A click of Johnson’s drumsticks matched with a flash of lights capture each memory. One high point is a montage of Abigail and Shaun as they attempt to stretch out days as long as they possibly can by taking mental pictures of all of their adventures together. Through them, and with Stiff’s direction and especially Jackie Fox’s lighting design (she also designed the set), the concert feel elevates to something significantly more magical as it takes the audience inside the minds of Abigail and Shaun during a tumultuous time in their relationship. Phan is charming as a reserved Shaun, and Modaff an absolute powerhouse as Abigail. The musical explores a simple question: Faced with someone you love potentially only having 100 days left to live, what do you do?Įmilie Modaff with Grace Bobber, Royen Kent, Brennan Urbi and Lucas "Looch" Johnson in Kokandy Productions' "Hundred Days." (Evan Hanover photo / HANDOUT)īut this show isn’t just a concert, it’s a love story, with Modaff and Phan at its center. But more deeply, it follows the effects of Abigail’s deep-seated grief, spawning from childhood trauma and death of those close to her, on their relationship. The story follows Abigail and Shaun falling quickly in love and marrying after three weeks. “Hundred Days” presents a musical memoir of its creators, Shaun and Abigail Bengson, who wrote the music and lyrics as well as wrote the book alongside Sarah Gancher. But now that we’re finally able to gather, perhaps a story like “Hundred Days,” one that reminds us that, despite the inevitability of death, grief doesn’t have to be suffered alone is the perfect story for the moment.
Kokandy Productions was set to open the Chicago premiere of “Hundred Days” back in March 2020, before the pandemic. Before readily available vaccines, many had to face down that grief alone, unable to even be around family members as they spent their last moments in crowded hospitals. That’s never felt more true than when looking at the ever-rising death toll resulting from COVID-19. Grief has touched the lives of us all at one point or another.
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