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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

Sid tells Raina that she’s deeply sorry for her pain. She never forgot Raina, she says, but ultimately she had to leave all attachments behind

lyrics

SID
This is the part where I kiss your head
You’re sleeping soundly; I don’t want to wake you
This is the part where I pack my bag
I pack light, I can’t afford to take too much...
This is the part where I fold up the note
That I wrote to Yasha, I prop it on the table,
This is the part where I stop at the door,
Drop my bag and run to kiss your head ONCE MORE...
This is the part where tears come
This is the part where I turn to run
This is the part where I double over
The pain is overwhelming as the day you were born

This is the part where I split in two
Strange as it sounds, there’s no other way to say it
One of me turns, but the other scoops you up,
And you’re so light, you don’t weigh a thing...
That’s how I bring you with me

And everywhere I go
You are always there
A thousand miles from home
You are always there
We gaze at the planets,
Sleep on a park bench,
Wake to a flashlight’s glare,
You are there.
You are always there.
Scavenging to eat
You are always there
I sing you to sleep
A lullaby prayer
And you give me strength
To keep on searching
Year after wandering year
A reason to care
You are there

RAINA
Was I there?

SID
You were there

RAINA
Was I always there?

SID
You were always there

SID AND RAINA
In this life we share

RAINA
I am always there

SID
You are always...

(SID positions herself beneath the freeway, exactly as she was during the temptations sequence.)

SID (CONT’D)
This is the part where I face the truth
Admit to myself that I left you long ago

RAINA
No...

SID
The part where all illusions die
RAINA
Don’t leave me, Mama

SID
This is the moment I leave behind
All that I knew

RAINA
Oh Mama, No

SID
All that I was

RAINA
Mama, no

SID
All that I held
All that I loved
Goodbye
This is the moment I am no longer “I”...

(An earth-shaking rumble starts, low at first, then building. As RAINA watches helplessly from the edge of the stage,SID’s breathing becomes louder. On the scrim her shadow grows larger and larger until it is enormous. The music rises and rises. SID reaches out her hand and touches the earth. She speaks in a voice unlike any she has used before.)

SID (CONT’D)
As the earth bears witness to the work I’ve done over a hundred thousand lifetimes, I have the right to be free.

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

SID: Vienna Teng
RAINA: Cailan Rose
ENSEMBLE: Chris Aceves, 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

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The Fourth Messenger Berkeley, California

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