New York composer and cult favourite Jason Robert Brown is spending the summer in London.  Not only is he lending his talents to the National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) as they perform three of his musicals – Songs for a New World, The Last Five Years and 13 – but he will be raising money for their Bursary Scheme with a ‘Jason Robert Brown and very special guests’ concert on 26th August. Those special guests, we can now reveal, will include Lara Pulver (who is an NYMT alumnus as well as having starred in JRB’s Parade and The Last Five Years) and Love Never Dies star Ramin Karimloo. Pulver is also known for her small screen roles in the BBC series of Sherlock and Robin Hood.

Things kick off this week with NYMT performing Songs for a New World until Saturday 4, then two performances of The Last Five Years – an emotive, semi-autobiographical two hander about the blossoming and disintegration of a relationship – on Sunday evening, after which Brown and Lara Pulver will discuss the piece.

Then from 22-25 August, the exuberant 13 comes to the Apollo Theatre. This story of Evan Goldman, whose life is turned upside down just prior to his all-important Bar Mitzvah party, is a hilarious and irreverent look at teenage life from cell phone gossip to kissing with ‘The Tongue’. The week is closed by Brown’s concert with special guests, NYMT members and his band the Caucasian Rhythm Kings. Brown played London two years ago with the band and Anika Noni Rose, and hopefully we can expect the same eclectic mix of his solo compositions, witty banter and favourites from his shows.

Tags: 13, August 2012, Concert, Jason Robert Brown, Lara Pulver, NYMT, Ramin Karimloo, Songs for a new world, The Last Five Years