From Tony Award-winning composer JASON ROBERT BROWN (PARADE) comes a timely new musical about two talented young journalists on increasingly diverging paths. Set in the late 1990s amid a rapidly changing media landscape we meet a fast-rising journalist, Ethan Dobson, and an assistant copy editor, Robin Martinez, at the revered magazine The Connector. In a world that values the next big sensation, Ethan’s writing prowess and ambition force him to confront how far he’ll go for the ultimate scoop and Robin to consider how far she’ll go to stop him.
With a book by JONATHAN MARC SHERMAN, THE CONNECTOR will feature Brown leading the band at each performance and reuniting with THE LAST FIVE YEARS and SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD director DAISY PRINCE.
Following a book that lurches from satire to workplace drama, Brown’s score surfs various idioms, none of which really stick. There are stretches of ’90s power pop (reminiscent of Jonathan Larson), bossa nova, Hamilton–style hip hop, and an overblown sequence set in Israel (or which Ethan claims happens in Israel) where klezmer rock gives way to a Bo Diddley beat. Brown is too strong a composer not to produce intriguing melodies and colorful orchestration and arrangements, but few songs emerge from dimensional people with conflicts we can care about; it’s mostly abstract notions of language, truth, or sexist power structures. Having contributed major works such as Parade and The Bridges of Madison County, plus the beloved two-hander The Last Five Years, Brown deserves a better foundation for his talents.
The Connector ultimately falls victim to a problem not unlike Dobson’s: the story spun is fun but its details are sketchy, the piece easily strayed by colorful characters too easy in their writerly employs, and an overall tendency toward editorial world-building (Beowulf Boritt does great scenic design work) when journalistic acuity would present a better study.
2018 | Regional (US) |
Powerhouse Season Workshop Regional (US) |
2024 | Off-Broadway |
MCC Theater Off-Broadway Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical | Márion Talán de la Rosa |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Musical | Daisy Prince |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical | Ben Levi Ross |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical | Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Jason Robert Brown |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Jason Robert Brown |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Musical | The Connector |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Projection and Video Design | Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Jonathan Marc Sherman |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Daisy Prince |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical | Jessica Molaskey |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical | Hannah Cruz |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical | Ben Levi Ross |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical | The Connector |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Jason Robert Brown |
2024 | The Lortels | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical | Jessica Molaskey |
2024 | The Lortels | Outstanding Projection Design | Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew |
Videos