Book & lyrics by Katie Kerrigan. Music & lyrics by Bree Lowdermilk. Additional book and concept by Zach Altman. The Little Big Theatre Co. Qtopia Loading Dock. 30 Apr – 16 May, 2026.
You may already be familiar with Kerrigan & Lowdermilk’s coming-of-age musical The Mad Ones and just not know it. Originally written under the title The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown, it features cabaret/audition favourite “Run Away With Me”. But if you know that song, you’ve only scratched the surface of this musical musing about teenage anxiety, sexual confusion and stepping out of other people’s shadows.
Sam (Meg Robinson) is at a crossroads in life. In the rearview mirror are her analytical mum (Tisha R. Kelemen), her sweet boyfriend Adam (Ethan Malacaria) and her best friend Kelly (Teo Vergara), and she feels like she’s letting them all down. She’s graduating from high school with top grades and no idea what she wants to do next. For once in her life she’s asking herself: “What do I want?” But to find the answer, she has to come to terms with some hard truths — starting with the fact that Kelly has died and Sam is just now realising how much she loved her.
The songs by Kerrigan & Lowdermilk are very catchy and give the performers space to really belt — which, in the small space of Qtopia’s Loading Dock Theatre, threatens to raise the roof. And in this minimally staged production, it’s the vocals that are the stars. Meg Robinson gives us “tortured teen” power ballads up there with Evan Hansen. Teo Vergara is a walking, singing ball of impetuous joy. Together their vocals have a pop-music crispness that works beautifully with the contemporary score. Similarly, Ethan Malacaria brings a gentleness to Adam that reinterprets “Run Away With Me” — his only big number — as a soulful plea.
The songwriting shares DNA with Pasek and Paul — both duos came up together through the same New York musical theatre circles, and it shows. When Kelly declares “maps are for brain-deads”, you half-expect the opening bars of “Does Anybody Have a Map?” to follow. But where Pasek and Paul lean into power-pop hooks and melodies, Kerrigan & Lowdermilk are more interested in texture — trading pop-infused bangers for something warmer and more country-inflected, built on close two-part harmonies.
This small production, directed by Sarah Campbell, keeps things simple, using sound design (Peter Miller) and lighting (Holly Nesbitt) to bring the minimal set to life. Campbell uses every inch of space to give the show movement — but the black box stage has its limits, and over a full-length musical without an interval, the walls do start to close in.
That claustrophobia is compounded by a script that is frustratingly static. This is a deeply internal journey — the whole story takes place in a daydream as Sam sits in her car — and there is a real lack of narrative propulsion (ironically) as she wrestles with her inner demons towards a place of decision we always assume she’ll reach. This is musical theatre, after all. Clearly written with an interval in mind but running straight through at 100 minutes, the show’s energy peaks at what should have been the act break and never really recovers. The comedy, meanwhile, feels like an awkward addition that doesn’t fully gel.
If you’re a fan of contemporary musical theatre, The Mad Ones has all the ingredients you’ll enjoy — catchy tunes delivered with crystal-clear, soaring vocals. There’s an intimacy that you only get with a small stage, and while I suspect the show might work better as a concert than a full staging, this production gives you a chance to revel in the remarkable talent on display.
Cultural Binge 
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