Like You: The Musical
| Like You: | |
|---|---|
| The Musical | |
| Music | Charles Ligus Tyler Milicic |
| Lyrics | Tyler Milicic |
| Book | Tyler Milicic |
| Basis | "Like You" by Tyler Milicic |
Search Like You: The Musical on Amazon.
Like You: The Musical is a musical with a book, additional music, and lyrics by Tyler Milicic and music by Charles Ligus. It is based on the original online play "Like You" (2021), which was originally conceived, produced, and performed online during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2021.[1]
The original online play premiered on YouTube in 2021, where it was live-streamed for hundreds of active viewers. It raised money for the Olde Towne Hall Theatre in North Ridgeville, Ohio and The Nord Center in Lorain, Ohio.
Like You was conceived by creator Tyler Milicic during the COVID-19 pandemic when theatre as a whole was struggling. There was a need for theatre but with the pandemic still reaching all-time high case numbers it was unsafe to do theatre in person. So he began creating an online show spoofing online conference calling applications like Zoom (software) and Skype but found this idea restricting after beginning the casting process. When the cast of the show had been decided Tyler went back and rewrote the entire story to make it a more traditional play story. This had its ups and downs. One positive was the creative liberty with what story narratives could be included. A negative was that it was ambitious to try and do a full length play online over a conference call. This was really only done once before by StarKid Productions with their "Nightmare Time" web-series, itself being a huge inspiration to Tyler during the writing process.
Synopsis
Act I
The show begins with a teenager, Evan, and his older sister, Maria, driving to their new home. Maria sees this as an opportunity at a new life and a chance their parents wouldn't want them to waste while Evan is still apprehensive to the idea ("They Were"). They finally arrive and are greeted by their new guardian Mr. Davis who introduces four more of his foster children; Rocky, Laurey, Phoebe, and Lola ("Welcome Home). After meeting most of the kids Evan finds himself feeling very alone ("What I Need (Preprise)") until a very energetic teenage girl bursts into the living room introducing herself as Elle, Mr. Davis' last foster kid. She offers to show Evan around and they begin to form a friendship.
At school the next day the rustle and bustle of hundreds of students can be heard ("Alma Mater"). Laurey and Phoebe are flirting with the local celebrity jock, Jack. Not paying attention Lola bumps into the two older girls. In response they throw her phone in a trash can. While rustling through the trash Lola's partner Addy teases her. While at school Rocky hangs out with his friend Todd as Elle takes Evan and explains to him the basics on surviving in their high school setting ("Class of Despair"). After lunch is concluded Laurey and Phoebe bully and harass Lola and Addy calling them freaks. Evan stands up to them, only to have Laurey turn physical against him. Phoebe tries to appeal to Laurey but it's not until Elle steps in and slaps Laurey that the fight ends. A teacher, Mr. Saunders, comes in and gives Elle detention before everyone leaves, except Evan ("What I Need"). Suddenly at Evan's lowest moment, a voice calls out to him. It's a teenaged girl named Thea. An instant connection sparks between them before Thea takes Evan to his classes.
Elle is serving her detention as Thea enters looking for Mr. Saunders. Thea wants to give him the answer sheet for the quiz in his class the following week. Elle sees this as a golden opportunity, and a win-win, for her and Thea. She wants the answers for the test, in exchange Thea can finally have a friend in the school.
That night Lola is hosting movie night at the local movie theatre featuring one of her favorite films from the great Charlie Chaplin. Elle and Thea enter much to the surprise of Evan. Before the movie starts Elle notices the tension between Evan and Thea and pulls Thea to the other side of the lobby with Lola and Addy and grills her about her feelings for Evan, with back up from the Candy Man, as Rocky grills Evan about his feelings for Thea ("Spill It"). Elle finally gets a confession out of Thea and Evan. After leaving the two alone Thea opens up, it seems for the first time ever ("My Life").
It's Thanksgiving in the Davis household and everyone is getting ready for dinner while Laurey and Phoebe are getting ready to go to a party. To their dismay Mr. Davis forces them to stay for dinner where everyone goes around and expresses what they're thankful for in their lives ("Thankful For"). After dinner Laurey and Phoebe get into a huge fight and Laurey tells Phoebe to just leave her alone ("Somehow"). After dinner, and some coaxing from Maria and Elle, Evan walks Thea home where they plan a date at the cities local festival ("Right There").
Act II
The family, their friends, and the entire city is at the festival. Phoebe is getting closer with Lola and Addy as Laurey walks up with Jack in an attempt to make her jealous. Elle, Evan, and Thea decide to find a better spot to watch the fireworks from. Todd is trying his best, but continuously failing, to pick up a girl. Rocky tells him he's doing it all wrong and that Todd could learn something from him ("What the Ladies Like"). Todd tries out his advice but obviously wasn't listening as he still gets rejected ("What the Ladies Like (Reprise)"). Before finding a spot Evan goes off to find some refreshments right before Thea's father, Stanley, arrives and harasses and threatens Thea. Thea swears Elle to secrecy about the interaction and Evan returns. Elle takes the two to a secret private spot and leaves them alone. As the fireworks begin to fly the two share a kiss ("Like You").
Back at the Davis household Lola tells the story of her late mother to Evan. And reveals the fact that she is the only biological kid Mr. Davis has.
At Thea's house Stanley continues to mentally and emotionally abuse Thea and forbids her from seeing Evan and his family. Suddenly Elle stumbles in. She followed Thea home scared for her safety. Thea tells her she has nothing to worry about as she is used to being alone and she'll be okay being alone. Elle tries to convince her she's not alone and won't be anymore ("Together"). Making too much noise Stanley returns, but not before Thea pushes Elle out. Enraged Stanley cracks his belt before stalking towards Thea.
Back at the Davis household Phoebe confronts Laurey again. This time things get physical between the sisters before Mr. Davis breaks up the fight. He tells Laurey that maybe he's not her real father, and that he'll always be there no matter what ("Hold Them Close").
Weeks go by and it is around Christmas time. Evan hasn't seen Thea at school or heard from her since their kiss at the festival. Elle finally tells Evan about her abusive father because she lost contact with her five days prior, which causes Evan to snap at Elle. Jack comes by to talk to Laurey and Rocky takes him to find her. While Evan is snapping at Elle, Thea finally shows up. It's not explicitly stated but it is implied that Stanley began beating her and the cops finally got involved. Evan cracks and rushes off.
Evan runs to the spot where he and Thea watched the fireworks. Maria follows him. We finally find out that Maria also died the same night, in the same accident that killed his parents. Maria explains that it's time to let him go and that he has so much in life as it is ("What I Need (Reprise)") as Thea enters. Thea and Evan talk it out and Thea promises it will all be perfect in the end ("It Will Be Alright").
Later that night Evan talks to Elle about her past and Elle finally fully opens up to Evan ("That Little Girl I Knew").
It's graduation day and Laurey finally patches it up with the entire family right before they all go their separate ways. Phoebe and Laurey are going off to collage, Rocky and Todd are starting a band, and Thea is taking a trip to Paris ("Like You (Reprise)").
Characters
| Character | Voice | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Evan | Tenor | A reserved and quiet teenager who has lost both of his parents in a car crash. He's moving into
Mr. Davis' foster home where he meets his new family. |
| Thea | Soprano | A shy but outgoing teenager who lives with her abusive father. |
| Elle | Soprano | One of Mr. Davis' foster kids. An intelligent but tricky teenager who befriends Evan and Thea. |
| Maria | Alto | Evan's older sister who was also in the crash that killed their parents. She is also slipping away. |
| Laurey | Soprano | One of Mr. Davis' foster kids. She is the classic "mean girl" archetype. She will do anything to
get her way even if that means hurting her foster siblings or even her birth sibling Phoebe. |
| Phoebe | Alto | One of Mr. Davis' foster kids and Laurey's birth sibling. If Anastasia was the good sibling then
so is Phoebe. She normally follows her sister no matter what but has a change of heart. |
| Lola | Alto | Mr. Davis' daughter. She is outgoing, and is always excited for everything. |
| Rocky | Baritone | Another one of Mr. Davis' foster kids. He's lazy, a stoner, but always someone to count on. |
| Mr. Davis | Tenor | The foster father for all of the kids. He loves them with all his heart no matter what. |
| Addy | Alto | Lola's non-binary partner. They're alternative but loves those that treat them with respect. |
| Todd | Baritone | Rocky's best friend. He's not very bright but always means well. |
| Jack | Bass | School jock caught in the gaze of both Phoebe and Laurey. |
| Candy Man | Baritone | A fun and kind behind the counter candy man at the movie theatre. |
| Stanley | Spoken | Thea's drunken and abusive father who is just the scum of the Earth. |
| Mr. Saunders | Spoken | An english teacher at the kids' school. |
Musical Numbers
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Keys
† Denotes Music by Tyler Milicic
Release
On November 26, 2022 a single from the musical "They Were" sung by Samantha Ezell was released.
In 2023 an EP for the musical was released featuring six songs from the musical.
EP Song List:
- "They Were" - Brooke Hamilton
- "What I Need" - Nick Hassan
- "Somehow" - Nicole Tuttle
- "Like You" - Noah Underhill & Kamryn Vealey
- "Hold Them Close" - Maxwell Daniels, Emerson Freas, Sophia Robson
- "That Little Girl I Knew" - Alicia Diamond
Casts
| Character | Like You (2021) | Original Concept Album |
|---|---|---|
| Evan | Noah Underhill | TBA |
| Thea | Kamryn Vealey | |
| Elle | Lizzie Schiffbauer | |
| Maria | Alli Haybeck | |
| Mr. Davis / Stanley | Alex Craig | |
| Monty | Randy Wysocky | |
| Laurey | Miranda Keller | |
| Phoebe | Emerson Freas | |
| Rocky | Javier Vega | |
| Lola | Marissa Vega | |
| Addy | V Moore | |
| Todd | Noah Tanzilli | |
| Jack | Rafael Pacheco | |
| Mr. Saunders | Tyler Milicic |
External links section
References
This article "Like You: The Musical" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Like You: The Musical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
