DOMA Presents SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD, Now thru 6/3

DOMA Theatre Company continues its 2012 musical season with a collection of stories by multiple award-winning composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown, opens tonight, May 11 at The MET Theatre in Los Angeles. Marco Gomez directs, Dolf Ramos is musical director and Angela Todaro choreographs. The cast is comprised of four singers: Andrea Arvanigian, Malek Hanna, Mookie Johnson and Joanne O'Brien.

Songs For A New World was originally conceived as a "theatrical cabaret" to showcase the work of then-unknown Jason Robert Brown, and it put him on the map when it opened at Off-Broadway's WPA Theater in 1995, press notes state. Brown went on to win a Tony Award for Best Score for Parade in 1999 and Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics for The Last Five Years in 2001. His songs, including the cabaret standard "Stars and the Moon" from Songs For A New World, have been performed and recorded by Audra McDonald, Betty Buckley, Karen Akers, Renée Fleming, Philip Quast, Jon Hendricks and many others.

"I wrote these songs when I was struggling in a city that didn't even notice I was there, when I was a lonely and single college dropout living in a studio apartment in Greenwich Village," wrote Brown in a 2001 production note. "Songs For A New World is a show that suggests that our best solution for the stress and terror and anxiety we feel is to come together and form a community that will support and uplift each other. So my very personal little piece has turned out to shine a little light on a whole lot of people."

"Each song will become a stand-alone experience, transporting the audience to a realm where hope is the guiding light," says Gomez.

Set and costume design for Songs For A New World is by Brandy A. Jacobs, lighting design is by Cullen Pinney and sound design is by Joseph Montiel.

DOMA Theatre Company began as a joint venture between Dolf Ramos and Marco Gomez in 2002. In the beginning, DOMA provided a platform for young talent to obtain experience performing in musical Theater Productions alongside seasoned professionals. As the company grew, it partnered with The Hope & Union Foundation, a California public benefit organization dedicated to the arts and to assisting at-risk youth. Through its partnership with the Foundation, DOMA was able to stage productions including new works (Lovers' Mayhem, Gallery), revivals (Cabaret, Into The Woods, The Wild Party, Passion, Jaques Brel…), and plays (The Actor's Nightmare and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All).

Andrea Arvanigian is a former company member of X Repertory Theatre Company, located in downtown Los Angeles. She has performed internationally in Honk! The Musical, The Secret Garden (as Lily) and Seven Passages: The Stories of Gay Christians. Favorite regional roles include Maria in West Side Story, Christina in Red Light Winter, Cinderella in Into the Woods and Eponine in Les Miserables. L.A. theater credits include A Streetcar Named Desire and The Phantom Lady. She can also be seen on an episode of Disappeared for Discovery ID, airing later this season. 

Malek Hanna was seen locally in Crown City Theatre's A Chicago Christmas Carol ("power-piped Malek Hanna, delivers a workers' song that is the production's most rousing moment" – Los Angeles Times) and Cabaret (Repertory East Playhouse). Other credits include Best Vocalist Award at the IMTA-Tomorrow Talent Competition, featured soloist in Rome/Italy at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II, honorary singer at the Staples Center for the L.A. Lakers, Best Monologue Award at Upright Citizen Brigade (NYC) and IMTA Winner sitcom, monologue, singing, T.V. commercial and talent of the year. He is currently featured in Unique and Rare Magazine as 2012's new up and coming artist.

Mookie Johnson attended the Conservatory of Fine Arts on the campus Cal State LA as a young teen, then Van Nuys High School for Performing Arts where he was part of the award winning jazz ensemble, the Vannaires. He continued performing throughout high school, but it wasn't until he attended Los Angeles Valley College that he really found his passion for music. His theater credits include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, As You Like It, Fame, Pippin; Reckless and Spring Awakening.

Joanne O'Brien has appeared locally at the Hollywood Bowl, Reprise!, Cabrillo Music Theatre, Musical Theatre West, Performance Riverside, Victory Theatre Center and Court Theatre. Her theatrical credits include My Fair Lady, Assassins, On The Twentieth Century, Sweeney Todd, The Sound Of Music, Oklahoma and Judy's Scary Little Christmas in which she debuted the role of Joan Crawford. Joanne has toured over 300 cities with a show she co-produced and conceived titled An Enchanted Evening, The Music Of Broadway. As a solo artist her recordings can be found on the LML Music Label and iTunes. She has a degree in opera from the University of The Arts in Philadelphia. A very recent survivor of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, this is Joanne's first show post chemo.

Songs For A New World runs Fridays and Saturdays @ 8 pm and Sundays @ 3 pm from May 11 through June 3. Tickets range from $30 - $34.99; seniors and students with ID pay only $20. The MET Theatre is located at 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Los Angeles CA 90029. Secure, on-site parking is available for $5. For more information and to purchase tickets, call 323-465-0693 or go to www.domatheatre.com.