Sing Along

Sondheim. Rodgers. If you were in need of emotional resuscitation with fast-acting lyrics and time-released melodies, these were your go-to guys. In the '90s the warm-and-fuzzy experience was chased off Broadway, apparently by antidepressant manufacturers and the American Psychoanalytic Association. Enter Jason Robert Brown, a young composer who understands our need for collective musical healing and laughter. His popular Songs for a New World is two women, two men, a five-piece band and 16 great musical vignettes cast with creativity and humor—consider a black Christopher Columbus and a modern Mrs. Claus, who questions her marriage to an overweight immortal who spends his time with reindeer. ("Oh yes, it's so easy to judge, isn't it? Deciding who's naughty and who's nice?") Songs for a New World runs Thursday through September 23 at Repertory Company Theatre on Coit Road in Richardson. Call 972-690-5029 or visit rcttheatre.com.
Fridays, Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Starts: Sept. 14. Continues through Sept. 23, 2007