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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    This album of songs from the new musical "The Fourth Messenger" stars Vienna Teng as Mama Sid, a world-renowned spiritual teacher with a hidden past. Loosely inspired by the Buddha legend, this contemporary re-imagining poses the question of whether and how it's possible to be both enlightened and flawed.

    This pre-order package includes a physical CD and a digital download, to be released November 7, 2015.

    Music by Vienna Teng, lyrics by Tanya Shaffer and Vienna Teng, directed by Matt August, orchestrated/music directed by Ryan O'Connell.

    "An absolute delight." - SF Chronicle • "Profound and profane, combative and compassionate… Teng’s complex harmonies and inspired melodies stick with you long after the curtain goes down." - Art Animal • "Hugely ambitious and refreshingly original…Teng is a fresh and exciting new theatrical talent with a distinctive voice of her own…" - Huffington Post • "Masterful and compelling…both timeless and contemporary." - Stage and Cinema

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Fourth Messenger, featuring Vienna Teng via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 7 days

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • What if the Buddha were a woman, living in our times? In this captivating new musical, Mama Sid is a modern-day “awakened one” with a worldwide following. But a determined young woman seeks to unearth Mama Sid’s mysterious past, exposing long-held secrets that could change everything. Epic and intimate, comic and profound, The Fourth Messenger investigates what it means to be both enlightened and human. Book and lyrics by Tanya Shaffer, music and additional lyrics by Vienna Teng. Script includes all lyrics and text, not musical score.

    This is a digital pre-order. The PDF will be released on November 7, in conjunction with The Fourth Messenger album featuring Viena Teng.

    “An exciting and ambitious project, driven by Teng's eclectic score, Shaffer's inspired rewrites of the Buddha story, and their punchy, provocative lyrics… An absolute delight.” - San Francisco Chronicle • “Intelligent and skillfully crafted…hugely ambitious and refreshingly original... Shaffer's musical has the audience emotionally involved and on the edge of their seats.” - The Huffington Post • “A satisfying and remarkably entertaining new musical that takes on spiritual life with wit and emotional resonance…” - KQED/NPR • “Beautiful...A triumph… Shaffer’s book brims with intelligence and wit… ” - Theater Dogs • “Masterful and compelling...both timeless and contemporary…” - Stage and Cinema
    ... more

      $5 USD or more 

     

about

Following the revelation of her secret, Sid stands before the press and her followers, fielding questions and accusations.

lyrics

REPORTERS
Mama Sid, Mama Sid, would you give us a statement?

YOGIS
Mama Sid, Mama Sid, are they telling the truth?

REPORTERS
Mama Sid, Mama Sid, does your own daughter hate you?

YOGIS
Mama Sid, Mama Sid, I am really confused.

REPORTERS
Mama Sid, Mama Sid, do you have other secrets?

YOGIS
Mama Sid, Mama Sid, is this some kind of test?

REPORTERS
Mama Sid, Mama Sid, do you prey on their weakness?

(Indicating yogis)

DEREKH, MYRA
Mama Sid, Mama Sid, just don’t talk to the press!

REPORTER 1
Mama Sid, will you quit teaching
Now that your past has been exposed?

MYRA AND DEREKH
No!
REPORTER 2
Mama Sid, how can you justify
Being so hard, so brutal, so cold

MYRA
This is totally unfair!

DEREKH
If she were a man, nobody would care!

REPORTER 3
She left her boyfriend alone with an infant

REPORTERS
Never told anyone that she had a kid

MIKE
We thought you'd achieved earthly perfection!

(The following YOGIS’ and REPORTERS’ lines are sung simultaneously.)

REPORTERS
Aren't you ashamed of what you did?
Aren't you ashamed of what you did?
Aren't you ashamed of what you did, what you did?

YOGIS
Mama Sid, Mama Sid
Mama Sid, Mama Sid
What you did, what you did

ALL
Are you ashamed?

credits

from The Fourth Messenger, featuring Vienna Teng, released November 10, 2015
Music by Vienna Teng
Lyrics by Tanya Shaffer
Directed by Matt August
Music Directed and Orchestrated by Ryan O'Connell

SID: Vienna Teng
ENSEMBLE: Chris Aceves, Robert Brewer, Anna Ishida, Barnaby James, Maria Mikheyenko, Annemaria Rajala, Leandra Ramm, Ashley Simms


Piano and keyboards: Ryan O'Connell
Violin: Anthony Blea
Cello: Freya Seeburger
Drums: Ken Bergmann

Produced by Brad Dollar

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about

The Fourth Messenger Berkeley, California

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