Songs for a New World' addresses transformation

    Four singers' energy captivates audiences in an abstract musical called "Songs for a New World." Junior Samantha Tempchin, senior Caitlin Felsman and sophomores Doug Cohen and Jared Trudeau star in this song cycle produced by Torn Ticket II. Each plays a distinct character that experiences a certain change and resulting crisis in his or her life. Since there is no dialogue, the characters' songs bring out the show's story, using music to communicate with the audience.
    Felsman sings a mother's part, representing the lives of women with children who are distraught and dealing with anger, pain and betrayal. She said her experience with the production has been "interesting and intimate." Felsman is primarily a singer and not an actress but said the combination of narrating and singing feels natural. "It is a lot of what I do through singing, projecting my own story onto the song," she said.
    Creative interpretation on both the part of the cast and the audience is a key aspect of this production. The play itself has neither a script nor a plot but consists of a continuum of songs that are connected through the theme of change. Each character experiences his or her own personal change, like the man trapped in a relationship or the political prisoner. Even though the props and costumes use a blue-and-red color scheme, obviously trying to present an American angle, ultimately the show's message is universal. The show's director, freshman Joshua Glenn-Kayden, noted the universality of change.
    "We all experience it, are afraid of it, and with support we can overcome it," he said.
    The importance of community and having friends to help one through crises of personal change is emphasized constantly throughout the production. Even during the show's soliloquies, other characters remain on the stage, participating through their gestures. Usually, these gestures seem like a reaction to what the character is going through, and the majority of them can be seen as representing support for the person singing. "It's important to know that everyone's involved," Glenn-Kayden said.
    Glenn-Kayden uses the same music, composed by Jason Robert Brown, that the original off-Broadway production used in the first performance of "Songs for a New World" in 1995. He fondly described the music as something that is accessible and will definitely appeal to the audience. Though there is no script, the story comes out clearly through the lyrics of these songs. It is still ultimately up to the individual singer, however, to interpret the play on his or her own. Performers are given all of the music and are left open as to how to communicate the storyline to the audience.
    As a freshman, Glenn-Kayden handles his first major production impressively. "I have been an assistant director for productions in high school," he said. "[This show has] been a great learning experience for me." Glenn-Kayden also expressed immense appreciation for the support of his team and the music producer Mike Pfitzer, a senior.
    As the heart-wrenching stories of characters facing turning points in their lives unfold, the audience sees each one confront their crisis through song. Lyrics, the singers' intonations and the actors' gestures are what bring the characters' stories to life. There is such a wide variety of situations and experiences that the characters face that almost everyone can find at least one story to relate to. As college students, each of us can, on some level, identify with one of these characters as they are on the brink of a new life and as they are about to live these new lives in a "new world." Students will certainly find this play interesting and worth their time.
    "Songs for a New World" runs tonight and tomorrow night, with both performances at 8 p.m., in Barnum 008. Admission is free.