Edges is a work of musical theatre

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Justin Paul

-Biography:Justin was raised in Connecticut and attended Music Theatre of Connecticut School of Performing Arts in Westport, CT as well as Staples High School in Westport, CT. He graduated from the University of Michigan in December 2006 with a BFA in Musical Theatre.He is the co-creator of the...

. It is a song cycle

Song cycle

A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...

 about coming of age, growth and self-discovery of people mostly in their 20s. Its most famous song, "Be My Friend", has come to be commonly known as the "Facebook song".

History

The musical was written by Pasek and Paul in 2005 when they were 19-year-old undergraduates in musical theatre at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

. They decided to write their own show after being unhappy with the roles they were assigned in musical theatre productions at the school.

In 2006 the duo won a $20,000 Jonathan Larson Award, becoming the youngest to have ever won the award, which was established by the estate of Rent

Rent (musical)

Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...

composer Jonathan Larson

Jonathan Larson

Jonathan Larson was an American composer and playwright noted for the serious social issues of multiculturalism, addiction, and homophobia explored in his work. Typical examples of his use of these themes are found in his works, Rent and tick, tick... BOOM!...

 to encourage composers, lyricists, and bookwriters at the beginning of their careers.

Productions

After over 30 productions at colleges across the United States, the first professional production was at the Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany, New York

Albany, New York

Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

 in 2007. Justin Paul was musical director for the production. The show has now been done over 100 times across North America, Asia, Australia, Europe and Africa.

A 2008 Toronto production featured Sara Farb, Jordan Bell, Eric Craig and Gabi Epstein.

In 2010, Edges was brought out to Australia by James Anthony Productions in Sydney to the Parade Theatre in Kensington.

A Philippine production ran for three weeks in July 2010 at the Ateneo de Manila University

Ateneo de Manila University

The Ateneo de Manila University is a private teaching and research university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 when the City of Manila handed control of the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila, to the Jesuits...

. It was staged by Ateneo Blue Repertory under the direction of Mahar Mangahas.

A production is planned to be performed at The Landor Theatre, London, UK from May 31st - 5th June 2011, the inaugural production of Notion Theatre Company, directed by Katherine Hare

Katherine Hare

Katherine Elizabeth Hare is an English theatre director.-Early years:Hare was born in Cambridge, England to John Hare, a farmer, and Celia Hare...

and with musical direction by Leigh Thompson.

The South African premiere production took place in June 2011, directed by Paul Griffiths with musical direction by Garth Tavares. The cast featured Roland Perold, Luella Holland, Shannyn Fourie and David Fick. The production will tour to the South African National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in July.

Song List

Become

Monticello

Lying There

I Hmm You

Along The Way

Pretty Sweet Day

Perfect

Coasting

In Short

Dispensible

I Once Knew

I've Gotta Run

Part of a Painting

Ready To Be Loved

Breathing

Additional Songs

Giant World

Boy With Dreams

Be My Friend

Caitlyn And Haley

Man of My Dreams






For samples of the music: http://www.pasekandpaul.com Also the official website of Pasek & Paul