The Mad Ones (previously "Samantha Brown") at 59e59 — Page 2

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Melissa25 said: "I like Kerrigan and Lowdermilk too but I just don’t get all the yelling and screaming.

I cannot be as kind as Raddersons ....”there’s at least one prolonged belt in each song”....

I simply felt yelled at for much of the show; sometimesby all four of the characters at the same time. I loved the harp, violin and guitar but boy did I need ear plugs for the singing."

Damn.

We're all rooting for them I think. I hope they find their grail. 

Before I say anything, I must state that I am big fans of all 4 leads, and they are singing their hearts out & all sound excellent.

But oh boy, this wasn't very good. The music, like most K&L, is sensational, but mostly too long and beats the horse far after its death. The set was atrocious - worse than any college production I've seen, and the staging, done by a director I admire, was clunky, static, and BORING. It was all just, boring.

The story, like Jjohansan brought up - isn't interesting. At all. The show opens with Samantha Brown debating on whether she's going to put a key in the car on her college move in day - to help her decide, we spend the next 90 minutes flashing back on her senior year, with a story that's extremely muddled & not ultimately very thrilling. It is the definition of melodramatic - one of the opening lines is, "I'm going to college. I'm the valedictorian. Valedictorian's go to college." I was checking my watch after every song in hopes it would wrap up already - because watching them STAND COMPLETELY STILL and sing songs about a story you don't care about for an hour and 45 minutes isn't a great use of time. 

Emma Hunton runs away with the show, and I hope to see her on Broadway again soon. Her comedic timing, matched with her great acting skills & unbelievable voice is really special.

Oh well. Maybe a concert version at microphones without the script would've been better? It definitely would've been more interesting.

Updated On: 11/12/17 at 12:35 AM

I saw the show last night and it made feel very different then I have in the past, but in a different way.  I first heard about the show in 2006 with an early demo and then bits and pieces here and there until the 2010 demo.  When it first came into my world, I felt relatable to Samantha.  I had just graduated college, was 22, and deciding whether to try to make it dancing or going on to grad school and become an adult.  Even in 2010, I still was working on my life and wasn't even 30.

Now, I'm a full-fledged adult, whether I feel like it or not.  I have bills to pay, a professional job, and I worry about how my IRA is growing.  It's not that I don't enjoy things anymore, but what I enjoyed at 22 is totally different then how I am at 33.

I liked the performers and some of the music still tugs at my heart strings.  But I can't help by echo what Raddersons said:

"I’m rooting for Kerrigan-Lowdermilk because i think their individual songs are wonderful... but they need to give us something other than a coming of age story. They’re not 24 anymore. "

VotePeron said: "Oh well. Maybe a concert version at microphones without the script would've been better? It definitely would've been more interesting."

It's interesting that you say this, because I saw the NAMT presentation last year and thought that 45 minute cut of the show was far more engaging and interesting than what's currently onstage at 59E59. I really wanted to like this show, as I've been a fan of some of the music for a long time, but was left disappointed.

So as I said in the original post of this thread, this show meant a lot to me in my senior year of high school. I was having serious doubts about my life's direction that echoed Sam's very closely. I felt, and in a way, still feel, that the show is a more accurate psychological depiction of a teenager/young adult's struggle than most coming of age stories. I'm tired high school movies/plays with all the bullies, homework problems, cheating boyfriends, and all those clichés. This show has clichés too, but they felt more meaningful and honest than your average shallow high school story. 

When I first discovered the show, the problems with the book didn't bother me because (a) I didn't have quite as good a sense of what bad writing was, and (b) the show spoke to me so deeply that it all seemed so perfect to me. But yeah, now the dialogue feels extremely amateurish to me, and I wish they would do away completely with the narration/4th wall breaking/flashback conceit, especially since they no longer have the "autobiography" aspect to it.  

I do still think the score is excellent though, and I even enjoyed most of the new numbers. Every time a number began (particularly the familiar ones), my heart fluttered and I re-engaged with the show again. I was sorely disappointed to see they cut "I Wouldn't Change Anything," the song from the show that has always elicited the most water-works from me. I think what they put in its place did admittedly make more sense for the moment, and I understand the song was a duet between the mother and the now-cut father. But I wish they could have found another place for it, even as a solo number. 

I agree that the production feels really thin sloppy. The actors spend virtually the entire time shuffling around the stage uncomfortably, trying desperately to find something to do with their bodies in the vague and nebulous space the director has created. I do think it would have been better as a concert version with minimal staging. It's interesting that people mention the scream-belting (or screlting, as they sometimes say), because I felt that it was much LESS of a problem in this production than it has been in previous iterations that I've listened to. Whenever I listen to Patti Murin sing the score, I always think she's gonna pop a blood vessel from all the screlting. Meanwhile, I thought Krystina Alabado frequently opted for a much lighter, effortless placement in her voice, which was easier on the ears, and made her big belting moments all the more impactful. I also just enjoyed her performance in general - it felt very honest and genuine to me. And in fact she seemed like the kind of person I would have gone to high school with. 

I thought Emma Hunton was good, but Kelly is such a 2-dimensional caricature that I honestly didn't leave all that impressed with her, though through no real fault of her own. 

Is anyone seeing this show sometime soon and able to grab me an extra Playbill?  I am currently abroad and will not have a chance to see it    will happily reimburse you for postage!