At the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia, live music turns every performance into something electric.
When the first chords ring out in the Blackfriars Playhouse, you do more than watch a show. You share it. You step into shared light, connected by music, story, and a company of emotional and creative artists who bring both to life.
This is how every performance of Sense and Sensibility and The Winter’s Tale begins. The songs set the tone and resonate through the performance. Music carries into each act and returns at intermission, sustaining the connection between audience and ensemble. The melodies are part of the storytelling, as essential as the props, the costumes, and the lines of dialogue.
Music Director Insights from Jordan Friend
For music director, composer, and actor Jordan Friend, shaping the sound of the Summer 2025 Season meant blending well-known songs with fresh arrangements.
“Music was going to be a huge central element, and jazz music was going to be a central element, which happens to be really hard,” he said. “It’s funny because it’s music that exists in our sort of collective consciousness, so we think of it because it’s so humable and it sticks in our brains – these famous melodies, but they are complicated melodies.”
That challenge became part of the joy.
“I think we always surprise ourselves as musicians and as just people, even people who don’t consider themselves musicians. I think we constantly catch ourselves by surprise about, as people, how musical we can be without having worked on it, just because we’ve been absorbing stuff our whole lives.”
He also shared how the ASC ensemble uses live music to create an immersive experience:
“The really fun game became taking songs outside of the jazz universe for pre-show and intermission and sort of doing a rearrangement of them so like we have a version of ‘Rolling in the Deep’ but it’s swung and it has a kind of rhythm and a chord progression that then allows it to segue into a jazz standard that starts the second half of the show. So we get to start kind of playing with tuning people’s ears towards how jazz music has influenced other popular music that they’re familiar with.”
What Songs Will You Hear at the Blackfriars Playhouse?
Before each show begins and during intermission, ASC’s actors and musicians perform these songs live in Staunton’s historic Blackfriars Playhouse:
- Love the One You’re With – Crosby, Stills & Nash
- What About Love? – Heart
- Listen To Your Heart – Roxette
- I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – U2
- Accidentally in Love – Counting Crows
- SOS – Rihanna
- Walking on Broken Glass – Annie Lennox
- I Heard It Through The Grapevine – Marvin Gaye
- Halfcrazy – Musiq Soulchild
- Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Fats Waller
- Grounds for Divorce – Elbow
- Blue Skies – Ella Fitzgerald
- What Is This Thing Called Love? – Ella Fitzgerald
Listen to the ASC Summer 2025 Playlist
Bring the music home with you.
Click play below to hear the full ASC Summer 2025 Playlist and relive the sounds of your Staunton theatre experience.
Why Live Music Matters at the American Shakespeare Center
Performing under Shakespeare’s staging conditions means our repertory cast are more than actors. They are singers, musicians, and sometimes dancers, blending words and music in real time. Each chord is played live in shared light, creating an atmosphere that feels immediate and personal.
Whether it is a jazz standard, a pop anthem, or a blues melody, the music becomes part of the story. When you attend a performance in Staunton, you experience Shakespeare’s plays the way they were meant to be shared with the audience, in the moment.
Plan Your Visit to Staunton
Make your evening in Staunton one to remember. Explore downtown, enjoy local dining, and step into the Blackfriars Playhouse for an experience that combines live theatre and live music in one of America’s most unique performance spaces.
Reserve your tickets for the Summer 2025 Season at the American Shakespeare Center and see why audiences return year after year for unforgettable performances.