Originally posted on Artburstmiami.com | Written by Michelle F. Solomon
It may take one hundred days to fully realize all that’s happening on the Balcony Theatre stage at the Miracle Theater with Actors’ Playhouse’s season closer. And while the unusual musical theater concept “Hundred Days” may not be for everyone, it is an experience that should not be missed.
The talented actors-musicians, the direction and production design behind the scenes, and the unique all together different approach of the piece is 90 minutes of theater that’s bar none energizing.
The show runs at Actors Playhouse through Sunday, Aug. 4.
With shades of the influences of “Once,” “Rent” and “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” indie rock duo and real-life married couple Abigail and Shaun Bengson (played in the regional production by Mallory Newbrough and Nate Promkul), created the 17-song musical memoir about their falling in love and marrying after only three weeks.
The concert song cycle smartly weaves together the Bengsons’ original songs, dialogue, banter and plenty of breaking the fourth wall conversations with the audience. The book was written by Sarah Gancher.
The setting is New York City, and the vibe is an underground Greenwich Village club. The design by the talented Jodi Dellaventura creates the onstage club atmosphere, a back wall of faux brick, plenty of black musical instrument and large road equipment cases that double as representational set pieces: the benches of a diner booth, a car, a bed in an emergency room, a doctor’s office exam table. The floor is decorated in assorted styles of throw rugs, typical of rock band stage décor.
The story is a personal exploration of a late twenties to early thirtysomething couple with universal themes aplenty, but pointedly here: What if you meet the love of your life and, due to the wounds of past circumstances, you question the chances to lasting happiness?
Newbrough as Abigail has the lion’s share of heavy lifting in “Hundred Days.” The singing is a lesson in vocal gymnastics, from punk rock to folk to blues and testing a vocalist’s range from low alto to a yodeling soprano, most notably acute in the gritty song “Three Legged Dog.” Newbrough is more than up for the task and proves why she is one of the most versatile and committed South Florida actors.
As the character, she’s a bundle of nervous energy, waiting for the doomsday downfall of her relationship, which hangs over her like a black cloud. Abigail’s fear is based on her past and on a dream that’s haunted her for years.
Behind the heavily made-up eyes – blue eyeshadow covering every inch of lid and thick false eyelashes – Newbrough as Abigail brings the audience into her neurosis in a constant series of “what if’s?” Promkul, on the other side of the relationship, captures Shaun as a doe-eyed lovestruck but solid guy who needs to and does have the patience of a saint. Abigail at one point leaves him because her unfounded fear has become too much.
Promkul, who has become a regular on the South Florida theater scene (he was a stand out as son Gabe in the 2023 of “Next to Normal” at Zoetic Stage), shows his skill for depth of character but also the score counts on him to be the leader of the six-piece band. He’s more than able and, remembering that the music duo wrote the score, must have the guitar skill to be that believable front man. And that he does.
Director David Arisco has found in Newbrough and Promkul the perfect yin to each other’s yang and it’s entrancing to watch. There are multiple times to see this in action, but the most captivating is the scene where the two, seated at the edge of the stage, imagine their future, decade by decade, even into their 100s. Newbrough and Promkul’s natural free form in the dialogue is mesmerizing. The duo’s beautiful chemistry in the fourth song in the show, “I Will Wait For You,” where the composers have given the pair verses that wrap around each other, is a musical highlight. The entirely catchy title song “Hundred Days” is one that lingers and deserves a Spotify download for the drive home.
The remainder of the cast is made up of other double and triple threat talents who act and play musical instruments – Jenn Chandler is Collette, the cellist seated next to the drummer and unassuming. But, just at the right time, she injects a bit of advice through dialogue. Melanie Vitaterna as Barrie is the bad-ass right hand singer-accordion player to Newbrough’s Abigail. Stephen G. Anthony, once again shows that given any role he can bring something remarkable to it. Here he’s the adult in the room, bass player Reggie. And multi-instrumentalist Dennis Fuller is the solid drummer who also adds the necessary tick-tock beats that signal the passage of time.
Dominique Scott had his work cut out for him as music director but the musician in his own right (he’s releasing a new album of his own called “Rise” this year) brings authenticity to the music and, in working with the actors-musician, imbues in them that same authenticity. The familiar onstage face at Actors’ Playhouse starred as Jerry Lee Lewis in the theater’s “Million Dollar Quartet” and “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas.”
Reidar Sorensen as sound designer had the tricky task of making sure that the lyrics didn’t get lost in music that, by its nature, could overpower. Sorensen’s keen ear and attention to detail makes everything crystal clear. Erik Nelson’s lighting fits the concert-club bill but brings in dramatic hot tension or soothing cool tones to match the storytelling. Ellis Tillman’s costume designs, especially for the rock chick look for Abigail – her short skirt recalling a Sex Pistols’ album cover with phrases such as “Politics of Dance,” “Love Hurts,” and “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” Anthony’s retro guitar T-shirt, and Vitaterna’s ripped leggings, with Promkul’s more subdued browns and greens, capture the essence of the characters.
