Quality theatre is hard to come by during Miami’s blistering summer doldrums, which is why Biscayne Corridor residents will want to take a drive south to the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables for what has the potential to be the best thing to hit a local stage in July.
“Hundred Days” is a brave and laudable departure from the usual lighthearted, airy, musical comedies Actors’ Playhouse usually leans on at this time of year. Instead, this provocative production promises to rock you out and get you thinking.
“This is me trying to push the envelope a little bit with some newer stuff,” said Artistic Director David Arisco. “The music drives the show … when I heard it, I said, wow, this is different.”
“Hundred Days” is a slightly fictionalized theatrical concert about the real whirlwind courtship and romance of folk-rock musicians Abigail and Shaun Bengson, who first met at a New York City band rehearsal. Within three weeks, they ditched fiancés and roommates to get married. The trouble is, shy Shaun was afraid Abigail would leave him and the high-strung Abigail is haunted by a dream she had at age 15 that when she met the love of her life, he would only have 100 days left to live.
This is the genesis of what led the Bengsons to write their musical memoir with the help of playwright Sarah Gancher and perform it themselves off-Broadway in 2017. In it, they put that terrifying premise to the test, determined to love with intent and intensity to live every one of those 100 days to the fullest as the last grain of sand begins to fall through their hourglass of time.
Could you do the same?
But wait, don’t get out the Kleenex just yet. This is not “The Notebook” or “Love Story” (for those who remember the 1970 classic).
“There will be moments when you may shed a tear, but it’s not a tearjerker by any means. Just like any good piece of theatre you’ll have wonderful, twisted stories and great music,” said Arisco.
I deliver this next spoiler alert for people who are paralyzed by intimate tales of mortality and loss. Take heart. Nobody really dies here. Toward the end of the 90-minute production, the “fever dream” is broken and the Bengsons muse about how they will spend the decades of their life together. Indeed, in real life, they’ve been married 16 years and counting.
The Bengsons have since given up starring in their own show, allowing regional theatres like Actors’ Playhouse to cast others in their roles.
So, now that we’ve tackled the storyline, we can talk about the jam.
All about the music
This is not your grandmother’s musical theatre nor is it a contemporary jukebox musical. Think “Once,” “Murder Ballad” and “Next to Normal” in terms of sound but with far less traditional, linear storytelling.
“Some of the dialogue is not pure pose … There are lots of metaphors and verse that is real but not real … a lot of abstract language, but you always feel connected to the actors.”
Speaking of the actors, they are all musicians who comprise a band to present this story in concert form, as it was intended. The six-piece ensemble includes Nate Promkul as Shaun Bengson on lead vocal and acoustic guitar; Mallory Newbrough as lead vocalist Abigail Bengson; Jenn Chandler on cello; Melanie Vitaterna on accordion; Stephen G. Anthony on bass; and Dennis Fuller on drums.
“I was lucky enough to hire two locals to play the two leads because casting younger people in these roles was very important to me,” said Arisco. “But the cellist is from Utah and the accordion player is from Chicago. That’s how hard it was for me to find people who can do this musically … and who are terrific singers and theatre people … and I also needed a solid rock drummer who could act.”
Since Arisco is admittedly not a rock music producer, in comes Dom Scott as music director, whom you may have previously seen at Actors’ Playhouse as Jerry Lee Lewis in the smash hit “Million Dollar Quartet.”
With his arrangement and production background, Scott’s role this time is to put together a real band.
“Whenever you assemble a group of six strangers together to play music it’s like being on a date and getting to know people … different musicians have different skillsets” he said. “We are recreating this music from source material. What’s cool about that is that we accurately represent the source material, with some leeway to insert some of our own ideas … you don’t usually have that freedom of expression in a traditional theatre piece.”
Scott describes the music as “very visceral and very honest … it’s not how you would ordinarily describe music but that’s how it speaks to me … for me that’s definitely exciting.”
For younger generations, he likens the score to an indie rock vibe.
“The arrangements are unique … you’ve got an accordion player, a cello, acoustic drums … it’s a very unique blend of sound. Where do you go to hear that?”
Well, starting July 17 you’ll get to hear it at the Miracle Theatre and Arisco has a good hunch this show will be a winner.
Recipe for success
“My audiences have taken to shows when the actors are musicians. It’s a new side of theatre. I love it, personally,” Arisco said, reminding us of their successful productions of “Million Dollar Quartet” and “Ring of Fire.”
Back to the cast for a moment, local theatregoers may remember Nate Promkul as Gabe in last year’s Zoetic Stage production of “Next to Normal” at the Adrienne Arsht Center and in Slow Burn Theatre’s December 2021 staging of “Kinky Boots” at the Broward Center. Mallory Newbrough appeared in the Actors’ Playhouse critically acclaimed 2022 Florida premiere of “Now and Then” and just recently in their May production of “A Rock Sails By.”
And while Newbrough didn’t sing in either, we have it on good authority that she may be channeling a little Janis Joplin.
“She has a rock edge, it’s not your typical musical theatre voice,” Arisco tells us.
It’s intriguing, to say the least. If you’re really curious, check out video clips of the original soundtrack on YouTube, then buy your tickets. Just remember, this is an original Actors’ Playhouse interpretation.
Rock on.
If You Go
“Hundred Days” runs July 17 – August 4 in the second floor Balcony Theatre of the Miracle Theatre at 280 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables with 8 p.m. shows Wednesday -Saturday and a 3 p.m. Sunday matinee. Tickets run from $40 during previews to between $65-$75 after opening night and are available at actorsplayhouse.org or by calling the box office at 305.444.9293.