There’s a great musical somewhere in Rachel Bonds and Zoe Sarnak’s The Lonely Few. But we’re seeing—and hearing—only glimmers of it onstage at MCC Theater.
Ostensibly, The Lonely Few is the story of a hard-rocking band in nowheresville Kentucky that calls itself The Lonely Few: lead singer/guitarist Lila (Jagged Little Pill Tony winner Lauren Patten, totally in her element); bassist Dylan (Damon Daunno, the guitar-playing Curly in the 2019 Oklahoma! revival); keyboardist JJ (Helen J Shen); and drummer Paul, owner of Paul’s Juke Joint, where The Lonely Few plays and where Lila’s brother, Adam (Peter Mark Kendall), drinks. But when kinda famous singer-songwriter Amy (Taylor Iman Jones) pops into Paul’s and takes the stage with the ballad “She,” immediately locking eyes with Lila, we quickly realize this is a love story.
Sarnak’s score—rock with just a touch of country—is fantastic, each song a story in itself (Bonds wrote the book): “Always Wait for You,” which appears in various forms throughout the show, telegraphs Lila’s and Amy’s arc (“Have I known you my whole life/ Have I laughed before at something/ That you said again tonight”; “I’ll Be Gone” is Lila’s long-simmering, deep-seated, unexpressed desire to get out of her backwoods town; “Waking Up Thirty” is a rant/freakout from expectant dad Dylan (“Breaking down a breakdown/ Wondering what went wrong”); Amy and Paul’s “If Your Child” is a soulful reckoning of Amy’s relationship with her mom, also Paul’s ex-wife (“If your child was a sinner…”); Amy and Lila’s “Never Gonna Let It Fade,” which they play with their bands while on the road, is an unbridled testament to their happiness. That’s only a fraction of the titles on the setlist. And Patten and Jones sing the you-know-what out of every song. Jagged Little Pill was just the start; Patten is now fully in her rock era. Jones, meanwhile, whose credits include the Go-Go’s musical Head Over Heels and the pop concert–style Six, reveals a wonderfully gritty growl of a voice that matches her character’s toughness. Though she does look too young to pull off the lyric “I have skin that healed by scarring/ And you don’t want what’s etched in these lines.”
The problems start when the music stops. Everything in between simply feels like small talk. Or cliché, such as when Adam drops this Afterschool Special–style bit of wisdom on Lila: “You have to live your life.” And at the end, everything gets tied up just like you expect—in less than two intermission-free hours.
There’s also the issue of the sound: It’s not that it’s too loud—though it might be for some theatergoers (earplugs are offered on the way in); it’s that too many lyrics get obscured. Perhaps it depends where you’re seated; other than regular orchestra, options include counter-height bar stools, cushioned armchairs, and onstage table seating. Alas, no drinks or snacks are served à la Kit Kat Club, but if you’re lucky, Patten might jump on your table mid-song.
The Lonely Few opened May 20, 2024, and runs through June 9. Tickets and information: mcctheater.org
