From Nick Blaemire comes the original musical “A Little More Alive” to Meadow Brook Theatre — a comedy with disconsolate undertones and great folk-pop songs to keep you entertained through the whole 95 minutes.
“Two estranged brothers reunite at their childhood home after their mother’s funeral. An unexpected revelation distorts every memory they have, and as they uncover secrets that had been hiding in plain sight their whole lives, Nate and Jeremy find that no one is exempt from the gray area between right and wrong,” reads the summary of the musical from Blaemire’s website.
I was very excited to attend one of the first few nights of the musical and sit with audiences who were also new to the story.
I was not disappointed either. The first song besides the prelude, “Pot at a Funeral” captured my attention almost immediately. It set the tone for the musical. It was a humorous song set directly after one of the worst things to happen to Nate, the eldest son.
Liam Fennecken plays Nate and does so extremely well. The eldest brother was the unserious one of the two and spent a good portion of the musical high or cracking a joke at his opposite, Jeremy. Jeremy is the youngest and spends most of his time in business meetings or on his phone.
Noah Barnes plays Jeremy — who is known as Germ to his family — and does a spectacular job at adding a sense of complex emotions to his character as he battles to choose what to focus on: his job or his father and brother.
The pair have a great connection and genuinely feel like brothers who grew apart due to circumstances. As the musical progresses, the audience realizes why the brothers react to their childhoods differently.
“Remember it Differently,” performed by Barnes, is one of my favorite songs out of the whole musical and I believe it is a relatable performance that audience members will understand. “Nobody Tells You” is another heartbreaking personal favorite.
“For some of us it will feel like it’s happening to our own family. While you won’t necessarily agree with every character, you probably know someone who resembles each of them,” artistic director Travis W. Walter said.
Lizzie is a lovable character who ties the plot together and reunites the family. Despite also going through grief and having the weight on her chest that she will have to do it all over again in less than a week, she helps the family through their own grief. Amber Hurst Martin has a one-of-a-kind voice to fit with the character.
Gene of course has to be mentioned. The complexity of his character and his actions made the plot thicken with complexity and Ron Williams did an amazing job conveying the father’s pain and love for his two sons.
Molly plays a small role in the musical with limited time onstage, but Melanie Frasca steals the scene with the song “With the Trees.”
The musical as a whole is a heartbreaking tale with splashes of humor throughout it and that’s what makes it so enjoyable. By the end of it, I was genuinely hoping for more. Alas, all good things must come to an end. I would recommend anyone to watch the musical.
If you would like to come out and support “A Little More Alive” and the cast, the musical will be presented at Meadow Brook Theatre from Wednesday, Feb. 14, until Sunday, March 10. You can purchase tickets by calling the theatre’s box office at 248-377-3300 or visiting Ticketmaster.
