When you grow up an obsessive musical theater fan, sometimes it can be a rude awakening when your artistic tastes mature. Appreciation for the best shows' haunting melodies, clever wordplay, or epic spectacle remains; unconditional love for the shows heavy on the schmaltz factor can fade (suddenly Phantom of the Opera doesn't seem like the world's most enduring love story anymore).

But for recovering musical theater lovers, enduring lifelong fans, or even skeptics of the genre, there is still Jason Robert Brown, one of today's most exciting Broadway composers. Brown's shows combine an effortless blending of musical genres, genuine, resonating tales of the human experience and aching, intriguingly specific and personal lyrics. Not the least of his successes is the revue Songs For A New World, a Signature Theatre production staged last night and tonight at the Strathmore Music Center, with Brown himself at the piano keys.

A stream of tangentially connected musical numbers, Songs For A New World itself tells no real story, but each of the tunes within it does. There is the woman who gave up adventure and affection for money and stability. The fed-up, jilted lover of none other than Santa Claus. And your familiar cast of women and men afraid to open up to each other, or by contrast, finally ready to do just that.

The show lends itself more naturally to a smaller, more intimate setting, and at first the concert atmosphere of the beautiful but imposing Strathmore stage seems a bit stiff and sterile, but the work's cast and melodies soon overcome the hurdle (though balance and acoustic problems in the first act didn't help matters last night). The production features four Broadway veterans, all polished and proficient, though some are better suited to the material than others.

Alice Ripley gets more than one chance to steal the stage, from the poignant ballad "Stars and the Moon" to the uproarious aforementioned Claus number, "Surabaya-Santa." Laura Griffith, a last-minute fill-in for Brown favorite Laura Benanti, brings with her a lovely voice and a naive vulnerability. While Brian d'Arcy James has a kind of square-jawed classical quality, he often fails to leave a lasting impression; Tituss Burgess is inarguably more dynamic, but it takes him some time before he eventually finds his groove with the rousing gospel-influenced "Flying Home." Regardless of cast inconsistencies, watching Brown himself pluck madly at the keyboard, often unconsciously mouthing his own lyrics, remains a treat throughout the show.

Adoring fans of Songs For A New World may find themselves at moments daydreaming about their own idealized cast (Taye Diggs singing "On the Deck of a Spanish Sailing Ship," anyone?) for the show during these performers' less magnetic moments, but those moments are largely the exception. Truth be told, any quartet of accomplished vocalists is probably up to the task of showcasing Songs; Brown's steadfast appreciation for the human voice as an instrument continually shines through as his complex, four-part harmonies.

Songs For A New World plays again tonight at the Strathmore. Tickets are available online.