#1
Posted: 11/6/16 at 8:06am
Unauthorized autobiography of Samantha Brown
#2
Posted: 11/6/16 at 8:57am
God, this show has been around so long that the original Sam and Adam are old enough to play the parents now. The score is pretty good though. I'm surprised it hasn't had a full production in New York yet.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#3
Posted: 11/6/16 at 9:27am
I have an absolutely huge, massive, undeniable soft spot for this show and I think Socha is a good choice for Samantha Brown. I'm excited to hear The Score's recording of this.
#4
Posted: 11/6/16 at 9:29am
Has anyone seen this? A lot of the songs became audition standards. What's the reason is hasn't had a NY life?
#5
Posted: 11/6/16 at 9:54am
My theory is that Next to Normal upstaged it. There used to be a bootleg version on youtube, watching it, it became clear that it looked like, sounded like, was staged like, and even had a character who was dead but appeared as a ghost like Next to Normal. It didn't copy it, I'm pretty sure it premiered before Next to Normal did. But as much as I like Samantha Brown, Next to Normal is a better show.
#6
Posted: 11/6/16 at 9:54am
My theory is that Next to Normal upstaged it. There used to be a bootleg version on youtube, watching it, it became clear that it looked like, sounded like, was staged like, and even had a character who was dead but appeared as a ghost like Next to Normal. It didn't copy it, I'm pretty sure it premiered before Next to Normal did. But as much as I like Samantha Brown, Next to Normal is a better show.
#7
Posted: 11/6/16 at 10:47am
I've seen both major full productions of the show, and it just feels too small for Broadway. It would work well in an appropriately sized Off Broadway theater, but we know what the state of commercial Off Broadway is. I think it could have a life in New York, but probably only if an NFP picked it up. Then again, this show has been kicking around for close to 15 years, so maybe it causes some people to hold potential negative opinions about the fact the show has been around for so long but hasn't made it to New York.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#8
Posted: 11/6/16 at 10:53am
I've been meaning to check this show out. Which recording do you suggest I listen to?
#9
Posted: 11/6/16 at 10:58am
There's a professionally shot video of the Orange County PAC production on YouTube. That production starred Patti Murin, Nick Blaemire, Jenni Barber, Lisa Brescia and Stephen Bogardus. It's a good representation of the full show, although changes have been made since that production.
There's also a sample CD including five songs from the show that features Blaemire, Brescia and Bogardus, with Meghann Fahy as Sam and Helene Yorke as Kelly.
If you're just interested in hearing individual songs from the show, you have plenty of options on YouTube.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#10
Posted: 11/6/16 at 2:58pm
I'm going.
Side note: Where is The Score podcast available?
#11
Posted: 11/7/16 at 9:56am
MadonnaMusical said: "Has anyone seen this? A lot of the songs became audition standards. What's the reason is hasn't had a NY life? "
I saw the show at Goodspeed starring Meghann Fahy, Andrew Durand, and Melissa Benoist, and thought the book was awful. I had loved the music until I saw the show staged...and then I realized why it hasn't had life in NY. I wish they would let it die, Kait and Brian are very talented but the book for Sam Brown is just....not good.
Updated On: 11/7/16 at 09:56 AM
#12
Posted: 1/16/17 at 7:05pm
Does anyone have a good synopsis of the show? My friend and I are performing "Freedom" at Districts for the Group Musical Theatre category of Speech in our state (I'm playing Kelly) on this upcoming Saturday, and although we feel pretty much ready, we kind of want to write an intro to give some background beforehand because it is highly likely no one will be aware of what the show is about. I looked for the bootleg, but I don't think it's available anymore. If someone could give me a solid synopsis of the show, that would be much appreciated! 
#13
Posted: 1/16/17 at 7:16pm
From the website:
It is dawn. Samantha Brown is supposed to leave for college today. She sits in her car with her bags packed, but she can't turn the key in the ignition. She is filled with doubts as the defining moments of her senior year flash through her mind. Somehow Samantha has to come to terms with her parents' expectations, her first love, and a lost friendship before she can turn the key and make the first decision of her adult life.
It's kind of like Glass Menagerie meets American Graffiti with a Bowling for Soup vibe to the score.
And now that I say that, Bowling For Soup needs to do a musical like yesterday.
#14
Posted: 1/16/17 at 7:33pm
Alex Kulak2 said: "It is dawn. Samantha Brown is supposed to leave for college today. She sits in her car with her bags packed, but she can't turn the key in the ignition. She is filled with doubts as the defining moments of her senior year flash through her mind. Somehow Samantha has to come to terms with her parents' expectations, her first love, and a lost friendship before she can turn the key and make the first decision of her adult life.
It's kind of like Glass Menagerie meets American Graffiti with a Bowling for Soup vibe to the score."
Thank you so much!
#15
Posted: 9/14/17 at 10:10am
Just got an email that this is coming to Prospect Theatre with a new title, The Mad Ones.
Fundraising link if anyone is interested:
https://www.generosity.com/fundraising/kerrigan-lowdermilk-s-the-mad-ones
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