By Chip Dombrowski, Entertainment Editor

Characters brave life-changing circumstances in ‘Songs For a New World’ musical at Southwestern

COOS BAY — One thing local theatergoers will miss about the Southwestern Oregon Community College theater department is its ability to surprise them.

When news broke of the department’s closure, one of the surprises was that its last show would be a musical. Musicals have a reputation for being more conventional than the department’s usual material.

But anyone expecting a conventional musical at “Songs For a New World,” which opens tonight at the Hales Center for the Performing Arts, is due for another surprise.

It’s a new world indeed for musical theater, as much of a departure for the genre as the works of Samuel Beckett are for non-musical theater. There’s no dialogue, no plot and no characters that carry over from one song to the next.

Author Jason Robert Brown didn’t set out to write a musical, said director Ida Jo Gates.

“These songs were written over a 20-year period,” Gates said, noting the diverse variety of styles — classical, gospel, jazz, new age and rock.

It wasn’t until Brown met Broadway director Daisy Prince that the show was conceived, Gates said. Prince suggested putting the songs together because she saw a thread connecting them.

The thread, Gates said, is that it’s people experiencing life-changing events — personal disasters that turn their worlds upside down — and realizing they can overcome it.

“They go through what people go through as human beings,” Gates said, describing breakups, layoffs, unexpected pregnancies, deaths of loved ones and times of war. “And they say, ‘We can survive this. We can look beyond our current experiences and look to a new start.’ … It’s about survival and hope and renewal.”

But with no exposition, those themes aren’t always immediately clear on a first listen, when lyrics don’t usually sink in so quickly. Instead, the show relies on the singers to convey the emotion of their characters.

“It takes a pretty talented group of singers to pull this off,” Gates said, praising her cast.

Though the show called for a cast of four, Gates expanded it to eight, which allows for more interesting choreography by Louise Cackowski, Gates said.

The show

Each song is its own story with its own characters, often facing issues related to relationships, money or faith. But Gates said there are some subtle links that create continuity. She pointed to Aaren Tucker’s solos, “Christmas Lullaby” and “The Flagmaker.” The first is about expecting a baby; the second is about not knowing whether her child is dead because of war.

Brandon Dowdy and Caitlin Portinga also appear as a couple that breaks up in “The World Was Dancing” and reunites in “I’d Give It All For You,” though they’re not necessarily the same people.

Other songs stand completely alone, such as Koral Aakre’s “Surbaya Santa,” in which Mrs. Claus expresses her marital dissatisfaction with Santa. The funny song adopts a style and tone apart from everything else.

“The music is so interesting and engaging,” Gates said. “Even if you don’t see or hear the connections, you can take each song individually. The performance of these songs is quite remarkable.”

Stage manager Alecia 0 said the show makes a fitting finale for the college theater.

“This is our last chance to show the community what we’ve got,” she said. “We want to go out with a bang.”

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