Review: 'Songs' Not Afraid of Anything

Song-cycles are always a risk.  Singers sit and sing song after song.  If you're lucky, a flimsy story-line fits between them.  If you're really lucky, each song is a story in itself and the audience sits back for the ride.

The success now playing the Eureka Theatre has nothing to do with luck.  The partnering of a talented cast, three musicians, and the ambition of San Francisco's newbie Ray of Light Theatre has shaped a wonder!

Sharp, clean and professional, George Quick (director) and Ben Prince (musical director) harnessed the power of four very skilled young Bay Area singers into a fun and finely-tuned staging of Jason Robert Brown's song-cycle, Songs for a New World.

Quick's staging is simple… singers walk from one light-cue to the next, sometimes with a stool.  That's all there needs to be to it.  But Quick's keen ear found something else in the music that took me by surprise.  Beginning with the exceptional opening number, we notice some electricity between singers Lindsay Hirata and Robert Lopez. "Uh-oh… What's he doing? How can there be a back-story to characters in a song-cycle?" I feared Quick was pushing for something that wasn't there.

I was wrong.  Buried in the lyrics of four songs: 'I'm Not Afraid,' 'She Cries,' 'The World Was Dancing,' and 'I'd Give It All For You,' Quick unveils a thin (but existent) and rocky relationship between lovers.  On top of near-impossible four-part harmonies and sixteenth notes falling off the page, Brown can still surprise you!

With impeccable precision, Prince's fingers fly over the keys.  Backed by Ben Bernstein on bass and Luke Williams on drums, the trio of musicians juggling Brown's delightfully complicated score are the real stars of the show.

Ray of Light hit the jack-pot with singers Jessica Coker, Hirata, Lopez, and Daron Lamar Williams.  There is no room for embellishment; just pure song-making. 

Williams astounds in 'On the Deck of a Spanish Sailing Ship.'  He superbly hits note after note with jaw-dropping control and volume.  Can I say power-house?

Especially impressive in 'Christmas Lullaby,' Hirata has a beautifully open tone and very round pitch.  Great things come in small packages, as she adds more than music to each serenade.

Lopez possesses an admirable on/off switch, enabling him to shine in solos or to support an ensemble.  He fills his shoes, especially in intimate duets with Hirata.

Comedic-sasstress, Coker amuses in 'Just One Step' as an Unsinkable-Molly-Brown-type threatening to jump from her 5th Avenue sky-rise.  And later tickles your funny-bone as a woman of longing in 'Surabaya Santa.'

Usually a fan-favorite, 'King of the World' left much to be desired.  Where there is room for angst and prowess, Williams' distracting fidgety fingers and lack of facial expression brought nothing to the tortured character, except four-minutes of childlike whining.

Choreographer Noah Haydon steps in, spicing up jazzy tunes like 'The River Won't Flow' and 'The Steam Train.' His simple footwork adds a dash of pizzazz and pulls the four-some together.

The stand-out schmuck of the evening was the sound-system, whose crackles and pops betrayed the singers and broke the audience's focus several times.  Do they really need microphones in such a small space?

But any criticism holds no weight, because in the end, we've just experienced a night of unimaginably fantastic singing.  These performers are "not afraid of anything;" deserting the refuge of a set and costumes, to instead stand center-stage and send their voices into darkness.

Songs for a New World: by Jason Robert Brown, directed by George Quick, musical direction by Ben Prince at the Eureka Theatre by Ray of Light Theatre Company through May 27, 2007. 110 minutes with one 15 minute intermission. Tickets ($15-$35) are available at www.roltheatre.com. Eureka Theatre is located at 215 Jackson (at Battery) in downtown San Francisco.

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