One More Brilliant Thing

I’m back! For those of you just joining, my name is Miren. I’m a teenager born and raised in Manhattan who absolutely loves Broadway, and here on Encore By Miren, I share my unfiltered takes on the latest shows, interview people from the industry (coming soon!!) and give you a look at Broadway from a the perspective of an NYC teen!

Next is my review of Every Brilliant Thing. This show, which comes to Broadway after a successful run on the West End, is a unique, interactive theater experience! It’s about a child (played by Daniel Radcliffe) who starts a list of every brilliant thing in the world to help his mom who is struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts. While the topic itself is innately tragic, this “every brilliant thing concept” allows the show to unpack a “heavy” topic through the naive perspective of an optimistic child. 

Background 

The show begins with the character as a young boy who, after his mother’s first suicide attempt, starts a list of everything that makes life worth living to show her that life is beautiful. It starts simple things like "ice cream" and "water fights" and grows as he gets older.

What’s so powerful about the show is how it tackles topics like depression and suicide— "taboo" subjects that people are often afraid to talk about, in a way that brings them to light without making the experience feel melodramatic. Instead of leaving you feeling heavy, it really makes you want to go home and add your own "brilliant things" to the list.

Before the Show

If you get tickets to this show, PLEASEEE get there early. Daniel Radcliffe is the star, and before the curtain even "rises," he RUNS around the entire theater. He introduces himself to people, shakes hands, and is genuinely one of the nicest celebrities I have ever met. He literally came up to me, shook my hand, and said, "Hi, I'm Dan! It’s so nice to meet you.” And then even asked me what book I was reading. 

Pro Tip: If you want to be part of the action, try to get the "on-stage" seating or a front-row seat. You’re much more likely to get picked for a role. I had second-row stage seats, which looked straight ahead at the audience, and while I spent a good portion of the show looking at the back of Daniel’s head, being right there in the middle of the story was incredible. But even if you don’t, if you are enthusiastic and want to be part of the action, you are almost guaranteed to meet Daniel because he even goes up to the balcony to shake hands and give out roles!! 

What You Should Bring

Daniel asks for items from people during the show, so if you have on stage tickets (and want your item to be featured), I’d recommend bringing:

• A Pen

• A Jacket

• A Book

The Interactive Experience

Daniel talking to me :)

What makes Every Brilliant Thing stand out from other interactive shows I’ve seen is how much the audience is the show. Unlike the  blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments in shows like The Outsiders or Maybe Happy Ending, (In The Outsiders, Pony Boy hands out a book, and in MHE, Oliver throws wrapping paper out int

o the audience) here, the audience play actual characters!

Daniel picks people to be his school librarian (who becomes his counselor), his father, his love interest (Sam), an English teacher, and even a vet. Because these roles are played by different audience members every night, the show is never the same. It keeps people coming back because you want to see how a different "dad" or "Sam" changes the entire show.

Before the show started, I was sitting there on my knees trying to look super enthusiastic so I’d get a speaking role, but I think they saw I was a teenager and assumed I’d be bad at public speaking lol. But I was still super happy since Daniel personally picked me for the job of throwing confetti during the wedding scene!

The Cast

I’ve seen the Harry Potter movies, but I didn't realize how amazing of an actor Daniel actually was until this. The entire time, he is sprinting to the balcony, running through the mezzanine, and reacting to the audience in real time. In the performance I saw, Sam was played by a man (Julian Shapiro-Barnum, a famous YouTuber who runs recess therapy!!) and the book that Daniel got from the audience was called “I Who Have Never Known Men”. It was so funny because during the scene, Sam asks him what book he is reading and just the title got an immediate laugh. Daniel’s acting and his persona really make the show. He is so friendly and funny that it balances out the sadness of the topic perfectly. You really believe him in the role, and his improv skills with the audience members he picks are really amazing. It feels like he is really working with you, not just performing at you.

One of the best parts of the show is the ending, where  all “the brilliant things” written on sticky notes and scraps of paper rain down on the audience like confetti. I got “number 6231 moleskine notebooks" and “number 271351 when bus drivers wave to each other" :) Plus, there’s a link in the playbill where you can add your own brilliant things to a website after the show!

As a young person, I love the "collectible" nature of interactive theater. It gives the viewer an objective and makes it so much more exciting to be able to take something away from the show. It’s a great marketing move (kind of like the walk in Sunset Blvd)  because super fans will definitely go back again and again to see if they can get a special prop or a different role or experience the show differently. 

Overall…

This show took a taboo, serious subject and turned it into something sweet and hopeful. It really makes you want to go home and start your own list! Don’t forget to comment all of your “brilliant things” below! 

Rating: 9/10

Add your own brilliant things to the list with the official link here!: https://everybrilliantthing.com/brilliant-things/