Brownbrokers
Encyclopedia
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. Together with Brown's Theatre Arts and Performance Studies faculty, Brownbrokers develops and produces a full-length, student-written musical biyearly. Founded in 1935, it is one the oldest undergraduate producing bodies devoted to new student-written musical theatre, both comedic and dramatic, in the United States.
Past productions
- 1935: Something Bruin (opened May 10th, 1935)
- 1936: Road to Bruin
- 1937: Man about Brown
- 1938: Curriculi-Curricula
- 1941: Run for Your Life
- 1942: The Three Bears – by Sid Marks, Alan Marcus '43, Jane O'Brien '44 (Pembroke College), Jo Sheehan, Richard L. Palmer '43, Rae Brent '44, Justine Tyrell '43 (Pembroke College)
- 1943: No Brownbrokers production (World War II)
- 1944: Scuttlebutt – directed by Leslie A. Jones and Janine O. Van deWater
- 1945: Souvenirs – a compilation of past Brownbrokers musicals with new compositions by Frannie Patenaude, Alma Fain, Josie Truscot and Al Pomerantz.
- 1948: Talent Night (opened on November 7th, 1948)
- 1952: Anything Can Be Fixed by Gill Bach, Alan LevyAlan LevyAlan Levy was an American author.Alan Levy was born in New York City in 1932 and educated at Brown and Columbia universities. In 1952 at Brown, he co-wrote an original Brownbrokers musical titled Anything Can Be Fixed with Gill Bach and Porter Woods...
and Porter Woods (March 11th – 14th, 1952), directed by Reese Thornto - 1953: Royal Welcome – book by Norman Allan and Hugh Gourley, music by Martin Kantor and lyrics by Shiba Fishbain
- 1956: Barney ’n Me – book and lyrics by Alfred UhryAlfred UhryAlfred Fox Uhry is an American playwright, screenwriter, and member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He is one of very few writers to receive an Academy Award, Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing....
'58, music by R. Waldman - 1957: Fiddle-De-Dee – book and lyrics by Alfred UhryAlfred UhryAlfred Fox Uhry is an American playwright, screenwriter, and member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He is one of very few writers to receive an Academy Award, Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing....
'58 - 1958: Down to Earth by the women of Pembroke College
- 1959: Chelsea Street
- 1960: Happily Never After – book and lyrics by Elizabeth Diggs '61 and Emily Arnold '61, music by Suzi Ross '61
- 1961: One Way Out
- 1962: Sock and Buskin produces William Inge’s Bus Stop in the Brownbrokers slot
- 1963: Sold Out – book by Jeffrey Ordover '63, Eugene Straus '62 and Diana Ellis (Pembroke College) '64, music by Walter Donnaruma '64 and Jeffrey Levine '64, lyrics by Jonathan Richards '63 and Larry Rand '64
- 1964: Statutory Scrape – book by Sylvia Welch '65, Susan Baligian '64 and Penny Rogers '65, music by Alan Perlman, lyrics by Jon Richard '64 and Larry Rand '64
- 1965: Potatoes Bourgeois – by William Kirkpatrick and Paul Klein
- 1966: Kotlubi – book and lyrics by Donald Warfield and music by Earl Holt and David Buskin
- 1967: Nell – book and lyrics by John L. Beatty and music by David Stapleton
- 1968: Good Times Illustrated Weekly – book by Alfred Basile '70 and music by William Griffith '70 (recevied Honorable First Mention in the 1967/1968 Broadcast Music, Inc. Awards)
- 1969: The Sand Castle – book by Alfred Basile '70 and music by William Griffith '70
- 1970: pits – book and lyrics by Jonathan Berek '70 and music by David Bradley '71
- 1972: The Athenians
- 1973: The Play Without the Play – by Michael B. Dixon '75
- 1974: George S – by Neil War '75 is not produced because of low turnout at auditions. A non-musical, pre-written play, Play it Again, Sam is instead produced.
- 1985: The Dreamseller book and lyrics by Greg Pincus '86 and music by Eric Sidoti '86
- 1986: The Overcoat, book and lyrics by Vail Reese '86 and music by Rose Thompson '88
- 1988: The Malady Lingers On by Jonathan Shaffir and Maria Seigenthaler, directed by Brian Herrera '90
- 1996: waternowater by Peter Glantz and Rob Erickson
- 1998: Artistic License
- 2004: Psyche - book and lyrics by Jed Resnick '06 and music by James Egelhofer '04
- 2005: Moon Mary - book and lyrics by Ella Rose Chary '07 and Angie Thurston '07, music by Jon Russ '07, directed by Anne Troup '07
- 2006: The Pursuit of History - book and lyrics by Michelle Oing '07, music and lyrics by Daniel Bowman '07, directed by Elliot B. Quick '07
- 2007: Elsewards - book and lyrics by Jessie Hopkins, music by Jerzy Fischer, directed by Albert Huber '09
- 2008: No Brownbrokers production (the development/production process is revamped)
- 2009: Leavittsburg, OH by Nate Sloan ‘09, directed by Lowry Marshall
- 2012: We Can Rebuild Him by Deepali Gupta ‘12
History
Founded in 1935 Brownbrokers has been producing original student-written musicals on the Brown UniversityBrown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
Department stage for over 75 years. In 1935, student interest in staging a musical revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
led to the hiring of Leslie Allen Jones ’26 to lead a new group called Brownbrokers. Serving both Brown and Pembroke College
Pembroke College
Pembroke College may refer to:*Pembroke College, Cambridge*Pembroke College, Oxford*Pembroke College , the former women's college...
, the group fused the “broke” of Pembroke with “Brown” to create the Brownbrokers name.
Brownbrokers’ first production was titled Something Bruin and opened on May 10th, 1935. The revue included 23 original numbers. Burt Shevelove
Burt Shevelove
Burt Shevelove was an American musical theater playwright, lyricist, librettist, and director. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he graduated from Brown University and Yale . At Brown in 1935, he acted in the first ever Brownbrokers musical titled Something Bruin...
’37, later a Broadway director and recognized playwright, was cast in this inaugural production. The success of Something Bruin led Sock and Buskin to provide Brownbrokers with the resources and space for an annual production. Road to Bruin and Man about Brown, the 1936 and 1937 productions respectively, parodied both life at Brown and the national politics of the day. In 1943, there was no Brownbrokers show because of World War II, but Brownbrokers returned with Scuttlebutt in 1944, a navy-themed revue. Barney n’ Me and Fiddle-De-Dee, the 1956 and 1957 shows, had librettos and lyrics by Alfred Uhry
Alfred Uhry
Alfred Fox Uhry is an American playwright, screenwriter, and member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He is one of very few writers to receive an Academy Award, Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing....
’58, future Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
, Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
and Oscar Award winner. In 1958, Down to Earth was the first Brownbrokers show written entirely by the students of Pembroke College.
The annual productions continued with the exceptions of 1962 and 2008. In 1962, Sock and Buskin instead produced William Inge
William Inge
William Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
's Bus Stop
Bus Stop (play)
Bus Stop is a 1955 play by William Inge. The 1956 film is only loosely based upon it.-Characters:Bus Stop is a drama, with romantic and some comedic elements. It is set in a diner in rural Kansas, about 20 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri during a snowstorm from which bus passengers must take...
in the usual Brownbrokers slot. In 2008, the Brownbrokers development and production process was rebuilt to operate on a biyearly basis. The first production under the biyearly system was titled Leavittsburg, OH, with book, music and lyrics by Nate Sloan ’09. Brownbrokers second production under the new system, We Can Rebuild Him by Deepali Gupta '12, will receive its world premiere in Providence, RI in March of 2012.
Notable alumni
- Burt SheveloveBurt SheveloveBurt Shevelove was an American musical theater playwright, lyricist, librettist, and director. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he graduated from Brown University and Yale . At Brown in 1935, he acted in the first ever Brownbrokers musical titled Something Bruin...
(Class of 1937) - A recognized playwright and stage director, Burt Shevelove wrote the books for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
with Stephen SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
and No, No, NanetteNo, No, NanetteNo, No, Nanette is a musical comedy with lyrics by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach, music by Vincent Youmans, and a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, based on Mandel's 1919 Broadway play My Lady Friends...
(Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a MusicalDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a MusicalThe Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee which comprises New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
). - Alfred UhryAlfred UhryAlfred Fox Uhry is an American playwright, screenwriter, and member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He is one of very few writers to receive an Academy Award, Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing....
(Class of 1958) - A Pulitzer Prize-winner and a two-time Brownbrokers writer in the 1950s, Alfred Uhry went on to pen ParadeParade (musical)Parade is a musical with a book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The musical was first produced on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on December 17, 1998. The production was directed by Harold Prince and closed 28 February 1999 after only 39 previews and 84 regular...
, The Last Night of BallyhooThe Last Night of Ballyhoo-Plot:The comedy is set in the upper class German-Jewish community living in Atlanta, Georgia in December 1939. Hitler has recently conquered Poland, Gone with the Wind is about to premiere, and Adolph Freitag and his sister Boo and nieces Lala and Sunny - a Jewish family so highly assimilated...
and Driving Miss DaisyDriving Miss Daisy (play)Driving Miss Daisy is a 1987 play by Alfred Uhry about the relationship of an elderly Southern Jewish woman, Daisy Werthan, and her African-American chauffeur, Hoke Colburn, from 1948 to 1973...
. - David YazbekDavid YazbekDavid Yazbek is an American writer, musician, composer, and lyricist. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals The Full Monty , Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown ....
(Class of 1982) - Emmy Award-winning composer and Brownbrokers writer, David Yazbek has composed scores for such Broadway musicals as The Full MontyThe Full Monty (musical)The Full Monty is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally and score by David Yazbek.In this Americanized musical stage version adapted from the 1997 British film of the same name, six unemployed Buffalo steelworkers, low on both cash and prospects, decide to present a strip act at a local club...
, Dirty Rotten ScoundrelsDirty Rotten Scoundrels (musical)Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Jeffrey Lane; it is based on the film of the same name...
and Women on the Verge of a Nervous BreakdownWomen on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (musical)Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a musical with a book by Jeffrey Lane and music and lyrics by David Yazbek. The musical tells the tale of a group of women in late 20th-century Madrid whose relationships with men lead to a tumultuous 48 hours of love, confusion and passion...
. - Stephen Karam (Class of 2002) - A MacDowell Colony Fellow, Stephen Karam has received national recognition for his plays columbinusColumbinuscolumbinus is a play sparked by the April 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Jefferson County, Colorado, probes the psychological warfare of alienation, hostility and social pressure that goes on in high schools across America.-Information:...
, Speech and DebateSpeech and Debate (play)Speech & Debate is a play written by Stephen Karam, which played Off-Broadway at Roundabout Underground. It starred Gideon Glick, Sarah Steele, Jason Fuchs and Susan Blackwell. The play was originally performed as a workshop production at Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre in Providence,...
and Sons of the Prophet. During his time at Brown, he wrote a nationally acclaimed Brownbrokers show titled Emma, which was reprised at The Kennedy Center American College Theatre FestivalKennedy Center American College Theater FestivalThe Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival is a national theatre program dedicated to the improvement of collegiate theatre in the United States...
in Washington, D.C., winning the Michael Kanin Playwriting Award for Musical Theatre. In May of 2011, he revisited his Brownbrokers show Emma through the New York-based company Waterwell's developmental New Works Lab.
Leadership and organization
The Brownbrokers Board is an organization of self-elected students that develops and produces new musical theatre on the Brown campus. The Board officers consist of a Board Chair, Vice Chair, Publicity Chair, Secretary and Historian elected from current members of the Board. The Board as a whole is composed of musicians, lyricists, playwrights, stage directors, actors, designers, stage managers and producersTheatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
.
The Board serves not only to produce new works in various spaces, but also as a literary resource for writers, working with the Brown University Theatre Arts and Performance Studies faculty to develop and choose its biyearly production. Brownbrokers' biyearly musicals are co-produced as part of the Sock and Buskin annual season.
In addition to the biyearly full-scale production, Brownbrokers produces smaller events such as the annual miniMUSICAL Festival and staged readings of the musicals in consideration for production the following year.