Emma Hunton, Constantine Maroulis, and More Set For BETTER DAYS Concert at Connolly's Pub

On Monday, October 26, Broadway performers will gather at Klub 45 at Connolly's Pub & Restaurant for a private concert of songs from the original musical, BETTER DAYS, a 2026 NAMT Finalist with a book by Eric Garcia, music and lyrics by Brian Logan Dales and Emily Wright, and direction by Kenneth Ferrone.

Set in a dusty Arizona bar over the course of fifteen years, BETTER DAYS is a heartfelt comedy about old friends, unresolved feelings, and the gravity of coming home. As familiar faces drift through Hal's Bar- some hoping to reconnect, others desperate to escape- they're forced to confront the choices that shaped them and the dreams they never quite let go. A raw, funny and resonant look at the ties that bind us to the past and the hope that maybe, just maybe, it's never too late to start over.

For this concert, the world of Hal's Tavern comes unusually close to the audience. Broadway voices will bring the show's songs into a real pub, where friends can pull up a chair, order a drink, and hear the music in the kind of room where this story belongs. The evening will feature Krystina Alabado, Jordan Dobson, Emma Hunton, Constantine Maroulis, Jake Pedersen, Brian Logan Dales, Lindsay Heather Pearce, Michael Shaw-Fisher, Brooke Wetterhahn, Hannah Bonnett, Kyle Montgomery, and Daniel Marconi.

Eric Garcia (book) is the bookwriter and lyricist of the BAD NEWS BEARS Musical, set to premiere in March 2027 at A.C.T. in San Francisco, as well as the bestselling author of Matchstick Men and the creator of Netflix's Kaleidoscope. Brian Logan Dales is a musician, actor, and lead singer/songwriter for pop/rock band THE SUMMER SET, releasing five full-length albums, selling half a million singles and garnering over 450 Million streams on Spotify. Emily Wright is a Grammy-nominated vocal producer, engineer and songwriter. She has written a number of top 40 songs for artists including Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, One Direction, and Linkin' Park. 

The production received an initial industry reading in 2025 in Hollywood, California. 

Garcia reflects, “We're living in a moment where the present feels almost impossible to sit with, so we look back, or we look ahead, trying to find safety in fond memories or hope for a brighter tomorrow. Better Days is about that instinct we all have when surrounded by chaos: to believe that the good stuff is somewhere else. But what the show reminds us -- in ways that are both funny and painful but honest – is that we don't have to go back or wait for life to get better. We can try and make it better, right here, right now, together. And that feels more urgent than ever.”