We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/
  • 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

Determined young journalist Raina (Cailan Rose) squares off with spiritual teacher Mama Sid (Vienna Teng) in an effort to get her to open up about her past.

lyrics

RAINA
Knock knock

SID
Who’s there?

RAINA
Someone who wants to know you
The you when you were younger, still becoming
Knock knock

SID
Who’s there?

RAINA
Someone who needs the whole truth
Someone who wants to know the steps and stumbling
Your students open up
And reveal themselves to you
If you would do the same,
We could see you’re human too
And start to feel we also can break through!

SID
Knock knock

RAINA
Who’s there?

SID
The welcome mat is empty
The clamor in your ears is your soul calling
Knock knock

RAINA
Who’s there?

SID
I know it can be tempting
But focusing outside yourself, you're stalling
The road map of our suffering
leads right back to ourselves
There’s nothing to be gained
Imitating someone else
I offer you a compass
But my path isn’t yours
You’ve got to open up your own doors

RAINA
I see.

SID
You see?

RAINA
Oh sure.
Knock knock

SID
Who’s there?

RAINA
Now everything is clearer
How carefully you craft these lessons for us
Knock knock

SID
Who’s there?

RAINA
You’re holding up a mirror
For us to understand ourselves—how generous!
And how convenient that you’re standing
Behind the one-way glass
A teacher never shows
Any weakness to her class
Or if she ever screwed up
Somewhere in her past...
Now you are a guru
Though of course you never use the name
Now you are a hero
Even as you seem to shun your fame
Rise high above the rest
No secrets to confess
You're building the mystique of the
Beautiful, flawless, untarnished
And wise Mama Sid
It's a brilliant story
A brilliant story-

SID
Peace.

RAINA
Hm?

SID
Why are you here?
What is it that you yearn for?
I'd like to understand what drives your anger

RAINA
Knock knock

SID
Who’s there?

RAINA
I'm doing you a favor
I'm giving you a chance to live with candor

SID AND RAINA
You're clinging tight to something
That's bringing you to grief
Until you can release it,
You'll never find relief
And don't you know the truth will set you free?

RAINA
Knock knock

SID
Who’s there?
Knock knock

RAINA
Who’s there?

SID AND RAINA
Knock knock
Knock knock.

credits

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

RAINA: Cailan Rose
MAMA SID: Vienna Teng

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

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

The Fourth Messenger Berkeley, California

contact / help

Contact The Fourth Messenger

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like The Fourth Messenger, you may also like: