May 7, 2021. The Atlantic Theater Company production features Anyanwu, Daniel J. Watts, and Xavier Scott Evans. The storied venue will next present The Tap Dance Kid as part of its Encores! And saying, 'yes the world is a terrifying place, yes we don't know how long we'll have with the ones we love, but I'm going to live anyway and I'm going to keep moving forward and let my heart be open and let my heart break as it will.'". Andrew Gans Their theater work includes Sovereignty Hymns (La Jolla Playhouse), The Keep Going Song (Actors Theatre of Louisville), My Joy is Heavy (Arena Stage), Hundred Days (La Jolla Playhouse, New York Theatre Workshop, US Tour), The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova), Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (ATLs Humana Festival; Manhattan Theatre Club), Anything That Gives Off Light (Edinburgh Theatre Festival), Youll Still Call Me By Name (New York Live Arts, Jacob's Pillow), and Iphigenia in Aulis (Classic Stage Company). | Recent notable theatre interviews include legendary actor Ben Vereen, Broadway make-up artist Angelina Avallone and the extraordinary Idina Menzel. But accompanied by a wonderfully droll quartet of singing musicians Colette Alexander, Jo Lampert, Dani Markham and Reggie D. White the Bengsons are stirring, and surprisingly witty, company. Manhattan Theatre Club is presenting theNew York premiere ofWhere the Mountain Meets the Sea, written by AUDELCO Award nomineeJeff Augustin and directed by Princess Grace Award winnerJoshua Kahan Brody,with music byThe Bengsons. The one-day-only event, starring Olivier nominees Rachel Tucker and Rachel John, arrives to the West End October 11 following a digital production earlier this summer. The Bengsons. A cross-country road trip that occupied the shows center 11 months ago has been jettisoned. We never hear about any war going on, and Christine Crook's costumes aren't noticeably informed by that period. INTO THE WOODS & More Lead 2023 Drama League Award Nominations. The stage and screen favorite stars in and directs an adaptation of T.S. As you may gather from the fact that they are now married and performing together, the Bengsons got over their crisis of faith long enough to commit to a relationship that, life being what it is, will never be a sure thing. Which turns out to be all thats needed for a show that celebrates and laments the elusive radiance of a shared life. | Hundred Days now takes place entirely in New York City (mostly in Astoria, Queens), with lots of internal detours into the twisty corridors of each partners mind. By sleeknoteScriptTag.type = 'text/javascript'; The subsequent revisions suggest that autobiography is a highly mutable art form. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. They've learned the best from indie music videos and are able to convey the beauty and reality of Vermont winter while eking out metaphors in its landscape. July 27, 2021. "The most important theme of 'HundredDays' is moving through fear in the name of love," Abigail said. The message of Each Kindness should be shared to people everywhere, and the music of Rootstock Republic should be enjoyed by all. comes from the first rate married couple and musical duo The Bengsons, who have previously channeled their exuberant, personal music through theatrical performances. | 'Hundred Days' Theater Review - The Hollywood Reporter Dan Meyer Working in the first few months of the pandemic at Shaun's parent's home in Dayton, Ohio, they mustered as much uplift as they could for "The Keep Going Song," a show presented (virtually, of course) through the Actors Theater of Louisville. September 22, 2020. Theres a line near the start of the new musical The Lucky Ones thats a deliberate hedge an explanation of the rules of the show that also leaves those rules a little murky. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Dan Meyer The Great Performances broadcast includes interviews with Adrienne Warren, Norm Lewis, Sara Bareilles, Aaron Tveit, Chita Rivera, and more. Then, in one cataclysmic season, it all falls apart, beginning with a killing that might have been prevented if only the parents hadnt been so committed to a you-choose-your-feelings worldview that they dismissed the signs of mental illness in one of the kids. Its been incredible that weve gotten to work through the year, and how this song has gone viral, Shaun said. "Hundred Days" runs at La Jolla Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Forum until oct. 21, 2018. Certainly there are heartbreaking moments in the play, but the overwhelming experience of Hundred Days is one of joy. Four years ago, shortly after they got the commission from Ars Nova that would result in The Lucky Ones, Ms. Bengson had a miscarriage an event that rocked us very deeply, she said, and set us on this path of wanting to write about family and trauma.. | Ms. Bengson says that she and her husband are both profoundly introverted, but you wouldnt know it from talking with them. To their amusingly and typically chaotic pandemic era home - with instruments, toys, food, books and art strewn all about - they quietly deal with chronic pain (hers) and depression (his). Their theater work includes Hundred Days (La Jolla Playhouse, New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, Know Theater, Z Space, US Tour), The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova), Sundown, Yellow Moon (Ars Nova/WP), Anything That Gives Off Light (Edinburgh Theatre Festival, US Tour), Youll Still Call Me By Name (New York Live Arts, Jacob's Pillow). Even the notion of miscarriage is for some reason socially shrouded in silence, leaving shattered would-be parents to mourn alone. Arena Stage debuts the Bengsons' musical 'My Joy Is Heavy!' - The | Some people in the family Ms. Bengson grew up in dont talk to one another anymore, but for the musical the Bengsons interviewed all of them including the older sibling, so-called, who committed the crime. Manhattan Theatre Club has announced full casting and performance dates for Where the Mountain Meets the Sea, written by AUDELCO Award nominee Jeff Augustin (The New Englanders, The Morning Show) and directed by Princess Grace Award winner Joshua Kahan Brody, with music by The Bengsons (Hundred Days, The Lucky Ones). Ancram Opera House presents AN EVENING WITH THE BENGSONS at the Circa 1799 Barn in Ancramdale. (Unlike many other such narratives, it's the guy who's wasting away before his time.) August 11, 2021. The production runs 90 minutes and has no intermission. Dan Meyer The four-week showcase will feature over 450 artists across 160 varied performances. Roger Catlin, a member of the American Theatre Critics Association,is a Washington D.C.-based arts writer whose work appears regularly in SmithsonianMagazine.com. First he attended college at Indiana University (studied Ethnomusicology & Traditional Indiana Fiddling), then after graduation Shaun moved to New York City as a part of the city's teaching fellows program. Shaun's contributions include a deft melodic touch, technological prowess and musical ear that allows the inclusion of drums, guitar, accordion, and all manner of other instruments as well as harmony vocals often on backing tapes to give the duo an added grandeur. Allen Willner's shifting lights accentuate that live-gig atmosphere, bathing the stage in one color or another when it's time to really rock out. Logan Culwell-Block Visually, the piece is as bright as The Bengsons' surroundings (and outlook). Check out photos from opening night here! The Bengsons' Hundred Days to Release Cast Recording October 20, 2020. July 8, 2021. Hundred Days Z SPACE Part co-authored memoir and part touching voyage into an emotional soundscape, this new work in development is a beautiful testament to the sort of inquires made in tandem by the human mind and spirit. Then I got pregnant, so we started to feel our way into that being part of the piece. Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 will present NEXT@LCT3, a concert series of performances at the Claire Tow Theater. All this is supposedly taking place in the 1940s, but the period setting never becomes important or even discernible, and of course it has no bearing on the musical style. Their first rehearsal turned into their first date, and three weeks later, they were married! Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Anns created the Urban Canvas public art platform on their facade, presented a series of pop-up concerts, and streamed a number of international works. All rights reserved, US Readies Second Attempt at Speedy Border Asylum Screenings, Man, 20s, Dies of Heat Exhaustion on El Capitan Trail in Lakeside, New Rules for Short-Term Vacation Rentals in San Diego Start May 1. Performances are set for April 15 and 16 with indoor and virtual audiences. That changed a few times as our lives changed, as she ran with us as things kept evolving.. Even days afterward, having heard the songs only once, I get a surge of visceral pleasure every time one of them runs through my head. Logan Culwell-Block Dan Meyer July 27, 2021. They have received the Jonathan Larson and Richard Rodgers Awards and nominations for the Drama Desk, Drama League, and Lucille. We wrote our first song together on that first night, Abigal said. To wit: Whether by choice, chance or ultimately and unavoidably death, you will be separated from the person you love most. The production, directed by Anne Kauffman, premieres December 4 after beginning previews November 15. Do Broadway and Off-Broadway Theatres Still Require Masks? Before the pandemic hit, the couple were working on the music for a play at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and after one performance, the country shut down. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Their notable "Hundred Days," celebrated the meeting of Abigail and Shaun Bengson even as they imagined a time when death would do them part. 43K Followers, 2,442 Following, 548 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Abigail & Shaun Bengson (@thebengsons) Ryan McPhee Abigail Bengson says that she. In reality, though, the person in her clan who killed someone was not a blood relative but rather a person she had been raised to consider an older sibling someone she loved and admired, who wrote strange and beautiful music, who claimed to hear voices and did as they instructed. Colette Alexander, Abigail Bengson, Shaun Bengson, Jo Lampert, Dani Markham, and Reggie D. White, By Anyone can read what you share. Ill eat those eggs. OHIO, Part of the Storytelling (r)Evolution Lab styleElement.styleSheet.cssText = cssRule;