The Broadway Musical Blog – Musical theater news and gossip from the Great White Way
Dishing out daily (or almost daily) Broadway musical news and gossip. The companion site to The Broadway Musical Home (broadwaymusicalhome.com), a directory of Broadway musicals with the story, songs, merchandise, video clips, lyrics, tickets, rights & awards for almost 200 shows.Archive for Reviews
The Reviews for Annie are In…
The reviews for Annie are in and critics couldn’t be more pleased with the timing of a dog named Sandy bounding onstage to help heal the woes left by the hurricane of the same name. The show’s big name, Katie Finneran, receives mixed reviews for her performance of Miss Hannigan, but Lilla Crawford as Annie and Anthony Warlow as Daddy Warbucks, both receive huge accolades for their tremendous performances. The critics agree that the show is exactly what New York needs right now, and though a few long for the original production, most are happy to have this revival sounding out: “The sun will come out tomorrow!”
NEW YORK TIMES
“Say what you will about the current version of “Annie,” which is directed with a slightly tremulous hand by James Lapine and features the virtuosic Katie Finneran as the villainous Miss Hannigan, you can’t fault the timing of its return to Broadway…. Even the dewiest, pluckiest ingénue would have a hard time staying fresh once she became an endlessly re-marketable brand name. That’s the challenge faced by Mr. Lapine and company, and it is met a tad uneasily…. It would seem that Mr. Lapine is hoping to introduce at least a tincture of psychological shading to a show that is only, and unapologetically, a singing comic strip…. The delicate-featured but indefatigable Ms. Crawford, who is possessed of both a golden glow and a voice of brass, is pretty close to perfect in the title role.”
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“Could the timing be any better for a Broadway revival of Annie?… While it downplays the comic-strip origins in subtle ways, James Lapine’s production sensibly chooses not to reinvent the 1977 musical, which won seven Tony Awards and ran for close to six years its first time around. Returning to Broadway almost three decades later, this enduring ode to optimism remains a sterling example of expert musical-theater craftsmanship….Hardcore fans may find it lacking in the property’s traditional brash vibrancy, but what makes this revival disarming is that it’s cute without being cutesy and sweet without being saccharine….But the heart of the show, as it should be, is Crawford’s Annie. The 11-year-old actress has the vocal chops necessary to sock the songs across, but also the tough pragmatism to command a roomful of heavyweight politicians without coming off as obnoxious….Overall, this is a winning presentation of an unapologetically sentimental show that tips its hat to an earlier era in musical theater, before the age of cynicism and industrial spectacle redefined the Broadway model.”
NEWSDAY
“For all the freight of timeliness, this remains a sweet spot of a family musical, full of adorable, but not sticky-adorable, waifs punching the air with their teeny fists and belting “Tomorrow” over and over until every cynic within earshot might be a believer. Director James Lapine’s handsome yet lovable vision finds the emotional core without losing the cartoon magic. There is a modesty, a humanity within the spectacle that helps the too-large theater feel embracing….As Annie, Lilla Crawford has a self-possessed intelligence — we’d call it gravitas if that sounded more like fun. She also has lungs to match her big presence, and a cool coiffeur that says Bernadette Peters more than a tot in an orange fright wig. I’ll hear no negative words about Katie Finneran, who, unlike her much-admired campier predecessors, makes Miss Hannigan both a cruel clown and a genuinely erotic creature whose thwarted ambitions seem just the slightest bit sad. Anthony Warlow makes an empathetic Daddy Warbucks, Brynn O’Malley has smarts as his assistant, and Clarke Thorell and J. Elaine Marcos are properly nefarious con artists.”
WASHINGTON POST
“Infused with zip and charm by its sensational Annie, Noo-Yawk-tawkin’ Lilla Crawford, the show, slickly staged by James Lapine, tells you that any city or nation keeping faith with the future will rise again, come hell or high water….So it is with this handsome revival, infinitely superior to the previous Broadway incarnation, a woefully bedraggled 1997 staging…that ran for only 239 performances. One suspects that this kid- and adult-pleasing version, enhanced by Anthony Warlow’s gruff and robustly sung Daddy Warbucks, will be ensconced at the Palace for far longer….Accelerating quickly into shrillness…Finneran doesn’t let the audience fully embrace her joyous malevolence. We never feel enlisted in her quest to rise from the ranks of the losers. Thanks, though, to li’l Lilla and a superbly assembled cast of supporting orphans…the sentimental center of Annie holds, just fine.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The slow-to-start musical features an appealing 11-year-old Lilla Crawford in the title role, an overcooked Katie Finneran as Miss Hannigan and a first-rate Anthony Warlow as Daddy Warbucks…If Finneran is big and brassy and broad, Warlow is the opposite. This Australian actor brings gravitas and a sumptuous voice to Warbucks. His is a performance of subtlety, of small eyebrow movements….While Crawford is excellent, as is usually the case with “Annie,” a younger orphan often steals your heart. In this show, that would be Emily Rosenfeld as Molly, who is cuter than a dump truck of plush teddy bears.”
The Reviews for Chaplin are In…
The reviews for Chaplin are in…and they aren’t too sunny. Filled with clichés, the critics are not finding much good in this take on the little tramp. With unmemorable music and tiresome dance numbers, even the talents of relative newcomer Rob McClure can’t escape the show’s terrible writing unscathed; this is one show that’ll have to rely on its fans to get it through, cause these reviews sure aren’t going to help…
See for yourself:
NEW YORK TIMES
“This sour-smell-of-success story, which features songs by Christopher Curtis and a book by Mr. Curtis and Thomas Meehan, is steeped in a sense that Chaplin the person, as opposed to Chaplin the fabled silent comedian, has gone missing in action, devoured by a swarm of man-eating clichés….“Chaplin: The Musical” takes itself very seriously as it delivers the unsurprising news that a clown cries….The lens through which we see most of “Chaplin,” is blurred, as if with Vaseline….Yet a stolidly conventional heart beats beneath these airy trappings: a by-the-book rags-to-riches-to-loneliness saga, underscored by vaporous music (which includes, I swear, celestial choruses of “aahs”) and vaguely period dances that go on forever without going anywhere.”
VARIETY
“The most treacherous part of producing a biomusical about an iconic performer is finding an actor who can convincingly handle the role. The producers of “Chaplin” — this fall’s first Broadway offering — have passed that difficult test, with relative newcomer Rob McClure proving a small wonder as the Little Tramp. But they have come up all thumbs, alas, in the writing and staging departments. In the hands of composer-lyricist Chris Curtis (who has penned theme songs for the Discovery Channel) and Curtis’ co-librettist Tom Meehan (“Annie,” “The Producers”), Chaplin’s remarkable life veers into cliche.”
AM NEW YORK
“You’ve probably seen worse musicals than “Chaplin,” a forgettable biography of Charlie Chaplin. But how did this slow-paced and sentimental musical, which has the taste of a cup of coffee mixed with a dozen packets of sugar, make it to Broadway? The songs of Christopher Curtis – who has previously written theme songs for the Discovery Channel – are occasionally tuneful but mostly tacky. Still, they are far better than the show’s melodramatic and strange book.”
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
“Despite an enigmatic, career-making performance from Rob McClure in the title role, an earnest turn from Wayne Alan Wilcox as his tag-along brother Sydney, and an engaging performance from Erin Mackey as Chaplin’s late-in-life love Oona, “Chaplin” is a musical where the material is just not up to the complexity of its enigmatic subject. It’s impossible to believe that the creator of such masterpieces as “Modern Times” and “The Gold Rush” would express himself in such prosaic, cliched terms.”
BACKSTAGE
“It’s hard to know where to begin with “Chaplin,” the dismally dull musical by Christopher Curtis (book, music, lyrics), with an assist from Thomas Meehan (book), based on the life of perhaps the cinema’s finest auteur, Charlie Chaplin. The most the writing aspires to is mediocrity, which it rarely if ever achieves, something Warren Carlyle’s busy direction and choreography can’t disguise. The one performance of note comes from the extremely gifted Rob McClure in the title role, but the show’s relentless shopworn sentimentality erodes even his fine work. Nobody escapes “Chaplin” unscathed.”
The Reviews for Bring It On: The Musical are In…
The reviews for Bring It On: The Musical, the latest fun and frothy show to hit the Great White Way are in. Unlike the cheerleading predecessor from last season, Lysistrata Jones, reviewers were elated with the acrobatics and silly (if predictable) fun that marks this production. Brought to Broadway after a journey that began in Atlanta and continued to develop over the course of a national tour, reviewers agree that the unorthodox out-of-town tryout this show enjoyed only helped make it better. Adolescents and their parents are flocking to see it, but the run is short, so if it’s on your list, get in line now!
NEW YORK TIMES
“Cheerleading, that most American of pastimes, is not likely to become an Olympic sport anytime soon. Yet the highly acrobatic, gasp-inducing style of sis-boom-bah competition celebrated in “Bring It On: The Musical,” which opened Wednesday night at the St. James Theater, almost makes you believe that it should be. The cast of this alternately snarky and sentimental show about rival high school cheer squads often seems to be in constant motion, tumbling and flipping across the stage in elaborate routines that culminate in towering formations of human pyramids.”
AM NEW YORK
“This new musical inspired by the 2000 Kirsten Dunst film about competitive high school cheerleaders, which has played a long national tour before its limited run on Broadway, is obviously more likely to appeal to teens weaned on “High School Musical” and “Glee” than the majority of adult theatergoers.”
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“While the standard path for a major stage musical is to bow in a regional tryout, move to Broadway and then on to a national tour, the producers of Bring It On: The Musical were smart to shuffle that established order. The streets are littered every season with the early closing notices of shows unable to withstand Broadway’s tough economics. But this peppy teen cheerleader faceoff has been built to travel, premiering last year in Atlanta before launching a tour in November in Los Angeles. On the road since then, it touches down for a 12-week summer stint on Broadway, where it should prove a crowdpleaser with the target demographic.”
BACKSTAGE
“”Bring It On: The Musical” aspires to be nothing more than a frothy distraction with just a hint of that time-honored moral “Winning isn’t everything.” This wisp of cotton candy about a high school cheerleading competition is “inspired” by the Universal Pictures film franchise of the same title. Aimed squarely at teenage girls and designed to tour the country, the show would probably feel more at home at Madison Square Garden than on the stage of the St. James Theatre, where it is playing a two-month booking.”
NEWSDAY
“In some ways, Broadway has always been an extreme competitive sport. When young musical-theater talents dreamed of their first Broadway show, however, they probably never envisioned being tossed 20 feet into thin air or balancing on a castmate’s raised hand and the sole of a single sneaker.”
The Reviews for Leap of Faith are In…
Reviewers must have been running, not walking, out of the theatre to write these extremely scathing reviews. For them, Leap of Faith is the biggest blunder of the season. They found that even the normally capable hands of the show’s lead, Raúl Esparza, who had, until now, seemed unable to do any wrong, and the talented song-writing team of Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, the story felt so confused, desperate and flat as to leave NYTimes reviewer Ben Bratley decreeing: “Leap of Faith is this season’s black hole of musical comedy, sucking the energy out of anyone who gets near it.” Somehow I doubt producers will be placing that quote on any of their materials…that is if the show is around long-enough to create additional marketing. These critics would have it shut down on the spot.
NEW YORK TIMES
“Say amen, somebody. Or, better yet, just whimper the word. We’ve finally come to the end of a hard-run overcrowded spring on Broadway. And here, to sound the final trumpet, is one last musical, a show that appropriately expresses how many a dedicated theatergoer must be feeling right now: plumb tuckered out.”
TIME OUT NEW YORK REVIEW:
“Want to make a ton of money? Peddle God to fools. Want to lose a ton of money? Invest in a Broadway turkey. You can’t have it both ways. It’s perfectly fine—even desirable—if your religion is crude and nonsensical, but a show as bland and confused as Leap of Faith is not going to make rich men of its producers (among whom are actual church leaders). The fake cash distributed by actors to audience members—so we may place it in the offertory baskets at Jonas Nightingale’s revivalist hoedowns—is all the green this wanly tacky production is likely to see.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The last musical of the official Broadway season comes into town like a huckster promising salvation. But it’s the show itself that needs saving. There’s a strong musical somewhere in “Leap of Faith,” which stars a soulful Raul Esparza and has some of Alan Menken’s best songs. But what opened Thursday at The St. James Theatre is sometimes confusing in its tone. Like its main character – the devious faith healer Rev. Jonas Nightingale, ready to scam residents of a down-and-out Kansas town – the musical is hard to pin down. There’s too much misdirection.”
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“The 1992 movie no doubt has its fans, but for this reviewer, Leap of Faith was a charmless yawn whose chief distinction was the embarrassing weirdness of watching Steve Martin jogging in a crop top. Part fable about self-discovery and redemption and part takedown of shyster evangelism, the film fudged its position on whether the cynical main character had been truly enlightened by his spiritual journey, or whether such a journey had even occurred. The stage musical improves on the original simply by settling on a point of view. But despite Raul Esparza’s hard-working lead performance and some rousing Gospel numbers from Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, the story remains stubbornly unappealing.”
NEWSDAY
“Sociocultural theses may be written about the season when Broadway got dead serious about Christianity. Not only do we have earnest, grandiose revivals of “Godspell” and “Jesus Christ Superstar,” but here comes a true-believing musical, “Leap of Faith,” flat-lined out of the charming and touching 1992 Steve Martin movie about a con man preacher. The show, which has been surrounded by an assortment of rumors and incarnations since 2006, has arrived in director Christopher Ashley’s skimpy, hard-driving production, unsure of its tone and unable to figure out how best to use its star, Raúl Esparza.”
The Reviews for Nice Work if You Can Get It are In…
With comedy tailor-made for Matthew Broderick and the delightful Kelli O’Hara, Nice Work if You Can Get It is a tribute to Gershwin and the musicals of his era, with a thin, silly story, wonderful songs and all the mugging a girl could ever want. If you feel musicals tend to be over-the-top and trite, you’ll want to stay far away from this one, but if you find yourself pining for some silly, escapist fun, reviewers agree, this kitschy show might be just what you’re after.
NEW YORK TIMES
“Every now and then, a bubble of pure, tickling charm rises from the artificial froth of “Nice Work if You Can Get It,” the pastiche of a 1920s musical featuring songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Most of this show, which opened on Tuesday night at the Imperial Theater, registers as a shiny, dutiful trickle of jokes and dance numbers performed by talented people who don’t entirely connect with the whimsy of a bygone genre.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Kelli O’Hara has admitted that she was a little reluctant at first to sing some of the classic, heavily picked-over Gershwin songs before starting on “Nice Work If You Can Get It.” Thankfully that changed when she got to hold a gun.”
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“The last time Matthew Broderick headlined a major musical was opposite Nathan Lane in the instant blockbuster The Producers, the 2001 show that ushered in a new age of irreverence on Broadway and scooped up a record 12 Tony Awards. Mel Brooks’ runaway hit was sublime silliness, a giddy valentine to old-time musical theater with nothing on its mind but delirious entertainment. The same could be said of Nice Work If You Can Get It, which brings Broderick back in a disarming ball of fluff that seems tailor-made to fit his droll brand of comedy.”
AM NEW YORK
“Matthew Broderick, who hasn’t enjoyed much success on Broadway since “The Producers” a decade ago, manages to redeem himself in “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” a “new” Gershwin musical also starring Kelli O’Hara and other stage veterans who bring down the house in supporting comedic roles.”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“If you’re not a musical-theater fan, Nice Work If You Can Get It will probably confirm your worst fears about Broadway. The mugging. The wigs. The wheezing one-liners. Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes) with a light-as-air book by Joe DiPietro (Memphis), the show uses a screwball love story between a Prohibition-era playboy (Matthew Broderick) and a bootlegger (South Pacific’s Kelli O’Hara) as an excuse for a medley of classic George and Ira Gershwin tunes. It’s as joyfully airheaded and kitschy as a drag show, which should make it a must-see for anyone with a more-is-more stance on sequins.”
The Reviews for Ghost the Musical are In…
Yowsa. When the AP is the only one with something positive to say, you know you’re in trouble. Deemed by reviewers to be an unimaginative, boilerplate and overly-sappy musical with a whole lot of video and special effects thrown on top to try to hide the boring mess underneath, Ghost had better garner some fan love if it’s going to survive longer than a week. It seems the critics would not have it so…
NEW YORK TIMES
“Generally speaking, I don’t believe in ghosts. But I’m convinced that the spirits of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne have taken up temporary residence in the wings of the Broadway theater that bears their names, where the new musical adapted from the popular movie “Ghost” opened on Monday night.”
USA TODAY
“During the second act, a strange noise was heard, and the stage manager announced that the performance would be halted temporarily to resolve a technical problem. (The show’s representatives had no official comment on what the issue was.)”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The musical based on the film “Ghost” that just opened on Broadway is said to have originated in London. But it seems to have come from somewhere else: the future.”
BACKSTAGE
“Someone needs to tell “Ghost” that it’s not a movie anymore. No, not the 1990 film of the same name, which starred Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn, and Whoopi Goldberg. I’m talking about the identically named musical version, which director Matthew Warchus attempts to give cinematic qualities through the use of stage illusions, recorded videos, and film sequences. Film, however, has the luxury of yelling “Cut!” In the theater the show must go on, even if the expensive stage technology fails.”
AM NEW YORK
“The pottery wheel has been carried over. Same goes for the hit song “Unchained Melody,” which is sung countless times. But that hardly helps “Ghost the Musical,” a faithful but unmoving and overblown adaptation of the 1990 Patrick Swayze-Demi Moore romantic fantasy that has become an iconic chick flick.”
The Reviews for Lysistrata Jones are In…
The reviews for Lysistrata Jones are out, and critics universally feel this Off-Broadway transfer probably should have stayed Off. Suffering the fate of many other transfers, the campy and quirky qualities that made it endearing in its original run, seem frivolous and over-the-top under the lights of the Great White Way. Critics did feel Patti Murin, who plays the title role, has improved since the Off-Broadway run, and that the show captures the spirit of the younger generation – that embodied by shows like “Glee” and “High School Musical”. But the silly, one-liner script largely disappointed and the production as a whole lacked the brillance one expects of a Broadway show. Have you seen it? What did you think?
NEW YORK TIMES
Lysistrata Jones brings to mind the distant era of the college frolic “Good News” (1927) and “Babes in Arms”(1937), perishable good-time shows in which peppy kids delivered of-the-moment jokes and lively dances…. All the cast members effortlessly inhabit that happy dimension where cartoon is made flesh and vice versa…. But it turns out there’s tasty substance beneath the froth, just enough to keep you hooked.
Click here to read the full Lysistrata Jones review.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
After a successful run last summer at the tiny gym of Greenwich Village’s Judson Memorial Church, the goofy pop musical Lysistrata Jones has advanced to the big leagues of Broadway. Why? I have no idea. It’s a little like a solid junior-high basketball team playing Madison Square Garden.
Click here to read the full Lysistrata Jones review.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Do they give Tony Awards for best abs? If so, there’s really only one clear winner so far this season – Lysistrata Jones…. The musical itself, though, needs some more time in the gym. While no theatrical air ball, Lysistrata Jones isn’t a slam dunk, either. It’s got terrific songs by Lewis Flinn and an energetic cast, but the book is too derivative, a few of the actors seem overmatched, the choreography from Dan Knechtges is merely serviceable, and there aren’t enough killer jokes. … The show is now wilting under the white lights of Broadway and the air is seeping out of the ball.
Click here to read the full Lysistrata Jones review.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn’s musical update on the Ancient Greek sex comedy has its bubbly charms, but it also demonstrates the challenges of transferring scrappy downtown stage successes to Broadway’s less forgiving environment. That doesn’t mean the show’s entertainment value has been erased. But its more insubstantial qualities are magnified, demonstrating that commercial transfers are rarely an automatic slam-dunk.
Click here to read the full Lysistrata Jones review.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
The original play combined subversive comedic antics with hefty stakes. The derivative combines campy comedic antics with no stakes whatsoever…. Without some viable equivalent of something big to play for, Lysistrata Jones, its amusements and imagination aside, plays very thin and contrived — albeit with thick Broadway prices
Click here to read the full Lysistrata Jones review.
The Reviews for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever are In…
The reviews for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever are in, and though they aren’t the worst we’ve seen this season, they are nowhere near rave reviews. With some very intensive script-changes that throw gender-bending into the mix, critics found the new book almost as problematic as the original. The biggest upset was the splitting of the main female character’s multiple personalities into multiple cast members, rather than keeping it a showcase of one actress’ abilities. Most agree that Christine Jones’ sets and the songs themselves were the greatest stars, but overall were underwhelmed by this “reincarnation.”
NEW YORK TIMES
Toward the long-awaited end of the new semirevival of “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” which opened on Sunday at the St. James Theater, an eminent psychiatrist proposes that what we have been watching was perhaps only “my own psychoneurotic fantasy.”
Click here to read the full “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” review.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The diagnosis is in for Harry Connick Jr.’s Broadway musical about a psychiatrist undergoing a psychic meltdown: It needs more time on the couch.
Click here to read the full “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” review.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Respect to director Michael Mayer and playwright Peter Parnell for their audacious attempt at reinventing a problematic musical in the Broadway revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. The 1965 show has always been much loved for its lush Burton Lane score but denied the stamp of greatness by Alan Jay Lerner’s over-complicated structural mess of a book.
Click here to read the full “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” review.
VARIETY
The play initially was constructed as a vehicle for a star singer/comedienne (played by Barbara Harris on stage, Barbra Streisand on screen). The challenge and the fun came from watching an insecure neurotic instantly and repeatedly transformed through hypnosis into her glamorous, past-life self. Mayer has seen fit to divide this star part in half and have it played by two actors, removing the one element that thoroughly worked in the original.
Click here to read the full “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” review.
NEWSDAY
It’s a relief and a special pleasure to report that Mayer, in a square-cornered turn from his smart-rock productions of ”Spring Awakening” and “American Idiot,” has joined playwright Peter Parnell to change an unworkable plot into a more-than-serviceable gender-bending framework. There’s a mostly-classy cast, a fantasy op-art set and almost two dozen wonderful songs from the Broadway production and the film.
Click here to read the full “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” review.
The Reviews for Bonnie & Clyde are In…
The reviews for Bonnie & Clyde are in, and though they’re not the worst Wildhorn has seen, they are far from positive. Reviewers did find some redeeming qualities in the show’s cast, but found the story and songs simply didn’t deliver. Unoriginal and uninspired, most of them left the theatre asking the question: “Why?”
NEW YORK TIMES
That Clyde Barrow is such a cutup. Why, the boy will do most anything to stir up his sluggish fellow Americans: slap at them, tickle them, shoot them in cold blood. He’ll even punch his fist clean through a wall and drive a big old car right onto the stage, just to try to get a rise out of somebody. But Clyde, honey, t’ain’t nothing you can do to raise the pulse of something that’s as near to dead as the show you’re in.
Click here to read the full “Bonnie & Clyde” review.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Of all the legendary real-life outlaws who have cemented their place in the pages of classic Americana, few have been as iconically brought to life as Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in the landmark 1967 Arthur Penn film. So it takes a bold creative vision to put a fresh stamp on the doomed Depression-era felons. The new musical Bonnie & Clyde assembles four talented leads in a good-looking production, but its trite storytelling leaves them shooting blanks.
Click here to read the full “Bonnie & Clyde” review.
VARIETY
Boy meets girl on a deserted road in Depression-era West Dallas, and sooner than you can say “Warren Beatty,” they’re rolling in the hay — or rather, the dust. Seeing as how his name is Clyde and hers is Bonnie, the eventual outcome is no surprise here, and indeed the dead-end story trajectory grows burdensome, as does the fact that unschooled white-trash gunslingers generally aren’t loquacious enough to steal the spotlight. For all that, three exciting performances and a better-than-usual score from Frank Wildhorn combine to make this an arresting if problematic new musical.
Click here to read the full “Bonnie & Clyde” review.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
‘Bonnie & Clyde’ isn’t the worst musical to open on Broadway in the past decade. It isn’t even the worst Frank Wildhorn musical to open on Broadway in the past decade. (That would be “Dracula.”) It is, however, quite sufficiently bad enough to qualify for the finals of this year’s What-Were-They-Thinking Prize. Why would anyone not obviously deranged put money into a show with music by a composer whose last three Broadway outings tanked? And who thought it was a good idea to write a commodity musical whose title gives the impression that “Bonnie & Clyde” is based (even though it isn’t) on a 44-year-old movie that is no longer well remembered save by upper-middle-age baby boomers? Nor have Mr. Wildhorn and his feckless collaborators managed to beat these long odds: “Bonnie & Clyde” is so enervatingly bland and insipid that you’ll leave the theater asking yourself why you ever liked musicals in the first place.
Click here to read the full “Bonnie & Clyde” review.
NEWSDAY
There should be — and I’m guessing there will be — a place on Broadway this season for “Bonnie & Clyde.” Certainly, Arthur Penn’s 1967 film masterwork of violence and gorgeous outlaws does not cry out to be a musical. And, if it did, vanilla-pop composer Frank Wildhorn would not appear on most lists of feasible adapters.
Click here to read the full “Bonnie & Clyde” review.
The Reviews for Godspell are In
The reviews for Godspell are in and they are not what Producers were hoping to see. Though some of the cast, like Telly Leung and Lindsay Mendez, get some nice shout outs, reviewers all agree – the show is simply trying too hard and better belongs Off-Off-Off-Off-Off-Off Broadway, at your local high school or community theatre, than at the Circle in the Square. With glitter and choreography that includes the Macarena and trampolines, the show skews young and is generally is not these reviewer’s cup of tea. That said, we’ve seen many Broadway shows continue on to great success, regardless of reviews because the youth element latched on so strongly (Wicked, anyone?). Perhaps this show will surprise every one of them and the ADHD energy that was too much for these reviewers is the perfect recipe for success among the coveted younger audiences.
The New York Times:
Go easy on the caffeine if you’re heading to the Broadway revival of “Godspell” that opened on Monday night at the Circle in the Square. The cast of this relentlessly perky production of the 1971 musical, which transformed parables from the Gospels into a series of singable teaching moments, virtually never stops bopping, bouncing, bounding, even trampolining across the stage and up the aisles of the theater. It’s like being trapped in a summer camp rec room with a bunch of kids who have been a little too reckless with the Red Bull.
The Hollywood Reporter/Reuters:
Prepare ye the way for disappointment. Goldstein approaches it all like a Children’s Television Workshop special. Maybe it’s appropriate for a show so widely performed in schools, but this feels indeed like a high school production staged by the wacky new drama teacher. (Think Mr. G. on HBO’s under-appreciated Summer Heights High.) Christopher Gattelli’s choreography also throws a million ideas at the stage in the hope that something sticks. The strength of some of the second-act songs such as “On the Willows” ensures that a depth of feeling does eventually coalesce. And the crucifixion is arrestingly staged, albeit with cheesy simulated slo-mo from the disciples during the finale’s wailing guitar breaks. But my chief takeaway from this was the tarnishing of a treasured theater memory. Now, let’s see how Jesus Christ Superstar holds up in the spring.
Associated Press:
“Godspell,” which has long been a standard show put on in colleges and high schools, captures the best of the old and embraces the new: At intermission, some cast members stay on stage for the traditional boogie with the audience – yes, free wine is handed out – and yet this new version has the parable about Tribute to Caesar illustrated by Jesus putting a coin in a tip jar. Costumes by Miranda Hoffman remain true to that dynamic, with the use of multicolored pants and suspenders as a nod to the hippy past, and prom dresses, sneakers, a bowling shirt and leopard prints a sign of the new. It all ends badly, of course – for Jesus, not the show. The second act is a bummer, though Jesus’ death is sensitively handled. But as his followers carry his body away – their faces glisten with sweat and they are visibly moved – it’s clear that “Godspell” has anointed a new group of Broadway stars and we are the richer for it.
Newsday:
The nine performers are talented young people who get less cloying in the second act, when they stop trying so hard. They begin in business clothes, talking into cellphones, but soon change into ragtag thrift shop/fairy-tale style. They dance the Macarena, shoot confetti at us from pop guns and, in one of the better numbers, jump on trampolines revealed under trap doors.
Scrupulous journalism requires me to report that Friday’s audience leaped to its collective feet, roared with approval and many even went onstage for thimbles of wine at intermission. At the risk of appearing to kick a puppy, I admit I was not among them.
NY Post:
Goldstein and choreographer Christopher Gattelli milk the in-the-round staging for all it’s worth. The band members are scattered among the audience, the actors often run up and down the aisles and volunteers are invited onstage for games of charades and Pictionary. Clean-cut and colorful, this production skews young. It’s great for teens, but adults may find its hyperactivity a bit numbing.
Variety:
Strongest aspect of the affair is the casting: This “Godspell” is especially well sung. Standing out are Lindsay Mendez (on “Bless the Lord” and elsewhere) and Telly Leung (on “All Good Gifts”). The one big letdown comes from Hunter Parrish, the Jesus of the occasion. Parrish has an innocent smile, big blonde hair, and plenty of teeth; he doesn’t look like a Ken doll, exactly, but he sings like one. Wallace Smith, as John/Judas, is marginally stronger but not up to the level of the ensemble. One of the surprising bright spots is the entr’acte reprise of “Learn Your Lessons Well,” sung by Leung (at piano) with Mendez and Smith. Yes, there is an audience for this “Godspell,” and perhaps they can be reached. But the strengths of the original have been so weighted down by mirthless improvements that it makes for a very long two hours.
Bloomberg News:
0 stars. Updating the show with mobile phones and references to Donald Trump makes it no less creepy. Jesus (Hunter Parrish) can’t sing. The band sounds muddy. David Korins’s set and Miranda Hoffman’s costumes replace primary colors with dull tones. There’s one standout among the dreary supporting players: a star-quality mimicker named Telly Leung.
NY Magazine:
The music’s been given a once-over, as well, with sometimes radically tricked-out new undercarriages: Gone is the granola folk of “God Save the People,” replaced by an almost- reggae lilt; “We Beseech Thee”‘s gospel revival has been canned in favor of neo-country (and is now performed on, gulp, trampolines). And yet, for all that’s changed, it’s still much the same spell. “Bless the Lord” is still the first number to bring down the house (especially as performed by the redoubtable Lindsay Mendez), and incandescent individual performances (Telly Leung’s magnificent “All Good Gifts,” for example) elevate songs that might, in less expert hands, show their age.
NorthJersey.com:
The show’s songs, including “Day By Day” (warmly sung by Anna Maria Perez de Tagle), “Learn Your Lessons Well,” “By My Side” and “All for the Best,” are well-served by Michael Holland’s dynamic orchestrations…It’s clever, but the message intended by the parable gets lost. That’s the evening’s biggest problem: Instead of the show’s style enhancing the delivery of its substance, it often obscures it.
Read the full review
Time Out:
Reorchestrated and sound-designed for young, modern ears, this Godspell sounds like a born-again Glee, and several performers have moments to shine (including Uzo Aduba, Telly Leung and the wonderful Lindsay Mendez). Capering through Christopher Gattelli’s joyous choreography, on David Korins’s continually surprising set, the actors are nothing if not energetic. But for all the copious tributes paid to him, Jesus is a thankless role, and Hunter Parrish is this production’s sacrifice to it; with a voice and presence as light as his ultra-blond locks, Parrish preaches softly and wears a creepily forced smile. This is Jesus as Stepford twink, and it’s regrettably in keeping with a show that, in its combination of bathos and kitsch, is a model of bad faith.
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Backstage:
Instead of allowing the concept, of a childlike Christ leading a gaggle of puppyish disciples through the parables, to stand on its own, Goldstein has added a plethora of gimmicks, including audience-participation charades and Pictionary, as well as topical references to everything from Donald Trump to Facebook to Occupy Wall Street. When the cast hauls out the glitter cannons at the end of the first act, you know they’re trying too hard. “Godspell” is a popular choice for high school and community theaters because it has a simple, laid-back charm and opportunities for the cast of 10 to stand out, with each receiving at least one lead vocal part in the bouncy, infectious score, here rocked up and amped by orchestrator Michael Holland and sound designer Andrew Keister. Goldstein would have done better to reduce the volume and let the young ensemble rather than the jazzy staging take the spotlight.
The Village Voice:
But the show’s switches from goofy to glum are as awkward as ever, and while the Jesus (the surfer-dude-looking Hunter Parrish from Weeds) has a silkily beautiful voice, he can’t make the dramatic parts as profound as they want to be.
