{"id":205665,"date":"2026-05-08T06:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T11:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=205665"},"modified":"2026-05-08T23:58:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T04:58:22","slug":"review-songs-for-a-new-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/05\/08\/review-songs-for-a-new-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: VWCT’s Songs for a New World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Dave Mosier<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert Civic Theatre\u2019s final production of the 2025-26 season is Songs for a New World,<\/em> an interesting hybrid of theatrical song cycle and musical that presents situations and decisions related to the human experience. The title has a double meaning, since it refers to historical discovery as well as personal change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The songs, written and composed by Tony-winning songsmith Jason Robert Brown, encompass a wide range of styles and subject matter, from wry humor to emotional loss, and usually involve some pivotal moment in a character\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The play, which premiered off-Broadway three decades ago, is usually produced with a small cast — often just two men and two women who play a variety of roles — but The VWCT production doubles that number to eight — two men and six women — to give more actors an opportunity to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Van Wert Civic Theatre’s production of “Songs for a New World” will premiere tonight (Friday). Photo submitted<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The two-act show begins, as usual, with a big production number, while the remaining 15 songs are an eclectic mix that includes the darkly humorous \u201cJust One Step\u201d about a woman on a ledge trying to get her husband\u2019s attention, \u201cI\u2019m Not Afraid of Anything\u201d about being brave, \u201cStars and the Moon\u201d about the consequences of choosing security over love, the rocking \u201cSteam Train\u201d about a man\u2019s ambition that leads to tragedy and, my personal favorite, \u201cHear My Song\u201d, which features a lovely duet between two
mothers as they talk to their daughters about . Another darkly comedic tune is \u201cSurobaya-Santa\u201d, which features a bitter Mrs. Claus complaining to a slobby, beer-drinking Santa about her disappointing life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two historical figures are also included in the play: Christopher Columbus in \u201cOn the Deck of a Spanish Sailing Ship, 1492\u201d and Betsy Ross in \u201cThe Flagmaker, 1775.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director Amy Boley has brought together a talented eight-person cast that includes longtime VWCT veterans, several actors seen in more recent Civic Theatre productions and some talented newcomers. The production is challenging for the actors, since each cast member must take on several roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Boley also wears many hats for the production, as she choreographed the show, designed the minimalist set and the light set-up, as well as directing. Music co-directors Mark Sampson and Dan Basinger also do a good job of providing the musical underpinnings of the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cast includes decades-long veterans Nancy Shuffle and Kristin Lee, as well as Nick Long, who has acted in several recent VWCT productions (including this season\u2019s Bonnie & Clyde musical), Sean Carpenter, Laura Wells, Alyssa Wells, Virgo Lee, and Amanda Block, with Shuffle, Kristin Lee, Long, and Laura Wells especially excellent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The show is well worth seeing, includes a number of musical genres and is exceptionally tuneful, as well as thought provoking at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Songs for a New World<\/em> premieres this Friday and runs through the weekend and the weekend of May 15-17. Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m., while Sunday matinees start at 2 p.m. Tickets are $16 apiece and can be purchased online at https:\/\/vwct.org<\/a> or by calling 419.238.9689.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dave Mosier Van Wert Civic Theatre\u2019s final production of the 2025-26 season is Songs for a New World, an interesting hybrid of theatrical song cycle and musical that presents situations and decisions related to the human experience. The title has a double meaning, since it refers to historical discovery as well as personal change. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-16 00:57:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205665"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205706,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205665\/revisions\/205706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}