The reviews for King Kong are in, and while the great ape puppet dominating the Broadway Theater boards may be the king of his stage, this production doesn’t exactly sound poised for the throne. The critics generally find King Kong himself impressive, calling him “enchanting,” “a technological marvel,” and even “the most expressive performer onstage.” In fact, our reviewers found themselves longing for the king whenever he left the stage for a spell… so either he’s just that good, or everything else is just plain bad (hint: it’s this one). One of the reviewers even expresses pity for the cast members compelled to present such unoriginal, lackluster material and perform for audiences so obviously not there to see them. It all sounds a bit sad to us, but if you’re a glutton for spectacle you may still give it a shot. After all, it’s not every day you get a 20-foot king sitting court on Broadway.
NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW OF KING KONG
Hello, Jesse. Though I’m not in a playful mood this morning — having just seen the spirit-crushing “King Kong” — what if we begin this dialogue with a game? Imagine you are on the street, having just left the theater, and are asked by a television interviewer to describe your response in one word. Well?…
DEADLINE REVIEW OF KING KONG
Eighth wonder of the world? King Kong probably isn’t even the eighth wonder of Broadway – those kids in The Ferryman aren’t giving up their spots anytime soon – but the big ape does provide some roaring good thrills. Picking over Hollywood’s Depression Era beauty-and-the-beast tale for what still…
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER REVIEW OF KING KONG
To quote the title of an R&B hit by early ’70s girl group Honey Cone, “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show.” Except that in King Kong, it most definitely does. In fact, that monstrous ape, able to cup an aspiring Hollywood starlet in one giant paw, pretty much is the show in this otherwise blundering musical, in…
VARIETY REVIEW OF KING KONG
“He’s not a film, he’s theater!” says the movie director in the musical “King Kong,” when he realizes that the mighty creature he is about to capture is best presented on a proscenium stage. After an earlier production in Australia and with the addition of a largely new creative team, the producers (led by…
TIME OUT NEW YORK REVIEW OF KING KONG
The truly frustrating thing about King Kong is the waste of it all. Why did it this story, whose central figure necessarily cannot sing, need to be a musical at all, much less one that suggests a late-run Simpsons parody? Have the success of War Horse and Thorne’s own Harry Potter and the Cursed Child…
Broadway Musical Blog 