When audiences pile into Broadway’s Hudson Theater to watch All In: A Comedy About Love, chances are they’re not looking at the husband-and-wife duo tuning their instruments on either side of the stage. The show of vignettes, created by author Simon Rich, is only onstage for a 10-week limited engagement, and features a rotating cast of the who’s who of comedy and Broadway stardom, including John Mulaney, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Aidy Bryant, Nick Kroll, Andrew Rannells, Jimmy Fallon, Tim Meadows, and others. But as the lights change and that stacked cast takes center stage, Shaun and Abigail Bengson begin to strum off to the side, kicking off a performance as crucial to the production as any other. Because while Rich’s show might be known for its overflowing guest list, the Bengsons are the show’s lynchpin.
All In was inspired by the Magnetic Fields’ 1999 classic 69 Love Songs, and the Bengsons perform select tracks onstage. But the folk duo are also in charge of every other sound in the show, too. They’re responsible for the whir of a pirate flag being hoisted high, a door at the end of a long hallway creaking open, a book report being thumbed through, and an ocean wave gently rolling by. For a couple and musical act known for their semi-autobiographical musical-theater works — Hundred Days (2017) and The Keep Going Songs (2024) — covers have never even been something they’ve discussed. But the two say that being entirely in charge of the show’s music allows them to play a new and exciting role, not as the stars, but as guides. “Even when we’re not singing, the band is underscoring all the stories. So it feels like we’re the water floating [them] through,” Shaun says.
“Our work is to support the emotional journey of the show and give little outlets for big feelings. Because the stories, they’re all hilarious, but they also have sort of these germs of pathos in them. And the songs kind of let that erupt for a minute in between,” Abigail adds. “And personally, [we] get to have the pleasure of being around the funniest people in the world. That’s a pretty sweet gig.” For his part, Rich tells Rolling Stone the Bengsons are “out-of-this-world talented” and “the nicest virtuosos that you’ll ever meet.”
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Rolling Stone caught up with the Bengsons over an afternoon zoom to discuss covering the Magnetic Fields, the art of memoir-esque music, and playing guitar with the Grim Reaper.
As an album, 69 Love Songs is so influential for so many different people. But I’ve heard you guys have your own relationship with the project?
Abigail: Yeah, it’s actually kind of nuts. We met and got married three weeks later. And the first thing we did together was write a song together, and go on a road trip from New York to Shaun’s parents’ house in Ohio, as we were in our brief courtship before we decided to get married. He had this little green CD wallet, and one of them was 69 Love Songs. You’re learning another person through their music. It’s such an intimate way to get to know somebody, especially since we were both musicians.
Shaun: It was just an incredibly influential album for us, and has remained important to us throughout the years. “Book of Love” was the song that our older child fell asleep to for years and years. And it’s also the way [Stephin Merritt] writes. All of his songs are about characters and feel like these micro stories that are part of larger ones. And his use of humor and playfulness is something that we really try to bring in our work.
How does this go from an album you adore to a Broadway show you’re a part of?
Abigail: My brother passed away last year, and we were working on a show at Lincoln Center, sort of an ecstatic wake for him. It was really beautiful and important to me to honor him. And as it was ending, we were like, “We don’t know what we’re gonna do next.” A big void, that’s how it was feeling at the time. And right then, Kris Kukul and Alex Timbers [All In’s music supervisor and director, respectively] came to us and asked if we wanted to do this. And I knew it was a gift from my brother. He’s my big brother, and something about the way it came just felt like he was taking care of us.
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He was a comedy guy, and when I found out who was involved it just felt like so much love. Simon Rich and John Mulaney and Alex Timbers really love each other. And I think that in a way, this show is a way for them to tell each other that. That’s maybe the thing I love the most about it — being in this secret, not so secret love letter between these three friends.
One of the aspects of your work that people tend to adore is that it often includes so much of your personal narrative. It makes your work feel very vulnerable, but at the same time, does that ever get tiring?
Shaun: [Our work] requires all of us. It’s us with no armor and it’s incredibly vulnerable. That kind of work feeds me, but it does take a lot. It’s pretty amazing and wild to get to be a part of this. It’s not all on our backs. We get to be in support of these beautiful comedians and these wonderful stories and songs. So it’s like a treat in that respect.
Emilio Madrid*
Was there any pressure trying to do these very famous songs justice and perform them in your own style?
Abigail: It’s wild. We never do covers. For better or worse, we’ve just never done that. So it was actually a huge metabolic shift to sing someone else’s work. Luckily, we love the work so much. There was some pressure because we knew [the Magnetic Fields] were gonna come to opening night, and we were like, “What if they hate us? What if they boo because we sound so different? I hope they don’t think we ruined their masterpiece.” We got to meet them at the party afterwards, and that was so joyful and sweet, and they were so supportive. And thank God. It’s a total privilege to sing those songs.
What has it been like performing such a tight show, with such a small run time, with also the added stress of a rotating cast?
Shaun: We really grew attached to John [Mulaney] and Fred [Armisen] and Richard [Kind] and Renée [Elise Goldsberry] and Chloe [Fineman]. It is just really hard to see them go, [but] also very joyful to get to welcome in this new crew, who are all so extraordinary.
Abigail: Oh, my God, we’ll miss them forever.
Shaun: They are playing characters, but really they’re telling stories. There’s so much room to bring yourself in with that form, and so even when we’re singing the same notes, it’s just coming from such a different perspective and vibe. Not better or worse, just just different.
Abigail: It’s like really healthy polyamory.
Has the schedule been an adjustment?
Shaun: We go back and forth between Vermont and New York, but New York is our home. And our building got sold, so we had to move 10 days before we started this.
Abigail: Thank you for the gasp. It was sad and scary and hard. It feels like there’s four people who can afford to live in New York City, and we are not among them. So that’s real. But it’s added to the quality of this whole thing feeling like landing on another planet. One where it’s normal for us to go, “Oh, Jimmy Fallon’s here today” or “Hi, Nick Kroll!” It’s surreal in so many ways, and I feel like when the show closes, Shaun and I will look at each other and go, “Hello. What just happened?” That was a beautiful, strange dream.
Shaun: It’s a moon-landing kind of quality.
In the first cast, one of my favorite moments happens after the bows — more specifically, Fred Armisen came out dressed as the Grim Reaper and played an encore with you all. Whose idea was that?
Shaun: Fred is a beautiful musician. He’s a drummer and a multi-instrumentalist. So Alex and Kris talked about how we could feature this. We tried a whole bunch of encores and the cast was extraordinary in all of them, but it was just hard to find the right thing.
Abigail: So then they found the perfect thing. Fred plays death earlier on in the show, and so his surprise reentry as the Grim Reaper truly brings me joy every time. I don’t want to give away what’s happening [with the new cast], but it is also truly joyful. I love things that are smart and dumb, and I feel that this qualifies.
One of the things we’ve both mentioned in this interview is how much you two love to create and thrive in a narrative moment. And one of the things that have really made you cult successes is the emotional weight of your projects, and more specifically, how they always seem to end with a note of hope. How has your music’s relationship with optimism evolved?
Abigail: That’s such a beautiful question. I don’t know that I’m an optimist, but I am totally committed to life. I don’t want to lie to you and tell you it’s going to be OK, but I do want to promise you that there will be beauty somewhere. So I feel like the way I can promise [listeners] that is by holding our grief together honestly and going, “Look, even now, in this enormity of grief, in these hard times, even now, I choose you. And I choose me, and I choose to continue.” The thing I believe that we can do together is create a moment of joy. I really believe that when we’re all in a room together, we can do that. And I suspect that that is our clearest, best road to liberation.