even better than he did in 2002. (In fact, all three of them sounded – implausibly – better than they did in the original productions.)
But the real highlight was getting to include my daughter Molly Brown as one of my backup singers, where she learned all the parts (and words!) to six fairly complicated songs and then just showed up and nailed it like the pro that she is. Anybody watching would have just thought she was one of the amazing musicians that I drag along with me on these gigs. I knew she would be great at it, of course, but I didn't know how happy it would make me to turn upstage and see her there grooving along with Nasia and stepping into my world with such confidence and grace.
Special thanks to the members of the Festival Orchestra, who gamely agreed to jump in and join our insanity, which included a hefty number of long exposed woodwind solos for master sax player Aaron Heick, some frenzied country fiddling from Kiku Enomoto, and the nerve-wracking opening cello solo from The Bridges of Madison County, beautifully played by Melissa Westgate. (And as usual, tremendous thanks to Hidayat, Sam and Jamie for your brilliance and patience and good humor on what was obviously a fairly chaotic day.)
*Marc Kaplan has since reminded me that Norb and I did "If I Didn't Believe In You" at the first show of the SubCulture residency in 2015, but I'm not changing this post because, let's face it, 11 years is ALSO a very long time.
KPR (2022)
NASIA & JRB: The Shed Shack from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (2024)
Shiksa Goddess from The Last Five Years (2002)
NASIA: I Can Do Better Than That from The Last Five Years (2002)
It All Fades Away from The Bridges of Madison County (2013)
KELLI: To Build a Home from The Bridges of Madison County (2013)
JENN: Mr. Hopalong Heartbreak from Urban Cowboy (2003)
NORBERT: If I Didn’t Believe In You from The Last Five Years (2002)
NASIA: Zohra’s Song from Less (2023)
The Western Wall from The Connector (2024)
Wait 'Til You See What’s Next from How We React and How We Recover (2018)
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JRB: piano & vocals
Kelli O'Hara: vocals
Jenn Colella: vocals
Norbert Leo Butz: vocals
Nasia Thomas: vocals
Molly Brown: vocals
Jamie Eblen: drums, percussion and guitar
Hidayat Honari: electric and acoustic guitars
Sam Minaie: electric and upright basses
Festival Orchestra members:
Aaron Heick: flute and saxophones
Ravi Best: trumpet
Kiku Enomoto: violin
Melissa Westgate: cello
Dan Lipton: Festival music director
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Most photography by Michaelah Reynolds