Randy Newman

We're all very excited at TMT these days as we prepare for the upcoming Masque of Irony shows, put finishing touches on the plans for our 2011-12 season, and look ahead to the Masques of Orpheus production in May. These all involve meetings, planning sessions and lots of dreaming! The first two can be exhausting and challenging, but I never get tired of the dreaming part.

In listening to and familiarizing myself with a wide array of Randy Newman songs in preparation for this show, I'm struck by the dreams that lie within them, between the lines and buried in the music. We've titled the program "Masque of Irony", acknowledging that a lot of Newman's songs are ironic and his message is often offered through the veil of cyncism and biting humour. But this is all on the surface. When one digs a little deeper, there's a tremendous humanity
and sad beauty in these pieces. Newman's targets tend to be ignorance and pig-headedness, especially of his fellow Americans and many of America's leaders and he often directs his criticism towards himself, questioning the values and ethics he's grown up with.

But at the very heart of these songs is a dream: for us to take advantage of the opportunity to make better choices, as a society and as individuals. It's the classic search for the true meaning of America and the possibility of a new world. I'm very grateful to Ben Butterfield for turning my attention to these beautiful, sardonic, at times hilarious and touching songs, and I look forward to performing them with him for you on the 25th and 26th.