Broadway’s Josh Walden directs SDSU’s musical production of “A New Brain”

Broadway actor, director, choreographer, and San Diego State University visiting artist Josh Walden saw the premiere of “A New Brain” off-broadway at Lincoln Center in 1998. Now, Walden is directing the show on SDSU’s Prebys Stage running Wed. Dec. 4 - Sun. Dec. 8.

“It’s been full circle,” Walden said. 

Written by the Tony Award-winning creators of “Falsettos,” “A New Brain” is an energetic, sardonic, often comical musical about a composer during a medical emergency. 

Gordon collapses into his lunch and awakes in the hospital, surrounded by his maritime-enthusiast lover, his mother, a co-worker, the doctor, and nurses. He had been composing a song, and his unfinished work haunts him throughout his medical ordeal.

“People coming to see the show are going to see a human being go through a highly traumatic situation,” Walden said. “Hopefully through observing how they navigate, they can actually look at their own life and say, ‘What's important to my life?’”

“Though [Gordon] thinks the importance is what he creates, at the end of the play, you start to see that human connections, human relationships; that's really going to be the greatest legacy that you can leave,” said Walden. “How did you treat human beings? How did you treat the people you love?”

Anthony Methvin, a master’s student at SDSU and leading actor in “A New Brain,” believes Walden’s Broadway experience, character, and personality have been invaluable to the production.

“There's just boundless creative energy, joy, love, support and care. They're an incredible educator, they're an incredible artist. We've been really lucky to have them here with us this semester,” Methvin said of Walden.

Methvin is part of SDSU’s M.F.A. in Musical Theatre program which admits experienced artists who have previously performed, directed, choreographed, or written professionally and who want to pursue a professional career in a different aspect of theatre, often teaching.

“As a person in my 40s, I thought that education was past me,” Methvin said. “I realized that this is not necessarily a program about turning you into a performer who's going to book a Broadway gig…it's about taking who you are, meeting you where you are as an artist, helping you discover how to be a better artist, and how to be a better educator.”

The SDSU School of Theatre, Television, and Film recently launched a Musical Theatre B.A. and the M.F.A. program allows students to work alongside these professionals.

“It's really unique that these undergrad performers are in a room performing with people who have performed regionally, who have performed in tours, who have performed literally on Broadway,” Methvin said.

“Everyone comes to me at the end of the day when they've had so much going on, classes, and they're stressed,” Walden said. “I have been so impressed with M.F.A. students and B.A. students working so harmoniously with each other.”

One of the key themes in the plot of “A New Brain” is to encourage people not to get caught up in the hustle of daily life.

“As a student for the first time in a long time, I feel like we're putting these blinders on because we have this huge ask in front of us,” Methvin said. “We've got to get this homework done, so we can get this grade, so we can get this degree, so that we can have the rest of our career, so that we can be secure. We’re tripping all the way across our lives before we've had a chance to just stop and breathe into the things that we have.”

“A New Brain” runs from Wed. Dec. 4 to Sun. Dec. 8 on SDSU’s Prebys Stage. Tickets are available at https://ttf.sdsu.edu/calendar and discounts are available to students, seniors, and active-duty military personnel.