Monday, June 24, 2019

Album Review: HUNDRED DAYS (Original Cast Recording)

If you found out today that you only have a hundred days left to live, what would that mean? What would that change? Would you let that reality break you, or would it light some kind of fire inside?

Indie folk-rock duo (and married couple) Shaun & Abigail Bengson pose this question in Hundred Daysan exuberant hybrid of theatre, concert, and autobiography, adapted for the stage from their 2015 concept album of the same name. The results make for an unconventional but wholly stirring experience, captured here with palpable energy as a live audio recording produced by Ghostlight Records.

"Unconventional" can describe so much of the experience: from the show's structure defiantly refusing to define itself as any one thing; to the folk-punk score; to the Bengson's own love story that found them meeting, falling for each other and marrying in only three weeks. To say this isn't your typical musical is a tremendous understatement.