The Play's the Thing

I want to preface my thoughts on Miss You Like Hell with a personal note: stories involving mothers are typically my emotional kryptonite. It's why I still can't talk about The Other Place without crying, or why I sobbed during Next to Normal and Grey Gardens , and why I can't listen to "Stay With Me" or "Children and Art," as brilliant as they are. And so, Miss You Like Hell , the new topical musical by Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes and Erin McKeown, despite it's flaws, packs an emotional punch. How could it not? But...is it earned? Yes and no. The concept of Miss You Like Hell isn't quite original but it's still compelling; an immigrant mother from Mexico, Beatriz, attempts to reconnect with her teenage daughter, Olivia, whom she has been estranged from for the last four years. The daughter is only sixteen but has essentially given up on herself (she's sexually promiscuous, has neglected her hygiene, and has even stro...