Miss You Like Hell
Book & Lyrics by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Music by Eric McKeown
Baltimore Center Stage September 12 – October 13 2019
Director: Rebecca Martínez. Sets: Reid Thompson. Lighting: Elizabeth Mak.
Costumes: Harry Nadal. Sound: Charles Coes & Nathan Roberts.
Photography: Elizabeth Mak & Bill Geenen.
““Reid Thompson’s set design, Harry Nadal’s costumes, and Elizabeth Mak’s lighting design work together seamlessly to transport the crowd. In particular, the front end and cabin of the truck are extremely impressive and used to full effect throughout the show, often combined with some beautiful scrim work and lighting effects.” ”
“Maybe in the fight itself
We can come alive
In the place they can’t take.”
The premise of the musical is simple. Beatríz misses her teenaged daughter Olivia, and when Olivia threatens suicide on her blog, her mum drives cross-country to persuade her daughter to come spend some quality R&R time with her mother on the way to California. The reality is much more complex. Beatríz only has the drive to convince her daughter to testify to her character at her upcoming deportation hearing. But how to do that when Olivia bears so much resentment towards her for abandoning her all those years ago?
Along the way, we meet a varied cast of characters that help the mother-daughter pair face their issues. Rebecca came to the design team with the idea that the ensemble are people who have been sent by the ancestors who are watching over them, blessing them with folks who can aid them in healing their relationship
Beatríz calls down the ancestors in “Lioness”
Mothers are the trickiest things, the trickiest things by far
Arguably one of the show’s most emotional numbers, “Over My Shoulder” occurs when they are pulled over for a broken taillight and Beatríz fears being thrown in jail. She describes how she always has to look over her shoulder, not knowing when they might come for her.
“Bibliography” Olivia uses a calming technique to stave off an anxiety attack
“Now I’m Here” — an exuberant number with Olivia coming into her own
Miss You Like Hell for me was one of those dream projects. The ones that remind you that if you pray really hard and work really hard, you too can work with wonderful people on amazing art about things that you really care about. The ones that remind you why we fight everyday to make the world just a little better.