COME LIGHT MY CIGARETTE is an edgy and suspenseful new musical in which a young actress is driven to confront the two most turbulent relationships in her life—her father, with whom she shares a volatile and shameful past, and her ex-lover, a powerful and controlling woman who was instrumental in making her a success.

The quality of our relationships as adults are closely linked to those we experienced in childhood, as every psychologist can attest. Our caretakers’ power to shape – or destroy – our world and self-view is what Arnold L. Cohen explores with his new musical Come Light My Cigarette, presented by MC Theatrical Productions at St. Clement’s Theatre. The story follows a tortured and volatile protagonist who struggles to connect with others meaningfully after suffering years of abuse at the hands of her depraved father. Vikki (Erikka Walsh) returns home to face her estranged father Kevin (Michael J. Farina), and the demons he left her to wrestle after learning that her mother has died. When he asks how she found out, she replies shortly, “I check the obits daily looking for your name.” In their hostile confrontation, she probes Kevin for details about his wife’s death, which she strongly suspects as murder, and seeks answers about her repeated childhood abuse. Through their heated interactions and several melancholy musical numbers, Cohen gives us a view of Vikki’s life on the edge, and her fight to become a successful actress despite the weight of her emotional pain. Unable to form heal …Read more