St. Anns Warehouse will reopen its doors this spring with a pair of concerts from The Bengsons, performing their new work-in-progress The Broken Ear Setlist: Songs from Ohio. Their notable "Hundred Days," celebrated the meeting of Abigail and Shaun Bengson even as they imagined a time when death would do them part. March 16, 2022, By Yet the acceptability of drawing bystanders into ones own art is one of the great ethical debates in any kind of autobiography. Shaun and Abigial Bengson. Dan Meyer June 24, 2021, By | // Append the CSS rule to the style element By the time of its making, the two and their young son have made their way to her childhood home in snowy Vermont with the likely intent of chronicling their time there in song during an already strange time. const cssRule = '.my-paragraph { margin-bottom: 0px !important; }'; to the theatre so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. 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. | The bearded Shaun, with his sweet smile, was home- schooled in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in a family of pastors and church organists. My Joy Is Heavy! | The story, which is reminiscent of the more fully-realized Broadway musical, "Once," unfolds through short dialogues that are alternately pithy, poignant and playful. 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.. February 3, 2022, By Just by being so real and powerful, and serving as kind of an emotional catharsis for our own time of global trauma, "My Joy is Heavy!" By May 7, 2021. Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's docu-play, with music by Steve Earle, had its 2020 Public Theater run cut short by COVID. The musical, starring Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone, was originally slated to open March 22, 2020composer Stephen Sondheims 90th birthday. Photo by Paul de Luna. When I had a miscarriage, that shaped what we were going through, and this became a healing practice for us to make this together.. Stay informed with one email every other weekright to your inbox. Can they make it through the term without the worry? | This special evening with the award-winning singer/songwriter couple begins at 6 pm on Saturday, July 30 (rain date July 31 at 6 pm), and features a live ASL interpreter. Eleven years ago, Abigail and Shaun Bengson met. And I can't imagine wanting it any other way. April 19, 2022, By Do Broadway and Off-Broadway Theatres Still Require Masks? 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. Performed from San Francisco to New York to La Jolla to Florida, it got raves, awards and a cast album. | July 6, 2021. Yet she is terrified of compounding. Andrew Gans Abigail Bengson and Shaun Bengson Emilio Madrid-Kuser. // Define the CSS rule for the .my-paragraph class But she thinks of Eden now as a place you have to outgrow, accepting the complexity of life and the presence of darkness without fixating on the darkness. Staged with resonant economy by the talented Anne Kauffman, with sharp and subtle movement direction by Sonya Tayeh, Hundred Days is cabaret as cri de coeur, and it is advisable to watch it with a handkerchief at the ready. January 2, 2022. Such considerations are usually private matters. The story looks at embracing uncertainty, taking a leap, and loving as if you only had a hundred days to live. Yet she is terrified of compounding anyones anguish. Hundred Days, the luminous musical memoir by the Bengsons and Sarah Gancher, is an everyday horror story with a very provisional happy ending like so many chapters of human existence. Abigail and Shaun Bengson are a married composing and performing duo based in NYC and VT who have performed across the country and around the world. January 7, 2022, By The Atlantic Theater Company production features Anyanwu, Daniel J. Watts, and Xavier Scott Evans. Eleven years ago, Abigail and Shaun Bengson met. The production began previews at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane in August. Phylicia Rashad and Brandon J. Dirden star in the Manhattan Theatre Club premiere by Tony nominee Dominique Morisseau. Their video for The Keep Going Song has been viewed over 4 million times. In her own family, opinion about the existence of the show is divided some of those depicted vehemently in favor, some opposed. 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. March 3, 2022, By In a quieter, more reserved performance, Shaun Bengson is played by the talented Alec Phan, with Royen Kent alternating in the role on weekends. Three weeks later, the couple got married. BroadwayWorld was there for the special night and you can check out photos from the red carpet here! Were interested in seeing if we can look at that loss as an opportunity to see the divinity in one another.. Their return also marks the launch of their 40th season in operation. La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for Hundred Days, book by The Bengsons and Sarah Gancher, music and lyrics by The Bengsons, directed by Anne Kauffman, with movement direction by Sonya Tayeh. The songs are so catchy, propulsive and soul-soaringly jubilant that at some point I realized that I'd spent a large portion of the show with a silly grin on my face. 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. They have received the Jonathan Larson and Richard Rogers Award and nominations for the Drama Desk, Drama League, and Lucile Lortel awards. May 10, 2021. The premise of Hundred Days, the new indie-rock musical at Z Space, sounds like it would be a huge downer. July 29, 2021. To whatever degree The Lucky Ones is fictionalized, she finds it really lovely to be working on a true story., I spend so much of my life making up characters or brainstorming situations or coming up with scenarios, Ms. Gancher said. James Monroe Iglehart unveils the list of nominees for a season cut short due to the pandemic. Its title song captured and likely inspired 4 million viewers on YouTube, and maybe just nudged Smith to tap The Bengsons to create something for the series they're calling Arena Riffs. "Hundred Days," the luminous musical memoir by the Bengsons and Sarah Gancher, is an everyday horror story with a very provisional happy ending like so many chapters of human existence. Is it possible to tell the truth kindly? Ms. Bengson said. The stage performers' union will not re-open their audition centers, but is allowing employers to host their own in-person calls. So The Lucky Ones is wounded autobiography veiled in fiction. | Log in. A young couple meets, falls in love and gets married right away, only to find out that one of them has a terminal illness and not long left to live. document.head.appendChild(styleElement); I know that in taking this on, I cant be meek, I cant glaze over, I cant allow fear or denial to be the story of our family, because that was toxic, too.. Reggie D. White (whose Beyonce parody video "Dunkin Love" is currently going viral) and Amy Lizardo act as stand-ins for the couple in the story, sometimes silently acting out a scene while the Bengsons voice the dialogue in song, and occasionally singing the parts themselves (and forcefully, at that). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/06/theater/bengsons-the-lucky-ones-ars-nova.html, Abigail and Shaun Bengson, a married pair of singer-songwriters whove turned their personal stories into theater, most recently in The Lucky Ones.. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Keith Loria is a freelance writer and theater lover who has written about everything from business to sports to real estate with a lot of entertainment writing thrown into the mix. | By Anyone can read what you share. // Set the style properties for the paragraph element By Then, they dreamed bigger: a Broadway musical! | and AARP the Magazine. Get a first look at photos here! One isn't necessary. What did our critic think of OPEN at Nu Sass? The concept of 'Hundred Days,' however, has stayed the same, The Bengsons said. comes from the first rate married couple and musical duo The Bengsons, who have previously channeled their exuberant, personal music through theatrical performances. Their first rehearsal turned into their first date, and three weeks later, they were married! We made the whole piece on our cell phones, filming each other and things that were going on.. By Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 will present NEXT@LCT3, a concert series of performances at the Claire Tow Theater. would be just as splendid live, but the ability to capture its creation in real time where it happened amid moving music that seems to pour forth simultaneously adds a much deeper impact. July 27, 2021. The stage adaptation of Baz Luhrmann's film returns to the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Because of past trauma in her life, Abigail said, getting close to anyone in a short period of time brought on an enormous amount of PTSD. The Bengsons drove to Dayton, Ohio, to stay with Shauns parents, and they put together an hour-long concert for the Louisville theater. Shaun and Abigail Bengson met in New York City at a party and after talking, decided to start a band together. A Childhood Eden Seared by Violence. Our website is made possible bydisplaying online advertisements to our visitors. At first, the Bengsons thought it would just turn out to be a concert or a collection of songs. La Jolla Playhouse has announced the presentation of Sovereignty Hymns, a commissioned work that features a video series of original songs exploring questions about reproductive liberty. Their video for The Keep Going Song has been viewed over 4 million times. September 1, 2021. The letters pile up outside, but if they unplug the radio and the phone, they're disconnected. But on top of this there is hope in the form of a pregnancy. By It's a show that forces both Abigail and Shaun to look at their life and what is terrifying them before they step on stage -- and then face it. The production runs 90 minutes and has no intermission. The Broadway revival, on hold due to the pandemic, will now begin previews March 9, 2022. I recognize its a little codependent.. The four-week showcase will feature over 450 artists across 160 varied performances. Ryan McPhee April 12, 2022, By The album, which features the cast of the NYTW production, will be released September 21. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. 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. Copyright 1991-2023 Playbill Inc. All Rights Reserved. September 10, 2021. But those three weeks in between meeting and tying the knot, the pair told NBC 7 San Diego, was the start of something beautiful: a project that would later be titled "Hundred Days," a theatrical piece on the border between a live concert and musical experience. Now, they invite the public to participate in a hybrid congregation., In our new work, the idea is that loss is the mechanism by which God comes close, says Abigail Bengson. "Hundred Days" runs at La Jolla Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Forum until oct. 21, 2018. A while later, this cameo struck Ms. Bengson as curious. But I cant stop. February 3, 2022, By July 1, 2021. | You join them in an absolutely stunning ride that careens into life themes at every turn. Some of those tapes, she said, have been to prison and back cassettes on which her budding-songwriter self set down in music the fraught emotions she couldnt speak. sleeknoteScriptTag.charset = 'utf-8'; The front-line team has provided COVID compliance safety for 1.8 million audience members seeing more than 30 shows on Broadway and beyond. Marc J. Franklin 43K Followers, 2,442 Following, 548 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Abigail & Shaun Bengson (@thebengsons) No doubt "My Joy is Heavy!" Im like, here I am, sending tapes to them, 20 years later.. Ms. Bengson, 35, has a tale to tell about the autumn she was 15, when her family shattered and the seemingly safe Eden she grew up in was lost forever. He majored in musicology at Indiana University and moved to. Part of that was an awareness, new to Mr. Bengson, of what a fragile thing a family can be. But seemingly off-the-cuff stage patter in the beginning later becomes needed background for plot points in the play. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Critical reception of The Lucky Ones has been mixed, with Jesse Green of The New York Times calling it a gawky, powerful work in progress, while Sandy MacDonald, in Time Out New York, found it harrowing.. Shaun's fast and folky acoustic-guitar strumming and Abigail's delightful alt-rock vocals establish a beautifully resonant intimacy and then swell into a magnificent full-ensemble sound with the drums thundering and the ensemble singing in transcendent unison. INTO THE WOODS & More Lead 2023 Drama League Award Nominations. At other times, particularly toward the end, the Bengsons fully embody the roles of Will and Sarah, bringing the whole emotional impact of their musical performance, presence and obvious chemistry into the bittersweet tale of this other, fictional couple. Louie, their blond-ringleted toddler, is a year and a half old, and Ms. Bengson throws up her hands at the challenge of not swearing in front of him. Her older sibling, so-called, would respond with feedback on her craftsmanship that helped to shape her as an artist. Dan Meyer Three weeks later, the couple got married. By Anne Kauffman and Caitlin Sullivan direct. Then I got pregnant, so we started to feel our way into that being part of the piece. 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.'". | I dont know. Shaun Bengson, left, and Abigail Bengson in Hundred Days at the New York Theater Workshop, a musical that charts the couples up-down-and-up-again relationship. Like Hundred Days, The Lucky Ones is directed by Anne Kauffman and has a book co-written by the playwright Sarah Gancher, who is the Bengsons neighbor across the hall in Ridgewood, Queens. Stephen Mallatratts adaptation of Susan Hill's novel will again play London's Fortune Theatre. Michael R. Jackson, John Gallagher, Jr. & More to be Featured in Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 Concert Series, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tina Fey & More to Celebrate Ars Nova 20th Anniversary at NOVA BALL, Photos: On the Red Carpet for the 66th Annual Obie Awards, Photos: Go Inside Opening Night of WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE SEA at Manhattan Theatre Club, Photos: First Look at WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE SEA at Manhattan Theatre Club, Photo Coverage: The Public Theater Celebrates Launch of 13th Annual UNDER THE RADAR. The first, "My Joy is Heavy!" Abigail Bengson has appeared on HBO's High Maintenance and also toured as a member of tUnE-yArDs, including an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.instagram: @thebengsonswww.bengsons.com November 21, 2022, By Almost exactly five years ago, Abigail and Shaun Bengson performed Hundred Days at Know Theatre. Hello friends!Here's our official Tiny Desk Contest 2020 submission!THE BENGSONSAbigail and Shaun Bengson are a married composing and performing duo who have performed across the country and around the world. Visually, the piece is as bright as The Bengsons' surroundings (and outlook).