Jason Robert Brown

Jason Robert Brown was born in 1970 to Jewish Stuart and Deborah Brown. He grew up in the suburbs of New York City, and then attended Eastman School of Music, until he dropped out and moved back to New York City to pursue his career in the theater. In New York he worked as a piano player for nightclubs and cabarets until he met Daisy Prince, daughter of the famous Hal Prince. Together, with his songs and her direction, they got together his first show, 'Songs for a New World', which opened in 1995 when Brown was twenty-five, and was a collection of his songs and ran for twenty-eight performances. Next he wrote the music for 'Parade' which was directed by Hal Prince. It premiered on December 17, 1998, ran for eight-five performances and won for Brown the Tony for Best Original Score. His third show, 'The Last Five Years', which he also worked on with Daisy Prince, was slightly based on his failed marriage to Terri O'Neill, Daisy's secretary. The show opened in Illinois in 2001 and wa