1969: The Second Man

Concept, Music, and Lyrics by Jacob Brandt

Book by Dan Giles

Press.

What better grist for a folk-rock musical than the tumultous life and times of Buzz Aldrin? ...flawlessly executed.

-The New Yorker

“A consistently inventive score...Jacob Brandt’s music is versatile, and in the hands of these performers it sounds great: optimistic and wholesome, moody and hypnotic, wonderingly weightless.”

-The New York Times

“Dan Giles’ script is filled with lovely, striking passages and, in combination with Jacob Brandt’s songs, 1969: The Second Man builds a strong case for Aldrin as tragic and absurd, a figure out of Chekhov or even Beckett or Ionesco.”

-Lighting and Sound America

“Filled with heart-felt, lively, and...unbelievably stirring folk music... the murmurings of theatre-goers wishing for a cast album were heard loud and clear when the cheers ceased after the casts’ bows.”

-Broadway World

About the show.

After he became the second man to walk on the moon, reporters asked Buzz Aldrin if he wished he had been the first. “I really didn’t want that,” Buzz claimed, “because of the added heartache.” Why is it so hard to believe him?

A folk-rock fable for the runner-up in all of us, 1969: The Second Man features a band of talented actor-musicians that explore competition and collective achievement through the story of one small man who became one giant myth.

Development.

2020 - Concept album released.

2018 - Production at Next Door @ New York Theatre Workshop. Produced by Madeleine Foster Bersin; Directed by Jaki Bradley; Production Stage Manager - Elizabeth Emanuel; Production Designers - Oona Curley, Daniel Prosky, Stacey Derosier; Costume Designer - Ntkozo Fuzunina Kunene; Sound Designer - Jim Petty, Five Ohm Productions; Line Producers - Megumi Lee, Madeline Goldsmith; Assistant Stage Manager - Kelsey Durkin.

Featuring Jacob Brandt, Paris Ellsworth, Lizzie Hagstedt, Angel Lin, Maya Sharpe, and Tony Vo.

2016 - Workshop Presentation at The Tank. Produced by Madeleine Foster Bersin; Production Designer - Daniel Prosky.

Featuring Jacob Brandt, Andrew Chow, Seth Eliser, Paris Ellsworth, Mateus Falci, Zera Lowrey, and Lauren Wainwright.

2016 - Concert Presentation at Chinatown Soup. Produced by Jake Beckhard and Serena Berman; Production Designer - Daniel Prosky.

Featuring Jacob Brandt, Paul Castrigano, Mateus Falci, Ben Lorenz, and Zera Lowrey.

2014 - Workshop Production at Ars Nova’s ANTFest. Produced by David Manella; Directed by LILLETH; Book by Simon De Carvalho; Music Direction by Caitlin Quinlan; Production Designer - Daniel Prosky; Costume Designer - Tarpley Hitt; Puppetry Designer - LILLETH.

Featuring Kyra Atekwana, Jacob Brandt, Mateus Falci, Ben Lorenz, Eli Kozminsky, and Caitlin Quinlan.

2013 - Music Presentation at Harvard Universty. Overseen by César Alvarez, Emerging Musical Theatre.

Photos by Chad Batka.