| What: Songs for a New World by Jason Robert Brown Presented by and featuring: The Byron Bure Academy of Theatre Arts (BBATA) Venue: The Wave Theatre (Above Tigers Milk, 44 Long Street, Cape Town) Dates: April 29 – May 10, 2026 Duration: Approximately 2.5 hours (including a 20-minute interval) Tickets: R200 Direct booking link: https://catchthewave.co.za/tc-events/songs-for-a-new-world/ Director: Byron Groenewald-Bure Assistant director: Tara Macpherson Musical director: Casey Wallace Choreography: Jessica de Bod and Wendy Henrique Physical theatre: Luyanda Jantjies |
In celebration of its 10th birthday, The Byron Bure Academy of Theatre Arts (BBATA) in Cape Town is staging Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World, April 29 – May 10, 2026 at the Wave Theatre. Bure talks about the production and BBATA:
TheCapeRobyn: Firstly, pease tell us about Songs for a New World and your academy’s production?
Byron Bure: Songs for a New World, is a song cycle which was first performed in 1994. It was revived in 2018, with minor tweaks. We’re doing the 2018 version. We have gender-bent some roles. But the overall message stays the same. The song cycle tells 14 different stories, all connected by a theme: Hitting a wall and having to make a choice; either taking a stand or to turn back. The musical was originally staged with four performers – two male and two female, with the emphasis of storytelling with very little, to no movement. In BBATA’s production, we have 13 cast members, and use beautiful staging, choreography, physical theatre as well as chorus voices, to bring the musical to life.
TCR: How you are dealing with the narrative, conceptually, in your production?
BB: Each song takes us on a journey, where the characters hit a wall. We’ve used a simple “black box” set, with sharp edges, angles and levels that can be adapted to each scenario. Watching the characters navigate this space helps guide the audience through the stories.
TCR: Can you tell us about the cast of 13?
BB: Our cast’s ages range from 23 to 40. The cast is typical for BBATA -similar to our classes)- a collection of artists that are either studying at our academy, those who enjoy partaking in the arts after their normal 9-5s or those who simply are looking to upskill, hone or upkeep their craft as graduates from other institutions. BBATA is home to any performer.
TCR: The context for your production? Is it set in the USA? The “character-driven songs reference locations and times, from 1492 to a contemporary New York City penthouse. And in your production?
BB: We are following the script as intentionally written. The music written for each song depicts the scene they are in, both geographically and temporally. The stories, however, are very relatable to any South African audience member.
TCR: Have you re-arranged, recorded your own backtracks?
BB: No, we are using the original backing tracks.
TCR: Design – set and costumes – insights please?
BB: The set has been designed by Curated, which is operated by Stephan Fourie who has considerable experience in theatre design and production. The mood reference is “The edge of choice”. That picks up on the overarching message of the musical. For costumes, we’ve gone with the idea of being “devoid of choice” – all the costumes are all in a neutral palette, allowing audience members to focus on the storytelling.
TCR: Why have you chosen Songs for A New Worls as your 10th anniversary celebration piece for your academy?
BB: I chose this piece as it gives more opportunities to our performers – everyone gets a chance to shine. The show itself is relatively well known in the musical theatre world. It’s written by Jason Robert Brown, also known for “The Last Five Years”, “Parade” and “Honeymoon in Vegas”. Songs for a New World turned 30 in 2025, and a revival was done to celebrate its anniversary at the Hammersmith Apollo. Personally, I’ve always loved the music, its incredible harmonies and I would not want to do it anywhere else, with the students who show daily dedication to our amazing craft.
TCR: Can you tell us about your academy? You offer “personalized and group drama, musical theatre and dance classes for all ages in Cape Town”? Do people attend to upskill and also to continuously improve their stage craft?
BB: BBATA is a place for anyone who is interested in developing their performance skills. We have drama classes for all skill levels – beginner to advanced= including private classes that aim students towards their diplomas in Speech and Drama. We offer private and group singing classes, where students can obtain their diplomas in Musical Theatre. Dance classes are offered in tap, Broadway jazz, hip hop, cabaret, contemporary as well as dance stretch and fitness classes. We also offer physical theatre classes. Anyone can join – it’s a safe space for people to grow and our aim is to allow that growth to happen at a pace that works for the individual, while also being affordable, and of a very high quality.
TCR: How did this academy come about? You are an award winning graduate of the Waterfront Theatre School. You taught there and then started the academy in 2016. You obviously responded to a need for tuition in musical theatre and dance?
BB: I responded to a need for affordable education that was personalised to the individual needing it. When teaching, I noticed the importance of one-on-one training – alongside group classes – when working with the voice and acting. When learning, each person moves at a different pace to others, and when building the basis of strong technique, it’s important to make sure the foundation is strong. It’s important for actors to feel seen – especially when learning. Sometimes oversized classes force some people to be pushed to the back row. It’s not very helpful when building a performer.
TCR: Do you run courses?
BB: We are a part-time academy. Our classes run every week throughout the whole year, and we only take a 4/5 week break over December/January. I wouldn’t call them courses, as those would have an end date. We offer diplomas through Trinity College, the same as Waterfront Theatre School – again, this is only if people wish to do them. These diplomas generally take a minimum of 3 years, but again, if they’ve done some previous training or certificates, it can take quicker. As people who attend our classes are often in other shows, they have the option of joining when they can. Our private classes are offered from 08h30 – 19h00, Monday to Friday and between 9h30 and 16h00 on Saturdays. Our adult group classes take place from 17h00 – 20h15 Monday to Thursday.
We have many people who are working in the industry doing singing lessons at BBATA – to learn new repertoire, help with auditions and to keep their vocals fresh and active.
TCR: Do you offer acting for film – and acting for self-taping auditions?
BB: We mainly focus on acting for stage – but we of course help students with self-tapes and some on screen acting – this is imperative for learning how to navigate auditions for commercials etc.
TCR: Do you receive funding?
BB: No, we do not receive funding. The fees pay our costs. We do this for the love of community and theatre. This is a school – not a business.
TCR: For those not familiar with the song cycle, can you give a synopsis of each number – and how performers were briefed?
BB: Here’s a breakdown of each song:
1. Opening Sequence: The New World
Brief: The company introduces the evening’s theme: that at any moment, one unexpected event can upend and change a life entirely.
Emotional: It’s a warning and an invitation at once — life feels solid until it isn’t, and this show is about that exact moment of rupture. The ground you’re standing on has always been thinner than you thought.
2. On the Deck of a Spanish Sailing Ship, 1492
Brief: A ship’s captain, sailing toward an undiscovered country, prays for the safety of everyone aboard.
Emotional: A man in charge of other people’s lives, in the middle of the unknown, with nothing but prayer left to offer. It’s about the loneliness of leadership and the smallness of every human being when the ocean has no end.
3. Just One Step
Brief: A wealthy wife stands on the ledge of her 57th-floor apartment to get her neglectful husband’s attention.
Emotional: This is what desperation looks like when you have everything except the one thing that matters. She climbs out onto the ledge not to die, but to finally be seen — and the tragedy is that it’s come to this.
4. I’m Not Afraid of Anything
Brief: A young woman reflects on the fears of the people around her and realises those fears have been holding her back.
Emotional: She names everyone else’s fear like an inventory and somewhere in the counting, realises she’s been carrying it all for them. This is the moment she decides to put it down.
5. The River Won’t Flow
Brief: Two people swap stories of bad luck and hardship, concluding that for some people, misfortune is simply fate.
Emotional: Two people at the bottom, not raging at injustice but something sadder — having made peace with it. It’s about the quiet devastation of a life where even hope has worn out.
6. Stars and the Moon
Brief: A woman recounts two poor suitors and the wealthy man she married, realising what she sacrificed in choosing comfort over love.
Emotional: It’s a ghost story she tells on herself — the slow realisation that she traded the love for wealth. The tragedy isn’t the choice; it’s how reasonable it seemed at the time.
7. She Cries
Brief: A man describes the emotional hold a manipulative woman has over him, and his inability to break free of her.
Emotional: He knows exactly what she’s doing and he stays anyway — because love doesn’t require you to be blind, only helpless. This is a man who sees the trap clearly and walks back into it every time.
8. The Steam Train
Brief: A teenager from a poor New York neighbourhood boasts about her future as a basketball star, while a spoken monologue reveals the real disadvantages she’s fighting to overcome.
Emotional: Bravado is the survival strategy. Underneath the swagger is a kid who has mapped out exactly how far the odds are stacked against her and has decided to shout louder than her circumstances.
9. The World Was Dancing
Brief: A man tells how his father bought and then lost a store, and how that experience led him to leave his fiancée.
Emotional: One man’s failure echoes into the next generation’s choices — a son who watched love and loss get tangled together so early that he can’t separate them. He leaves before he can be left.
10. Surabaya-Santa
Brief: In a parody of the Kurt Weill song Surabaya Johnny, Mrs. Claus delivers a scornful farewell to her neglectful husband.
Emotional: Behind every jolly man in a red suit is someone who did all the work and got none of the credit. This is the funny, furious roar of a woman finally handing back everything she was never thanked for.
11. Christmas Lullaby
Brief: A woman discovers she is pregnant and reacts with wonder and joy, comparing herself to the Virgin Mary.
Emotional: Quiet and radiant — a woman holding the enormity of new life and finding, in the oldest story ever told, a mirror for her own. It’s about the moment everything changes and somehow feeling less alone because of it.
12. King of the World
Brief: A man in some form of imprisonment — literal or metaphorical — demands to be freed and restored to his rightful place as a leader.
Emotional: Whether the walls are real or built from ego, this man’s certainty of his own greatness is both his prison and his only comfort. It’s about the line between conviction and delusion, and how thin it really is.
13. I’d Give It All for You
Brief: Two former lovers reunite after trying to live without each other and reckon with what brought them back.
Emotional: They tried to prove they didn’t need each other and failed, and now they’re back in the same room with all the same unresolved truths. It’s about the love that outlasts the decision to leave.
14. The Flagmaker, 1775
Brief: A woman whose husband and son are at war sews a flag, trying to hold onto hope and keep her household standing.
Emotional: Her hands are doing the work of a revolution her heart isn’t sure she believes in anymore. She is the invisible labour behind every great cause — stitching faith into cloth while waiting for news that may never come.
15. Flying Home
Brief: A soldier killed in battle sings as his body is flown home to his mother and he passes into another life.
Emotional: Death rendered as tenderness — a boy making his last journey home, not in triumph but in peace. It’s a goodbye sung by someone who no longer needs anything from the living, only to be carried gently the rest of the way.
16. Final Transition: The New World / Hear My Song
Brief: The company closes the show expressing hope forged through hardship, and the strength they’ve found in each other — sung as if offering a lullaby to a child.
Emotional: After all the grief and longing and failure in the show, this is what’s left: not answers, but resilience. They’ve been through it and they’re still here, still singing — and they want you to know that counts for something.
❇ Songs for a New World by Jason Robert Brown, staging in Cape Town, The Byron Bure Academy of Theatre Arts, April 29 – May 10, 2026, The Wave Theatre. Pic: Supplied.
