Jessica Coker, Coleton Schmitto, Sophie Oda, and Sidney Matthew Román Photo by Mark Kitaoka

While there is no overall plot, almost no spoken dialogue, and no characters whose identities remain the same throughout, each of the sixteen songs is a complete story unto itself, with one or more people facing a decision, a hardship, or a transition and discovering some new-found clarity or a committed resolve how to move on. Their paths and journeys, occurring any time from centuries past to maybe just yesterday, all have universal and timeless themes and emotions. Together, they ensure Songs for a New World is not just a revue of Brown's incredibly clever, hard-hitting, and meaningful lyrics set to music ranging from pop to gospel, show tune, and jazz, they guarantee that it rips with messages loud and clear that the decisions we make, the choices we take for involvement in our world, and the people we seek to befriend and to love can and will make a difference not only for us individually, but for us as a whole.

Cindy Goldfield creatively and astutely directs both the action and the employed movements of the cast in a setting beautifully designed by Eric Olson in which the stage floor is like a fabulously conceived map with distinct markings such as "The Lonely Desert," "The Isle of Regret," and "The Road of Shaded Responsibility" and surrounded by "The Ocean of Desire" and the "Sea of Tranquility." The rippling waves of rivers and oceans and dappled shadows of beaches and forests that appear across this mini-continent are just a fraction of Pamila Gray's array of lighting artistry. In the background is the three-piece band directed by Jad Bernardo whose active interaction, echoing, and duets with the singers make the band a gorgeously intoned fifth partner as the quartet of actors convey the powerful, captivating stories of Brown's compositions.

But it is the decision by Cindy Goldfield also to harness the visual potency of six various-sized screens that truly makes Hillbarn's Songs for a New World a production that deserves every seat sold for every curtain's opening. Projected photographs and videos, all designed by Director Goldfield, ring with recent-and-current-event relevancy and transform the words of each song to become messages about the images and headlines we see and read every day concerning our troubled world.

When Sidney Matthew Román stirs our souls with a voice that cries out in deep supplication as a sea captain prays for the safety of those under his command ("On the Deck of a Spanish Sailing Ship, 1492"), on stage two, frightened, wave-battered women clutch their babies as we also see projected pictures of immigrants waiting in lines, people packed tightly in small boats, and frightened children whose pictures could have been from yesterday's latest ICE raids.

Sophie Oda's deeply affecting soprano seeps into our beings and caresses our hearts as a young woman reacting to the news of her pregnancy. As she sings of "the future of the world inside me" ("Christmas Lullaby"), multiple photos of pro-life and pro-choice protesters flash before us along with pictured locations of a local Planned Parenthood and a "testing for pregnancy" office.

In sung notes that strike like bullets, a mother in 1775 searches for meaning in a war she does not quite understand since it has taken away her son from her. As Jessica Coker holds us in stunned empathy for this Revolutionary War-era mother's alternations between grief and anger in "The Flagmaker, 1775," she also sings with a resolve to do what she can to help by picking up a needle and sewing another star, another stripe on a flag. Concurrently, we see photographs of flag-draped caskets and thousands of grave markers at a national cemetery–all taking on increased significance given the events of the past week in the Middle East.

In a scene too familiar to anyone who has walked through San Francisco's Tenderloin or Mission District, two down-and-out residents of the street (Coleton Schmitto and Sidney Matthew Román) sing a rousing "The River Won't Flow" and how "you gotta live" and "you gotta do" when that "river never flows for you." As they are joined by the two female cast members in rolling harmonies of "flow, flow, flow," scenes of tent cities and photo after photo of the life-hardened faces of those living on the streets parade across the screens.

Each of the four actors has several chances to wow the audience with performances that zing with assuredness, cry out in regret, or even delight with a surprise bit of humor. Jessica Coker sings with fierce energy and melodramatic scorn in a Kurt Weill-flavored "Surabaya Santa," as Mrs. Claus decides to escape the "claws" of Santa Claus. Her gutsy, powerhouse vocals raise the roof as a woman stands on the edge of an apartment building's 57th floor ledge and desperately tries to get the attention of her neglecting husband ("Just One Step").

With a voice that is crystal clear in tone, Sophie Oda impressively and intensely demonstrates multiple vocal variations declaring "I'm Not Afraid of Anything" as a woman realizes how others' fears are holding her back from moving ahead with courage. Time and again, Coleton Schmitto not only makes his mark vocally but also highlights the meanings of songs like "She Cries" and "The World Was Dancing" with expressive eyes, telling poses, and arresting facial expressions that add increased meaning to the words so well sung. Sidney Matthew Román's tenor voice haunts with its raw vulnerability combined with radiant hope as a dead soldier coming to grips with his fate on a journey to his afterlife in "Flying Home."

Each of the songs presented is well worth the price of the ticket given the combined artistry and insights of director, band, actors, and creative team. Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory strikes deep chords with its timely, touching, and thought-provoking Songs for a New World in a production well worth a night at live theatre.

Songs for a New World runs through March 22, 2026, at Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory, 1285 East Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City CA. For tickets and information, please visit www.hillbarntheatre.org or call 650-349-6411.