About The Show
In a poor small town in the Holy Land, a humble yet hopeful teen girl pleads with God to send the Messiah and establish a kingdom of hope and justice. God hears Mary’s prayers and sends an angel to give her a mission: to bear the promised savior. Thus this virgin brings Jesus into the world, while her boyfriend Joe doesn't know quite what to think.
Fast forward thirty years. Common-man-from-a-sketchy-family Jesus arrives in the big city, upending the traditional kingly expectation of the Messiah. He performs “miracles” and speaks great wisdom, but chooses friends from the dregs of society and hangs out in the wrong part of town. Mocked by the establishment, he is adored by the people.
Bringing an iconic story into the third millennium with contemporary vernacular and perspective, HIS STORY engages the essential struggles of our global humanity.
From The Author - Anna Miriam Brown
From The Producer - Bruce Lazarus
I suppose that there are moments in all of our lives when, for various reasons, we are moved to reflect upon the purpose of our being. 25 years ago, I stopped and took stock of my life, the ups and downs, my actions, both good and bad, my assets and my liabilities. I realized that I was on a dark road leading down a negative path that would ultimately lead to self-destruction. I prayed for help and was guided to 12 Step recovery programs. There I had a personal awakening of sorts where I made a conscious decision to right myself, move forward with honor and integrity, make amends to those I had harmed and turn my will and my life over to the care of God. I was propelled into action and over time my body, mind and spirit were all transformed. I was able then to immerse myself fully in life. I married, raised two sons, held prestigious employment positions, built businesses and gained financial security. I was energized by my accomplishments in the world. Gradually, I fell into the unfortunate trap of wanting greater and greater success. My focus on external accomplishments became a distraction from my internal growth and spiritual life. Although I was no longer on the dark road, I once again began feeling the familiar emptiness I had once known. I entered a new season of searching for meaning and purpose. Using my talents, experience and passion for theater, I decided I wanted to produce a show that would not only be a spiritual journey for an audience, but also for myself. I solicited scripts of plays and musicals about God, spirituality, religion and the search for the meaning of life. My intention was not to find Christ. Frankly, that never entered my mind.
Finding the right producing project that would fill my soul was to no avail. I put the idea on the back burner and continued on my career path. Last year I was asked by a friend to help his friend with a film project. He wondered if I would look at a stage-musical about the life of Jesus Christ written by this young girl. My first reaction was that this project wasn’t right for me so I put the material aside. Nevertheless, out of respect for my friend, I felt it only right to listen to at least one song before I rejected the work. Skeptically, I played the first song and… WOW! It was contemporary and beautifully written, arranged and orchestrated. I was immediately interested. I listened to the next song - this one a pop style and a sure HIT. Then another song that brought me to tears. Before I knew it, I had listened to the entire album and was completely enthralled. I had to know more. Here was a portrayal of a Jesus who was human, a brother and a teacher, a totally accessible man. I arranged to meet with the composer, Anna Miriam Brown, and was captivated by her energy, personality, work ethic and sheer talent. I was hooked. Without even trying, the long-desired musical about God had found me! I knew I had to bring this show to a worldwide audience. People needed to experience the magic of Anna’s telling this familiar story in a most unfamiliar way; making Jesus easily relatable to a new generation.
So here we are. The fact that you are reading this history affirms to me that we were brought together to take HIS STORY on an inspired journey for all to experience the heart of Jesus Christ as maybe never before.
I hope you will join me on this mission to produce His Story on tour throughout the United States/Canada and internationally, then on to Broadway and London’s West End. Together we can only succeed!
Videos
Team
ANNA MIRIAM BROWN (Book, Music, Lyrics). Now 21, Anna started writing His Story, The Musical at the age of 16 while on a mission to Africa. A dyslexic, unable to read or write before 9 years old, homeschooled, Anna focused instead on the arts before writing her first songs at 15. As a social-media-savvy Gen Z, she sees a chance to reach her generation with the timeless story of light and hope. Anna is an author and illustrator of over a dozen educational books, some bestsellers, for children, especially kids with Dyslexia and teens with their passions and career goals. Anna currently lives in Dallas and travels often doing research for writing projects, which include several new musicals.
JEFF CALHOUN (Director). Broadway: Disney’s Newsies (Tony Award Nomination for Best Director), Bonnie & Clyde, Jekyll & Hyde, Grey Gardens, Deaf West’s Big River (Tony Award Nomination for Best Revival of a Musical), Brooklyn, Annie Get Your Gun, Grease (Tony Award Nomination for Best Choreography),Tommy Tune Tonite, and The Will Rogers Follies. Tour and Internationally: Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 (US National Tour, London, Australia) and Disney’s High School Musical 1 & 2. Mr. Calhoun is an associate artist at The Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Covenant House International, a not-for-profit helping homeless youth in thirty cities across six countries. He recently directed A Night of Covenant House Stars (2020 and 2021) on Amazon Prime. Twitter and Instagram: @thejeffcalhoun
EAMON FOLEY (Choreographer). is the Artistic Director of Grind Arts Company. Choreography credits include Next to Normal (Writer’s Theater), Annie (The Hollywood Bowl), Merrily We Roll Along (Wallis-Annenberg Theater), Alien/Nation (Williamstown Theater Festival), and, upcoming, Guys and Dolls (Imperial Theater – Tokyo). As director-choreographer: Nine, Sweeney Todd, Cyrano, Hero, and The Last Five Years. As a performer, Broadway credits include Gypsy, Assassins, The Grinch, 13! The Musical, and Everyday Rapture. Eamon received his BA from Princeton University.
RICK HIP-FLORES (Music Supervisor & Arranger) was the musical director of Natasha, Pierre... on Broadway, and music supervisor of In Transit, Broadway’s first a cappella musical. He was Associate Musical Director of Ain’t Too Proud, and has conducted seven other Broadway shows including Fun Home, Come From Away, Bronx Tale, Groundhog Day, Beautiful, Rocky, and the Radio City Rockettes. Rick’s arrangements and orchestrations have been performed by the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and on television. Most recently, he was awarded the Kennedy Center Musical Theater Award for his work on Daddy Issues.
TOBIN OST (Set and Costume Design Consultant). Broadway: Newsies (Tony nomination-Best Set Design of a Musical), Disaster!, Jekyll & Hyde, Bonnie & Clyde, The Philanthropist and Brooklyn The Musical. Off-Broadway: Tappin’ Thru Life, Nightingale, Grace, The Overwhelming, Zanna–Don’t!, Almost Heaven and Fighting Words. Tobin has worked extensively with national regional theaters including La Jolla Playhouse, the Mark Taper Forum, Arena Stage, Huntington Theatre Company, Ford's Theatre, Goodspeed Opera House, Two River Theater Company, The Old Globe, Kansas City Rep, Yale Rep, Hartford Stage, and AllianceTheatre.
DANIEL LUNDBERG (Sound Design). Designs include New York Stage and Film, A Contemporary Theatre of Connecticut, and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live. Associate sound design and sound engineer credits include Paradise Square, Freestyle Love Supreme, Once Upon a One More Time, Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, Jagged Little Pill, An American in Paris, Shakespeare in the Park, Cirque du Soleil, and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. BFA Carnegie Mellon.
BRUCE LAZARUS (Producer). Broadway: Say Goodnight Gracie (Tony Award nomination - Best Play). Off-Broadway: Only Kidding, Shakespeare’s R&J). Bruce is the former Executive Director of Samuel French, the largest licensor of Broadway and Off-Broadway plays and musicals to the secondary market. He also has the distinction of serving as the original lead legal counsel for the most successful Broadway musical in history, Disney’s The Lion King, and the most successful Off-Broadway show in history, Blueman Group. www.linkedin.com/in/BruceLazarus.
History Of His Story
2017
17-year-old Anna Brown listens to the original cast album of Hamilton during a mission in Africa and gets the idea of making a musical about Jesus for her generation.
Over the next year Anna prays for help and writes 30 songs she calls HIS STORY that span Jesus’ life and work from before birth to after resurrection working with her sister Rachel Brown on vocal arrangements.
2018
Anna’s parents Josh and Sarah Brown devote their resources to record a concept album.
They locate and contract Pawl Zareki to arrange, orchestrate and produce the music in Warsaw, Poland and record added vocals at Longhouse Studios in Los Angeles. The album organically garners over 100,000 streams on Spotify.
Anna’s brother Isaac Brown films the recording sessions and edits into music videos for YouTube which organically garner over 100,000 views.
2019
A live sing-through of the album is presented in Kaui, Hawaii with the singers from the album including Revel Day, Jamal Moore, Gabriel Brown (no relation).
Grammy Award winning record Producer Ken Caillat (Fleetwood Mac “Rumors” album) hears the album and through a series of contacts Anna is introduced to Broadway producer Bruce Lazarus.
2020
Anna and Bruce formally execute a theatrical production agreement for worldwide rights to produce HIS STORY.
2021
Bruce engages Three-time Tony Nominee Jeff Calhoun to direct.
Jeff brings along Eamon Foley to choreograph.
Rick Hip-Flores joins as music supervisor and to do new song arrangements.
Tobin Ost and Daniel Lundberg agree to consult on scenic and sound designs.
2022
Bruce organizes a workshop with rehearsals beginning March 14, 2022 and presentations set for April 7th and 8th, 2022 in New York City.
Click here to read about the workshop on Playbill
In the coming days Bruce will be offering investment opportunities to accredited investors.
JOIN US
For sponsorship or investment opportunities, contact Bruce Lazarus
T: 310-491-5300