The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown is a little-known musical by Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk. The show is (of course) about a girl named Samantha Brown and her last year in high school. She's her class valedictorian and her life is extremely average - the show picks up with Sam singing "The oldest story in the book, why give it a second look?" But Sam's story is incredibly poignant for the fact that she is average. I find myself on the verge of tears writing this. Sam's entire story is that she has no idea where she's going. She seems like she should have it all set. She has a perfect family, perfect friends, a perfect boyfriend, and she's top of her class. But she can't decide where to go to college. Her parents both force their own alma maters on Sam, who wants nothing more than to branch out and find out who she is on her own.
My friend gave me the music from the show as a present because I love the actress who plays Sam in it (her name is Meghann Fahy). Somewhat coincidentally, she gave it to me towards the beginning of my senior year. I remember blaring one of the songs in my car on the way to Perkins for breakfast on Spirit Day this year at six in the morning. Spoiler alert - Sam's best friend Kelly dies in a car accident. She's dead throughout the entire show as Sam replays her senior year in her mind before she leaves for college. One of my close friends also got in a major car accident just a few days before my friend gave me this show. She was nearly paralyzed and could have died had the accident been any worse. I remember one night listening to Kelly and Sam's final duet where Sam finally comes to terms with Kelly's death. And I just cried and cried. My high school experience has been completely average. Even more average than Sam's. I'm not class valedictorian. I've made no major impact on anything. Sam IS a crappy driver, so I can relate there. Just a plain, dumb, ordinary senior year. And yet, as much as I can say I hated this year, I know that this year I've become all-around a more optimistic person. So there's at least that.
I wouldn't say that Sam Brown has been the soundtrack to my senior year. I listened to it a lot in the beginning, even more after my friend's accident. But then I stopped. Right now I'm listening to it for the first time since probably January. And when I first got the show I recognized what a happy coincidence it was that Sam was going through the exact same things as me as I was living them. But I stopped, and I honestly couldn't tell you why. It's maybe better this way. Rediscovering it a week before the end of my senior year is just kind of sad, but at the same time it's really fitting, especially for the fact that she entire show is Sam looking back. I'm looking back writing this post. And I'll do it again before I go to school next year.
The musical is as of yet unfinished, and it's extremely difficult to find good versions of it online (the videos on Youtube of the production with Meghann Fahy don't do it justice and only have like two of the songs). It's really beautiful and I recommend it if you ever get the chance to see it. Plus, there's an official demo recording out there somewhere.
"These ordinary years make us who we will become... Seniors, let's reach for the sky. Say goodbye to high school, and face the world. Though we don't know what we'll see there, we know that we'll be there together. It's time to kick some ass- for all you lower classmen, sucks for you! Peace out to all of you. The party's gone, we're moving on."
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