The Avett Brothers washed ashore at New York’s Longacre Theater on Tuesday night. The folk-rock band made a special appearance during the opening night performance of the Broadway musical Swept Away, which features music from their 2004 album, Mignonette.
During an encore, the three-piece band emerged on a boat to a roar of cheers from the audience and cast. “Celebrating a special night with the band that started it all,” the caption on an Instagram post from the official production account reads.
Swept Away builds its story between Mignonette and the real-life story of the Mignonette ship, which wrecked while at sea in July 1884. Four people on board managed to survive for just under three weeks, but not without making some stomach-turning decisions to procure their survival. It’s told in Neil Hanson’s book The Custom of the Sea, published in 1999.
The production premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2022 before moving down to Arena Stage in Washington D.C. and, now, up to Broadway. John Logan wrote the book for Swept Away, weaving the two narratives together. “I was just struck by the poetry of their lyrics, by the intensity of the music, and by the way they could explore different characters through songs and that’s what musicals do,” he told NPR. “I went to them and I said, ‘Look, can you give me permission to use any of your songs? And if you don’t like how I’m using them, we’ll discuss it. And they said, ‘Great.’”
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Speaking about his first impression of the production, Scott Avett said: “I thought, ‘These guys can sing way better than me.’ They have more control than I’ll ever have and I think it’s beautiful.”
The cast of Swept Away features Adrian Blake Enscoe, Stark Sands, John Gallagher, Jr., and Wayne Duvall in leading roles. Its ensemble cast includes Josh Breckenridge, Hunter Brown, Matt DeAngelis, and more.
