Mad Ones Itunes Booklet Final
Mad Ones Itunes Booklet Final
MUSICIANS
Music Director/Piano. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAUL STAROBA
Violin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROBERT ZUBRYKI
Guitar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CRAIG MAGNAMO
Harp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LYNETTE WARDLE
Percussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAN GARMON
Krystina Alabado (Sam) and Emma Hunton (Kelly) in the
Prospect Theater’s production of THE MAD ONES at 59E59
LINER NOTE
I first met Brian Lowdermilk under a tent when they were a young Side called “Makor.” It was in this basement bar/venue that I first met
artist-in-training with me at the Interlochen Arts Camp near Traverse Kait Kerrigan, who Brian had somehow convinced to take their lyrics
City, Michigan. Brian was studying composition, while I was exercising and book and make better sense of them. I remember finding her
my desire to perform in musical theater. It was a brief but important incredibly confident and intelligent. It was in this basement that I first
introduction. Little did I know that I would end up singing their music sang their glorious song, “Run Away With Me” to a young Celia Keenan-
in readings, in concerts all over the world, on their debut album with Bolger in a cast that also included Sara Chase and Alison Fraser.
Kait Kerrigan, and wind up working with them as director of their new In the years following, the piece received numerous workshops and
musical, REPUBLIC. developmental readings all across the country. It became more adult
and, as these writers grew into adults, with spouses and children, so
Several years after our initial introduction under the pines of grew the emotional depth of the characters in the piece.
Interlochen, in the summer of 2003, I received a letter addressed to my
dressing room at the American Airlines Theater, where I was making It has been thrilling to watch Kait and Brian grow, not only as a writing
my Broadway debut as Tom Sawyer in the Deaf West production of team but as humans in search of a higher truth. It seems to me that
BIG RIVER. Brian had written to me to ask if I would participate in a THE MAD ONES is an exercise in growth, a quest for a dialogue with
reading of a musical they had written the music and lyrics for called the innermost parts of ourselves where our pilot light exists. That light
“The Wheel.” I didn’t even listen to the demo CD they had sent along, I that, despite the winds and sometimes storms of change, growth, and
simply said yes. In retrospect, this was my first offer without an audition, maturation, guides us to our simplest desire. It took Kait and Brian
and I jumped at the chance to sing material for the first time. Upon a while to get there, back to that flame, but I think that they have
listening to the CD, I fell in love with their work. To be honest, I don’t unlocked something quite universal in this piece. As Ralph Ellison
remember much about that first reading of the musical that would said in his damning and enlightening novel INVISIBLE MAN, “When I
eventually morph and expand into THE MAD ONES, which you are discover who I am, I’ll be free.” THE MAD ONES challenges the idea
listening to right now, other than we premiered it at The York Theater of what it means to start something. They have written something
on the East Side of Manhattan and it was a story about a girl deciding that captures that moment in a person’s life where the future is both
whether or not to drive her car toward her planned life; college and the limitless and overwhelming. It’s no wonder that these songs have
rest, or into the great unknown. What I do remember is that the score resonated so deeply with young people as they begin their autonomous
was extremely vocally demanding, which to a twenty-year-old singer, lives and drive into the great unknown of adulthood, defining that word
was very exciting. as they go. I can’t wait to see where the car stops next and what songs
they will give us along the way.
In 2005, I was asked to participate in a reading of THE
UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SAMANTHA BROWN in a — Michael Arden
series produced by the 92nd Street Y at a space on the Upper West
SYNOPSIS
18-year-old SAMANTHA BROWN sits in a hand-me-down car with the keys clutched in her hand. Caught between a yearning for the
unknown and feeling bound by expectation, she telescopes back to a time before her world had fallen apart. As she relives her senior
year, we meet Sam’s well-intentioned helicopter mother BEV and her high school sweetheart of a boyfriend ADAM, but it’s her painfully
alive best friend KELLY that haunts her. Kelly was everything Sam is not – impetuous and daring. She pushed Sam to break rules and
do the unexpected. When Kelly’s killed in a car wreck, Sam loses not only her best friend but also the part of herself that was learning to
be brave. Now, Sam has to make a decision. Will she follow her mother’s dreams for her, or will she summon the courage to drive away
from her friends and family into a future she can’t imagine?
Krystina Alabado, Emma Hunton, and Ben Fankhauser (Adam) in the Prospect Theater’s production of THE MAD ONES at 59E59
1. THE
GIRL WHO THE DAWN IS BREAKING, KELLY Memories burst like a soap bubble
THE SUN'S NEARLY WAKING THE Fine. Go. and are gone.
DROVE AWAY LIFE INSIDE ME...
SAM SAM
Lights rise on a girl. IF ONLY I COULD TURN THE KEY. I'm supposed to leave for college Sorry. I think of one memory and
today. they all come flooding back in a big
SAM A moment passes. She holds the key jumble.
IT STARTS AS NOTHING, in her hand. Can she turn it in the KELLY
JUST A THOUGHT OR A DREAM. ignition? Go! KELLY
THEN ONE DAY YOU'RE IN THE mocking
DRIVER'S SEAT, SAM Not a memory jumble.
THE KEY IS IN THE IGNITION,
2. WE'REJUST IN I'm the valedictorian. The
AND NO ONE GAVE YOU valedictorian goes to college. SAM
PERMISSION. YOUR HEAD Shut up.
IT'S ONLY YOU IN THE CAR. KELLY
AND ONLY YOU KNOW HOW KELLY Oh I know. SAM
UNCERTAIN YOU ARE, Where were you headed? This is your fault. All of this. I was
HOW YOUR HEART IS RACING. SAM figuring out who I was - the whole
STILL YOU REACH FOR THE SAM But what if - year - saying what I wanted, doing it,
MOMENT I don't know. It's not like I have a and then one day the phone rings.
YOU'LL FINALLY SAY map or anything. KELLY A memory flashes. Kelly, in another
I'M THE GIRL WHO DROVE AWAY. But what if she doesn't? Oh, twist. time and place. One of those moments
KELLY that just sticks to your brain matter.
LEAVE THE FEAR AND DOUBT Well. Maps are for brain deads. ADAM
BEHIND. HEY SAM, KELLY
CHOOSE THE ROAD LESS SAM I WAS WONDERING out of context, distinctive
TRAVELED I was just daydreaming. WOULD YOU BE MY DATE WHAT - YOU THINK IT'S GONNA
NOT THE MEM'RIES TOO REAL, TO THE FRESHMAN FLING? BITE?
NOT THE GUILT THAT LEAVES YOU KELLY HEY, SAM.
PARALYZED. Technically, you still are. A moment passes. Sam is lost in her
CLOSE YOUR EYES, AND BEVERLY own thoughts.
EVERYTHING'S CLEARER. SAM SLIDE THE CAR INTO GEAR,
YOUR LIFE'S IN THE REAR VIEW You're not here. I'm sitting alone in a EASE YOUR FOOT OFF THE BRAKE. SAM
MIRROR. parked car - to audience
IF NO ONE KNOWS WHO YOU THAT'S IT. Kelly and I - we were -
KELLY THAT'S ALL IT IS. She trails off.
WERE,
My car. NOW YOU LET IT GO.
THE LINE BETWEEN THE DREAM
AND YOU STARTS TO BLUR. KELLY
Beat. KELLY Ok. Give me the keys.
STANDING AT THE CROSSROAD:
THERE'S THE GIRL WHO WAS LET'S GO.
SAM LET'S GO. SAM
WRITTEN IN YOUR DNA, Yeah.
OR THE GIRL WHO DROVE AWAY. What?
SAM Chord. Kelly takes the keys from Sam.
KELLY REMEMBER?
IF I COULD FEEL IT - Talking to yourself.
THE WAY THE DAY BLOWS REMEMBER? KELLY
ACROSS THE SKY, Get in the car, loser.
SAM KELLY
AND HOW THE MILES KEEP ON I need to go back inside.
FLYING BY. YO! Snap out of it.
SAM KELLY DRIVING FOR THE SAKE OF SAM
What are you doing? stage aside DRIVING ANYWHERE. Ah... Left!
You're not doing it right. THAT'S FREEDOM. Kelly turns the car fast, a near miss. A
KELLY horn honks. She flips the loser off.
Think about the one time I got you to SAM SAM
skip school. Fall of senior year. Doing what? half-hearted KELLY
FREEDOM. Very slow, Brown.
SAM KELLY
No. You're not in it. KELLY SAM
in flashback, registering Sam's So where are we going?
KELLY SAM despondence
You said no then too. I said "Get in, What are you talking about? What bug do you have up your ass? KELLY
loser, you're wasting your best life." I have no idea.
Chord. KELLY SAM Sam wants to be mad but she can't
You're not in the moment, Sam. Talk I don't have a bug up my ass! be. She laughs. Something wound
SAM about what it felt like. up inside her releases.
I won't. KELLY
SAM new tactic KELLY
KELLY What did it feel like? Samantha Brown. Do you see that COUNTING THE MILES AS WE GO
I said "Samantha Brown. Get in the fork up ahead? PAST.
car." KELLY
You remember. SAM SAM
FEELING THE WIND BLOWING Yeah. THE TANK IS FULL. THE SUN IS
3. FREEDOM
YOUR HAIR. HIGH.
You're not even trying. KELLY
KELLY Well, one way leads to our school KELLY
LET'S GO! THE HIGHWAY'S SAM and the other leads somewhere KNOWING THAT EVERY MILE
CALLING. THE SUN IS SHINING. I am. else. Which way do you want to COULD BE OUR LAST.
LET'S GET IN THE CAR AND JUST turn? Left or right.
REMEMBER. LET'S GO. KELLY SAM
Try harder. SAM JUST WATCHING THE DAY GO BY.
flashback
PICKING A ROAD AND GOING I don't know. You never take the
ANYWHERE. same route twice. I have no idea SAM AND KELLY
Remember the biker bar? where we are. WE WON'T LOOK BACK. WE NEVER
Get in, loser!
WILL.
Sam gets in the car.
SAM KELLY
SAM Oh god. Who cares? If you don't choose, KELLY
we're gonna hit that house. Left or WE'VE COME TOO FAR.
Explaining, a little uncomfortable
KELLY right!
KELLY DROVE ON ALL OF OUR
WE'RE HEADING SOUTH. SAM
ROAD TRIPS. SHE BELIEVED IN
And the biker. SAM WE'LL DRIVE TIL WE HIT
LIST'NING TO THE HIGHWAY.
Sam laughs in spite of herself. Hold on - let me pull up a map. NASHVILLE.
YOU START DRIVING, AND KEEP
DRIVING. THERE'S NO STOPPING KELLY KELLY KELLY
'TIL KELLY SAYS YOU'VE ARRIVED. OR MAYBE WEST. WE DON'T Maps are for braindeads! Left or NASHVILLE!
KNOW MUCH. WE'RE MAKING UP right?!
THE REST. TEAR UP THE ATLAS. SAM AND KELLY
DON'T READ THE ROAD SIGNS. FREEDOM. FREEDOM. FREEDOM.
KELLY THE TOWN BY-PASSED, SAM KELLY
Ok. What do you want to do now? THE LAST MINUTE self-instructing riffing
GET IN THE CAR Don't talk about it - live it. Don't feel OH YEAH.
SAM AND LET'S GO. the loss of it - feel it. She looks at Sam, expectant.
confident She looks Kelly, who is driving and
Make a right. KELLY grooving along to the radio - pure, in SAM
OH, LET'S GO. flashback - unperturbed by Sam's tentative
KELLY LET'S GO. present struggle. YEAH.
In life, Sam. Think big. What do you PICK A ROAD.
want? PICK A HIGHWAY. SAM KELLY
ANY ROAD KELLY DRIVING, ME RIDING YEAH.
SAM IS GOING MY WAY. LET'S GO. SHOTGUN.
Ugh I don't know. I want to get my LIVE IT UP WITH NO Windows open, so loud I can't hear. SAM
license. COMPLICATED PHILOSOPHIES. JUST A COUPLE GIRLS OUT ON more confident
NO COLLEGE, NO CAREER, THE HIGHWAY. YEAH.
KELLY NO KIDS, NO FANCY HOUSE, NO. Trees blurring into nothing. And I'm
Bigger. LET'S GO. ANY ROAD BUT THE nothing. And she's nothing. KELLY
ONE WE'RE ON. THERE'S NO ROAD MAP YEAH.
SAM AND NO CURFEW.
I want the deafening sound of driving SAM AND KELLY JUST TWO GIRLS WITH NOWHERE SAM
fast with the windows down. NO COLLEGE, NO CAREER, WE HAVE TO BE. with abandon
NO SCREAMING KIDS, NO Kelly starts singing lightly along with YEAH.
KELLY MORTGAGE. the radio.
More! DRIVING ANYWHERE. KELLY
SAM (KELLY) riffing her face off
SAM KELLY NOW SHE'S LAUGHING. YEAH.
I want to break rules and do JUST DRIVING STRAIGHT INTO (FREEDOM)
something unexpected. THE DAWN. AND I START LAUGHING. SAM AND KELLY
THAT'S FREEDOM. (FREEDOM) FREEDOM.
KELLY IT'S SO REAL FREEDOM.
Good. I want Arby's. SAM AND SO LIKE A MEMORY FREEDOM.
THERE'S SOMETHING BURIED (FREEDOM) FREEDOM!
SAM WITHIN HERE - AND THE SUN IS SO BRIGHT THAT
I want to reach the horizon of A LESSON TO KEEP. I'M SQUINTING.
4. ORDINARY
impossibility. THE IMPULSE, AND IT FEELS LIKE I FOUND
THE LIFE FORCE
KELLY THE DIVING IN DEEP.
FREEDOM. SENIOR YEAR
I want to go skinny-dipping in the I FEEL IT, SAM AND KELLY
ocean. SAM
THE CHAOS I USUALLY FLEE FREEDOM. FREEDOM. SOMETHING CHANGED.
IF I HOLD ON RIGHT HERE
SAM THE WHOLE WORLD COLLAPSED.
COULD I LEARN TO JUST - BE. SAM
I want to drive forever! I WAS ON A CERTAIN PATH,
Sam closes her eyes and takes a DRIVING FAST, THE RADIO
AND I'M ALMOST STARTING TO I KNEW WHAT TO DO -
deep breath - willing herself into an BLARING. WINDOWS OPEN,
FEEL IT, I DON'T KNOW AT ALL NOW.
awareness that she could lose at any SINGING LIKE WE'RE ROCK
HOW A DAY GIVES WAY TO THE LEAVES START TO TURN -
moment. She balances on an emotion- STARS.
SOMETHING DEEPER. IT'S FALL NOW. AM I THAT GIRL
al tightrope.
THE CHEAP REST STOP, ANYMORE?
6. SAM FAILED
THAT ORDINARY GIRL hour and a pedestrian is crossing BEVERLY
THAT I WAS BEFORE? the road at 2.5 miles per hour. If YOU DON'T!
the driver sees the pedestrian from HER DRIVER'S
KELLY a distance of 132 feet and brakes, SAM TEST
YOU DON'T HAVE TO KNOW THAT decelerating at a rate of 11.1 miles I DO!
RIGHT NOW. per hour per second, will the car hit SAM
START AGAIN. the pedestrian? If so, when? BOTH The first time you fail to get your
TELL THE STORY OF HOW YOU FORTY-ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE - license: adorable. The second time:
GOT HERE FROM AN ORDINARY SAM surprising. But I was ambitious.
SENIOR YEAR. The answer, obviously, is yes. In 2 BEVERLY
seconds. Physics is easy - just plug EVERY YEAR. ADAM, BEVERLY, KELLY
KELLY the right numbers into the equation. OH, SAM FAILED HER DRIVER'S
Maybe start with your mom. Driving is... real. SAM TEST FOUR TIMES.
Beverly appears. She clears her throat. I KNOW!
BEVERLY SAM
SAM Are you ready to drive? BEVERLY The first time barely counts: I forgot
What? THAT'S A HUNDRED PEOPLE A my glasses.
SAM DAY.
KELLY Are you ready for me to drive? ADAM
Tag out. SAM Medical condition.
BEVERLY MOM.
Sure. I've had a good life. KELLY, ADAM, BEVERLY
5. MY
MOM IS A Sam drives. Her mom looks on BEVERLY THAT'S ONE!
lovingly. SAM. YOU'LL BE A DEAD MAN.
STATISTICIAN SAM
BEVERLY SAM Next, a parked car bumped into me.
SAM singing sweetly WOMAN.
MY MOM IS A STATISTICIAN. SLOW DOWN, SAM. YOU'RE BEVERLY
AND SHE SEES STATISTICS GROWING UP TOO FAST. WHEN BEVERLY Divine intervention?
EVERYWHERE. IT'S TIME TO GO, I WILL LET YOU CHILDREN UNDER TWENTY
KNOW. I'LL TELL YOU WHEN, SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED KELLY, ADAM, BEVERLY
BEVERLY SAM. UNTIL THEN, SAM, LET'S TO DRIVE YOU CAN'T TRUST THAT'S TWO! Hoo.
2 TO 1 YOU HIT A RED LIGHT. JUST TAKE THINGS SLOW. YOUR FRONTAL CORTEX IF YOU
50 TO 1 YOU HIT A BEAR. Then, the car lurches. WANNA STAY ALIVE. GRIP ON SAM
TIGHTER WHEN YOU STEER AND The third time, I left the parking
SAM BEVERLY OVERCOMPENSATE WITH FEAR. brake on, which caused the
SHE SEES THE WORLD sudden, a light switch - Monster OR YOU WILL DIE TOMORROW. IN burning smell, which caused me to
AS A HIGH-RISK GAME, Mother THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, YOU panic, which caused me to...
GAMBLING WITH A FANCY NAME, Slow down, Sam! Jesus. CRASH AND SKID INTO A DITCH
TRYING TO CHEAT DEATH AND DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY AND NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO SAM, KELLY, ADAM, BEVERLY
STAY ALIVE. PEOPLE DIE IN CAR WRECKS FIND YOUR MANGLED DEAD PEE. AND FLEE.
THIS IS THE WAY SHE TAUGHT ME EVERY YEAR? CORPSE.
HOW TO DRIVE. Beat. SAM, ADAM, BEVERLY
Observe. SAM THAT'S THREE.
YES I DO. SAM Kelly sits down in a car with a
BEVERLY Yep. That's the mother I know and clipboard.
Say a car is traveling down a road at love.
a constant velocity of 57 miles per
KELLY KELLY KELLY KELLY
Minnesotan accent The DMV lady Carol Ann. She's from ARE YOU READY FOR THE Come on! Top 10. You love this
Samantha Brown? Minnesota. HIGHWAY? game.
www.kerrigan-lowdermilk.com
PRODUCTION CREDITS
PRODUCED BY: IAN KAGEY, BRIAN LOWDERMILK, KAIT KERRIGAN
ENGINEERED, MIXED BY: IAN KAGEY
EDITED BY: IAN KAGEY & BRIAN LOWDERMILK
The Mad Ones had its off-Broadway premiere at Prospect Theatre Company in 2017.
Under the title The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown, the show premiered at Goodspeed Musicals in 2011.
ALL SONGS BY BRIAN LOWDERMILK & KAIT KERRIGAN c BKLK MUSIC (ASCAP)
www.ConcordTheatricals.com
LIVE DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE RIGHTS FOR THE MAD ONES ARE REPRESENTED EXCLUSIVELY BY CONCORD THEATRICALS.