THE LONELY FEW at the Geffen with Lauren Patten, Ciara Renée, Damon Daunno

[sm33]

Posted: 1/19/23 at 9:08pm

Geffen Playhouse today announced the full cast for its world premiere musical The Lonely Few, with book by Rachel Bonds (Sundown, Yellow Moon; Michael & Edie), music and lyrics by Zoe Sarnak (A Crossing, Galileo), and directed by Trip Cullman (Choir Boy, Significant Other) and Ellenore Scott (Funny Girl, Mr. Saturday Night). The Lonely Few is produced in association with FourthWall Theatrical (This American Wife, Jagged Little Pill).

The cast includes Joshua Close (Fargo, Solace) as Adam; Damon Daunno (Oklahoma!, Hadestown) as Dylan; Lauren Patten (Jagged Little Pill, Fun Home) as Lila; Ciara Renée (Frozen, Waitress) as Amy; Helen J Shen (Man of God, Hair) as JJ; and Thomas Silcott (Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk, Becky Nurse of Salem) as Paul.

Previews for The Lonely Few begin Tuesday, February 28, 2023, in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse. Opening night is Thursday, March 9, 2023.

Lila (Lauren Patten) is getting by in her Kentucky hometown-scanning groceries at the Save-A-Lot, caring for her erratic brother, and living for Friday nights, when she plays a gig with her band The Lonely Few. And that's enough. Or she thought it was, until Amy, an established musician ragged from the road, passes through and offers her a shot at something much, much bigger. But is Lila ready for the life she never dared to imagine? A world premiere musical by Zoe Sarnak and Rachel Bonds, The Lonely Few is a love story between two women searching for a sense of home.

The Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater will be converted into "Paul's Joint," a Kentucky dive bar replete with table seating, couches and barstools, in addition to traditional theater seats, setting the stage for an immersive musical theater experience for audience members.

 https://twitter.com/BroadwayWorldLA/status/1615335465640419328?s=20&t=FfIIss4uN87SthlenFI_Lw

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

As someone who has frequently wondered what Damon Daunno is up to ever since Oklahoma closed, I am delighted that he's showing up in my city! Grabbed tickets for early in the run. Anyone else know anything about this one?

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 6:11pm

The Geffen has a really bad track record with world premieres of musicals. They have only premiered a few in its history and all have badly flopped.  Let's hope this breaks the trend. 

[mostly_musicals]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 7:16pm

i'm very eager to see this, but tickets are few and far between, and discounts seem nonexistent. 

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 2/23/23 at 1:18pm

mostly_musicals said: "i'm very eager to see this, but tickets are few and far between, and discounts seem nonexistent."

The Geffen usually has discounted rush tickets. You should have no problem getting a rush ticket for a Tue-Thu performance.

[sm33]

Posted: 3/9/23 at 3:54pm

Went to see this last night, and I loved it!

The main draw for me was Damon Daunno, and he doesn't disappoint in this, but his character is secondary to the ones played by Lauren Patten and Ciara Renée, who are both fantastic. It's an rock musical with a lot of different musical influences - country, folk, electronic - and a love story at its heart. Lauren and Ciara have excellent chemistry, the ensemble felt very cohesive, and the black box theater space was built out to give the audience the feeling of being in a dive bar. Because I was sitting in the "table" section of the audience right in front of the stage, I did have to do a bit of rotating in my seat as the show went on to see elements in the bar/a loft to my right and some small bits happening behind me, but it was fine overall. I felt bad for people sitting in front of the "bar" to my right, as they had a lot more difficulty seeing what was going on behind them + in the loft. 

The music itself was really catchy, even if some of it reminded me of other work (one song in particular reminded me of "30/90" from TTB), and I'd love to get a recording at some point. The story is a little insubstantial, but still enjoyable, and it was well acted by the ensemble. I'd never seen her in anything before, but Lauren Patten's voice is incredible.  

There were several empty seats at the the performance we attended, but when I went to try and buy a ticket for the end of the run, I saw it was sold out for all but one or two of the remaining performances. So I'm hoping more tickets will pop up closer to April, and I would recommend it if you can grab a ticket! I really hope this has life after the Geffen.

[Dusoleilcanwhistle]

Posted: 3/16/23 at 2:21am

Caught this show at the Geffen recently and enjoyed it. It's a big swing for the theater and glad to see them taking chances and aiming at a younger audience. 

It certainly is a work in progress but the songs have great melodies and all of the performers (Lauren Patten especially) are insanely talented. 

The two issues I had with the show were that most of the characters were very underdeveloped and maybe it's because of how small the theater is and how loud the music is, but I missed almost half of the lyrics for most of the songs which did impact my experience.

It is a world premiere so I know they are just starting to figure things out and it does feel like this has potential. Definitely worth checking out if you're in LA and love to see new musicals!

[Dan6]

Posted: 4/7/23 at 2:47am

Saw this tonight, and what a treat it is.  I agree with the previous post that the lyrics were often hard to hear, which became more frustrating in the second act when there were fewer diagetic songs and more that advanced the characters and the plot.  But Lauren Patten's and Ciara Renee's voices are so freaking amazing...both separately and together...that I was blown away even when I had no idea what they were singing.  This has been extended at the Geffen through 4/30 (Nyla Sostre takes over for Ciara Renee after 4/9), so see it in LA if you can; but don't worry if you're in NY, I'm fairly confident you'll get a chance soon.  This could be a very big off-Broadway hit. 

[Owen22]

Posted: 4/7/23 at 5:39am

I was wondering where my boyfriend,  Damon Daunno had gotten to...

[sm33]

Posted: 4/7/23 at 4:20pm

So I went back to see this again earlier this week via rush, and bought tickets for the closing performance, too. With a repeat viewing, I can confirm that this is a very good show - easily the best thing I've seen in LA since Deaf West's Spring Awakening, and Choir Boy before that, both of which ended up going to Broadway. I overheard two other groups seated nearby referencing the fact that this was not their first viewing, which makes me wonder what percentage of any given audience is repeat viewers. 

Our seats this time were in the first row of typical audience seating, which is less immersive than sitting up front in the "bar" area, but definitely better for seeing everything that's going on, since they utilize the space so fully.

I'd be extremely disappointed if this doesn't have an off-Broadway run in its future, and I really hope that we get a cast album at some point because the songs are well-written and catchy as hell. I didn't have as much of a problem deciphering the lyrics as others, I guess, but it is pretty loud in that space so I get it!

I'm bummed that Ciara Renée is leaving, because she has a beautiful voice and great chemistry with Lauren Patten, but I am interested to see what Nyla Sostre does with the role.