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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

Young journalist Raina attempts to persuade her editor, Sam, that she is the one who should research and write the exposé of spiritual teacher Mama Sid.

lyrics

RAINA
This story
It's got my name on it
There's no one else can do it right

I brought this
I’ve got a claim on it
I’m getting on that arctic flight

Good yogi I'll be
She'll gain trust in me
Then I'll strike

SAM
You know something about this lady?

RAINA
I know something
About hypocrisy
I know a lot about denial

I know something
About committing crimes
And never standing trial

One glance in her eyes
Unveils her disguise, and I know

This story is mine
I am all over it
There's no one else can do it justice

This story is mine
Sometimes you feel it so deep
You just have to trust it

So give up, give in, give me the green light
This is the story I was born to write.

(SAM looks at her for a long moment. Something in her passion persuades him. He sighs.)

SAM
Okay.

RAINA
Yes! (Kisses him passionately.)

SAM
Just land it, okay? We wouldn’t want anyone to think I was playing favorites.

(SAM exits.)

RAINA
Just like that
In a single breath
Your entire life can change

A heartbeat stopped
A tether dropped
The whole world rearranged

There’s truth to be told
And nothing to hold
Me back now

'Cause I know something
About duplicity
And something about loss

I know something
About blind ambition
And a lot about its cost

And oh, do I know anger
It’s my old and trusty friend
Now it's time for me to learn
Something about revenge

This story
This story
This story is mine

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

SAM: Noel Anthony Escobar
RAINA: Cailan Rose

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

Produced by Brad Dollar

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

The Fourth Messenger Berkeley, California

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