The making of a musical
“Knowing when to start the music is always one of my favorite jobs,” said Jason Robert Brown, striding to a Steinway piano in the corner of the Davison Room in the Loeb Music Library. The Tony Award-winning Broadway composer, who is the Blodgett Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Harvard this spring, was guest teaching in Professor Carol Oja’s seminar on American musical theater. He sounded a low, dirge-like note on the piano. “Music changes the tenor of the room,” Brown said, striking the key over and over. “No matter what you’re talking about” — dum — “the music will determine the entire context in which you hear that” — dum — “so that what I’m saying sounds vaguely ominous” — dum. “This just changed the molecules of the room that much.” Next came a staccato plink. Plink. Plink. Plink. “If I did this, you’d all be sitting and waiting to find out what I was going to tell you....