Randy Newman’s Faust

Written by Randy Newman

Project Assigned by Judith Dolan

2020, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA

Randy Newman’s irreverent take on Goethe’s Faust. The eternal conflict between God and the Devil over the souls of mankind is represented as bet between two old friends. The Devil is a sympathetic character, and the inequities of life have the simple explanation that God cheats.

The show moves in the form of song cycles, and jumps around, city to city, Material Realm to Immaterial Realm. It gives the show a sort of road trip feel. The various locations and songs are represented in the form of vintage postcards, expressing the show’s sense of Americana.