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.
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$15USDor 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
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about
Spiritual teacher Mama Sid (Vienna Teng) coaches Myra (Annemaria Rajala), a woman coping with cancer on dealing with her feelings of fear.
lyrics
SONG: THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE
SID
See the fear
MYRA
I see the fear
SID
What color is it?
MYRA
White.
SID
What shade?
MYRA
Blinding.
SID
Like sun on snow?
MYRA
Yes.
SID
Breathe through the fear
MYRA
Breathe through the fear
I’m trying to breathe through the fear
But how can I breathe through the fear?
SID
Feel the fear
Name the fear
It’s just another
Texture here
Feel your Heart rate rising
The sweat appear
Part of the human experience
MYRA
Part of the human experience
SID
Now see the fear
The shape of the fear
Focus till it’s crystal clear
You’re outside of it now, peering in
At all of this human experience
MYRA
All of this human experience
SID
Now you are a painter
Noticing the light on the trees
now you are a scientist
Gazing through a microscope
You are a detective gathering clues
So keenly attuned
To everything around and inside you.
SID (GRADUALLY JOINED BY ENSEMBLE)
Joy and doubt
Fear and rage
Feel them spark, ignite, and blaze
Let them burn themselves clean
And evaporate
Like all of this human experience
SID
Now see the grief
Name the grief
MEN
So tired of holding on so tight
SID
The act of naming brings relief
WOMEN
So tired of keeping up the fight
SID
Heavy, light, shallow, deep
ALL EXCEPT SID AND RAINA
Step outside your suffering
ALL EXCEPT RAINA
Part of the human experience
(SID returns to Myra.)
SID
See the fear
Feel the fear
MYRA
Hello, fear
I know you, fear
You’re part of the human
SID
Part of the human
ALL
Part of the human experience.
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
MAMA SID: Vienna Teng
MYRA: Annemaria Rajala
ENSEMBLE: Chris Aceves, Robert Brewer, Anna Ishida, Barnaby James, Maria Mikheyenko, Leandra Ramm, Ashley Simms
Piano and keyboards: Ryan O'Connell
Violin: Anthony Blea
Cello: Freya Seeburger
Drums: Ken Bergmann
supported by 37 fans who also own “The Human Experience”
Ich werde nie den Moment vergessen, wie ich in Schwerin in einem Media-Markt das Album Warm Strangers bei den Reinhör-Stationen gesehen habe. Scheinbar hatte jamnd anders sich die CD zuvor reingezogen und dort liegen lassen. Das Cover hat mich angesprochen und ich hab die CD sofort in einen der CD-Spieler getan. Ich war hin und weg und knapp bei Kasse, und hab trotzdem die CD sofort gekauft. Vielen Dank, Vienna, für diese wunderschöne Erinnerung. mpfau
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