LIFE AFTER - Pre-Broadway at Goodman Chicago

Saw this in San Diego and enjoyed it though I can't say it's stuck with me that much. It reminded me a bit of Fun Home in the broad sense, in terms of coming of age and uncovering family secrets so to speak. But it was quite lovely and a bit of a tearjerker, curious to hear about how it plays now since it's been a while.

I saw this yesterday (pre-Tonys), and I was seriously unimpressed. I had seen the good reviews from the prior run, but I thought it was monotonous and annoying. No fault of the wonderful cast. The plot involves a girl trying to unravel the situation that resulted in her father’s death. After 100 intermissionless minutes, we never really find out. There’s a lot of dealing with grief and learning to move on, with some possible red herrings thrown in. Nothing in the show got me interested in the characters or the direction of the plot. There’s a scene where three characters are painting a wall. For several minutes. In silence. It was meant to represent moving on while redecorating the father’s office, but it was literally like watching paint dry. There’s a trio of women serving as a Greek chorus, commenting on the action, but totally weird and unnecessary.

I may have just missed the point. I hope others like it more than I did.

I saw it last night. I really enjoyed it! I think the second half needs to be changed as the ending just doesn't quite fit. I also am not a fan of the use of the ensemble or "furies" as the intention was not very clear.

I actually thought the best scene was the painting scene. It just should've been the very last scene and song to close it up.

I also thought the:

I think if they change some things around and figure out what they want to say, the show could work. I think it has good bones, good technical elements, great cast, but it just need some fixing.

I just got out of this. I thought it was solid, but there's definitely room for improvement if it moves to New York.

Contrary to most of the other commenters, the chorus didn't bother me that much. They had some of the funnier moments of the evening (like when they play the popular girls that flock Alice when she comes back to school), and they filled out some of the vocal arrangements really nicely.

The cast was all around excellent. Paul Alexander Nolan has some really beautiful solos, and Lucy Panush stole the show as Alice's friend Hannah.

Beth's song about the wallpaper was the highlight of the music. It's a truly gut-wrenching moment, and Bryonha Marie Parham knocked it out of the park. There were several of the songs that felt very repetitive, like it was all one song going on for thirty minutes, but when the songs stand out, they really stand out and get you invested.

Probably the biggest thing holding the show back would be it's structure. The way it tells the story is through Alice's thought process, which has worked with other shows, but it robbed this show of a sense of drive. It didn't feel bogged down, but by the time we get to the final number and the lights go down, I was left feeling like there wasn't all that much that was accomplished in the last 100 minutes.

Narrative aside, I think this show has some good bones. If the writer and director can figure out how to give the show more of an arc, I can see this making it to Broadway.

The brief appraisal I heard while coming out of the theater yesterday afternoon:

"Too many screechy female voices."

I just saw this today (for the matinee) and I thought it was enjoyable but not particularly groundbreaking. I think many parts of it felt very true to life, ex the friend attending the party, the older sister being jealous/angry, the teenager blaming herself, the mom feeling pushed aside (and the mom’s solo was a highlight). The other highlight was the scene with the snow towards the end. I wasn’t a huge fan of the last song - I didn’t feel like it tied things together or really had any conclusions. I think this is a “good” musical that could be elevated to “great” with some tweaking to create a more coherent arc for the characters.

The show is streaming on demand from July 15 to July 31 for $25: https://www.goodmantheatre.org/LifeAfter