Now she\u2019s back in \u201cHundred Days,\u201d a folk-rock musical that\u2019s more like an indie concert with feelings than a traditional theatre show. The band doesn\u2019t hide in a pit; they live on stage, tangled in the love story at its core.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about two people who fall in love in New York City,\u201d Mallare explains. \u201cAnd it\u2019s also about what happens when you realize time isn\u2019t guaranteed. You\u2019ve got one hundred days. What do you do with them?\u201d<\/p>\n
The show, by real-life songwriting couple Abigail and Shaun Bengson, first hit New York Theatre Workshop in 2017 before making a stop at The Straz Center a few years later. Critics called it \u201ca folk-punk ode to living loudly before the lights go out.\u201d<\/p>\n
At American Stage, it\u2019s being done on a smaller, riskier scale\u2014stripped of spectacle, driven by musicians who double as storytellers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not your usual proscenium musical,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s immersive. You could come back three times and have a totally different experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing off the page<\/p>\n
Mallare\u2019s cello is her passport between worlds. Classically trained but uncontainable, she can flip from Bach to a bassline in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s the conservatory cellists who play what\u2019s written\u2014beautifully,\u201d she says. \u201cBut there\u2019s also the ones who go off the page. Who improvise. Who take what they know and throw it into a new genre.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where she lives\u2014somewhere between the staff lines.In\u00a0\u201cHundred Days,\u201d she uses a looper pedal to layer sound live, building a small electric universe around herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes it\u2019ll feel like there\u2019s more of me than you can see,\u201d she says, grinning. \u201cThat\u2019s the electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the kind of creative risk that mirrors the show itself: a small cast, no safety net, and music that lives or dies by the chemistry between players.<\/p>\n
Underproduced\u2014in the best way<\/p>\n
If Broadway musicals are glossy postcards,\u00a0\u201cHundred Days\u201d\u00a0is a handwritten letter.The lights are close, the instruments are visible, and the sound bleeds into the story. Every creak, every breath, every string buzz is part of the experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a few short weeks, these strangers became a family,\u201d Mallare says. \u201cYou see everything\u2014how we transition, how we prep, how we mess with sound between songs. There\u2019s nowhere to hide, and that\u2019s what I love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Living like the clock is ticking<\/p>\n
At the heart of\u00a0\u201cHundred Days\u201d\u00a0is a dare: What would you do if you only had a hundred days left with the person you love? For Mallare\u2014who\u2019s spent her career moving between classical halls, rock venues, and black-box theatres\u2014the answer is simple: you\u2019d make something beautiful and true, even if it vanishes after the final note.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love theater that makes people think,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have to be willing to think outside the box, too. I\u2019m not gonna drag people by their hair into the seats\u2014but if I can get you to come and talk afterward, that\u2019s the magic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before she hangs up, she adds one last thing\u2014the kind of thing you can\u2019t fake:<\/p>\n
\u201cI love coming to the theater every day. I know this is exactly where I need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tickets to see \u201cHundred Days\u201d playing select nights now through Nov. 16 at St. Petersburg\u2019s American Stage are still available and start at $28.<\/a><\/p>\n This post<\/a> first appeared at TB Arts Passport, which is part of the Tampa Bay Journalism Project (TBJP), a nascent Creative Loafing Tampa Bay effort supported by grants and a coalition of donors who make specific contributions via the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you are a non-paywalled Bay area publication interested in TBJP, please email rroa@ctampa.com<\/a>. Support TB Arts Passport by subscribing to its free newsletter or becoming a paying Arts Passport Member<\/a>.<\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Oct. 30 \u2013 Nov. 5, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/hundred_days_american_stage.webp\")
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