Bonnie & Clyde Review Roundup

Posted on April 20, 2022 by boz

London theater critics have given generally positive reviews to the West End premiere of the 2011 Broadway musical Bonnie & Clyde, based on the life of American outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, which had its world premiere in 2009 at La Jolla Playhouse. The creative team includes Ivan Menchell (book), Frank Wildhorn (music), Don Black (lyrics), Nick Winston (direction, choreography), Philip Witcomb (sets, costumes), John McDaniel (orchestrations, arrrangements), Zoe Spurr (lights), Tom Marshall (sound), Nina Dunn (video), Nick Barstow (music direction), and Darren Ware (wigs).

The cast includes Frances Mayli McCann (Bonnie), Jordan Luke Gage (Clyde), Natalie McQueen (Blanche), George Maguire (Buck), Cleve September (Ted), Ako Mitchell (Preacher), Pippa Winslow (Cumie, Gov. Ferguson), Gracie Lai (Emma, Stella), Alistair So (Sheriff Schmid), Alexander Evans (Henry, Dep. Johnson), Ross Dawes (Cpt. Hamer), Barney Wilkinson (Bud, Archie), and Lauren Jones (Trish), with Charlie McCullagh and Annie Guy. The production continues at the Arts Theatre through July 10.

Broadway World (Cindy Marcolina): The show’s legions of fans can rest assured, it’s a bulletproof production. And all the others who still need to make their minds up will have their rib cages robbed of their hearts from the get-go. … McCann and Gage share a sizzling chemistry from beginning to end. … Bonnie & Clyde is not only surprisingly funny but also conceals a tactfully political vein. It’s an exquisitely performed and criminally seductive story that skillfully criticises a system that keeps failing its people. It might not be a perfect production, but it’s what we need. A glass of cold lemonade at a hair salon in the deep hot heart of Texas, if you will.

Guardian (Ryan Gilbey): Frances Mayli McCann is a charming Bonnie, distracted by thoughts of her idol Clara Bow even during moments of high drama, while Jordan Luke Gage is so likable as Clyde. … The cast could scarcely give it more gusto … but they are hobbled by a script that never works out what it wants to say, or why it’s saying it. Allusions to the pair seeking fame for fame’s sake aren’t enough to render it topical. Thematic dots are left unjoined, so that we discover “folks are calling them heroes” without properly understanding how or why this might be so. … The show, on the other hand, doesn’t linger long in the mind. 2 out of 5 stars.

London Theatre 1 (Chris Omaweng): Gage is sufficiently sinister as Clyde. … McCann’s portrayal of Bonnie is nuanced. … The standout performance, for me, is McQueen’s Blanche. … At times the production feels so slick and stylish that it loses the ruggedness that a story about fugitives would benefit from. At other times, the stage effects are persuasive enough to elicit audible gasps from the audience, and overall, the show does well to strike a balance between portraying a love story of an inseparable pair and their criminal activity. … Worth seeing. 4 out of 5 stars.

WhatsOnStage (Daniella Harrison): Wildhorn and Black’s songs are the lynchpin of the show, encompassing a variety of styles from gospel to country alongside several heartfelt ballads. Menchell’s book, on the other hand, lets the side down somewhat. … Regardless of these book-related quibbles, this is an excellent production firing on all cylinders. … McCann and Gage have good chemistry, playing up to the juvenile nature of the pair’s relationship which uses fighting as foreplay. … It’s so wonderful to see this much-loved musical have its moment after such a long wait – let’s hope it continues to raise a little hell in the West End for longer than its scheduled run. 4 out of 5 stars.

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Harmony Review Roundup

Posted on April 16, 2022 by boz

The long-awaited New York premiere of Harmony, based on the true story of German singing group The Comedian Harmonists, has received generally positive reviews from theater critics. The creative team includes Barry Manilow (music), Bruce Sussman (book, lyrics), Warren Carlyle (direction, choreography), Beowulf Boritt (sets), Linda Cho and Ricky Lurie (costumes), Dan Moses Schreier (sound), Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer (lights), Dan Moses Schreier (sound), Batwin & Robin (video), Tom Watson (wig & hair), and John O’Neill (music direction). The production continues at National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene through May 8.

The cast includes Sean Bell, Danny Kornfeld, Zal Owen, Eric Peters, Blake Roman and Steven Telsey as The Comedian Harmonists, with Chip Zien, Sierra Boggess, Jessie Davidson, Ana Hoffman, Kenny Morris, Elise Frances Daniells, Zak Edwards, Abby Goldfarb, Eddie Grey, Shayne Kennon, Kolby Kindle Benjamin H. Moore, Matthew Mucha, Andrew O’Shanick, Tori Palin, Barrett Riggins, Kayleen Seidl, Dan Teixeira, Nancy Ticotin, and Kate Wesler. Below is Manilow singing “Every Single Day” from the show.

N.Y. Post (Johnny Oleksinksi): It’s some of the better quality stage scores of the theater season. … Manilow’s score, with lyrics by Bruce Sussman, is pretty and occasionally touching. And all of the singers are sensational. … The narrator role is a new addition to the show … presumably to lend some gravitas and perspective — and Zien is in excellent form. But the role’s inclusion both spoils his character’s eventual fate (he’s obviously not an angel) and gives everything a stuffy air of nostalgia. We’re always looking back. … It would be nice to see something more transportive and evocative. So the long journey of Harmony continues. But with Manilow’s fine music, and this extraordinary company of actors, it’s worth the extra mileage. 4 out of 5 stars.

N.Y. Theatre Guide (Gillian Russo): Ain’t Too Proud and Jersey Boys already made successes of the same concept, but I’m happy to report that Harmony earns its place among them. … The many moving parts of this musical aren’t in as perfect harmony as the Comedian Harmonists, but they’re pretty darn close. … Harmony skillfully balances its various through-lines: The humorous moments don’t feel inappropriate amid heavy threads of anti-Semitism and loss, and these threads are sufficiently explored without plunging the audience into unrelenting despair. With minor exceptions, Harmony hits all the right notes. 4 out of 5 stars.

N.Y. Times (Elizabeth Vincentelli): Manilow, Sussman and Carlyle mostly succeed in balancing the shifting moods, which is no easy feat because they must shuffle broad humor and, well, Nazis. The “comedian” in the band’s name was to be taken literally, for example, and the singers were as famous for their stage antics and novelty songs as for their tight singing. The downside is that there is a thin line between speedy and rushed, and the men are drawn in brushstrokes. … Two women get the epic “Where You Go,” which has the heart-on-sleeve grandeur of the finest Michel Legrand ballads. Such Harmony songs as that one, “This Is Our Time” and “Every Single Day” create a sense of out-of-time inevitability, yet they also remain grounded in the story: It is impossible to forget why we are watching the show.

Time Out (Raven Snook): Although Harmony is engaging and heartfelt, it peters off into historical hokum. … The show’s first half is a tuneful whirlwind of lush and lovely melodies by Manilow (and workmanlike lyrics by Sussman). The second half is where things go off-key. … Manilow and Sussman’s paint-by-production-numbers approach is understandable: Many biomusicals use it, and audiences enjoy it well enough. But though it may be a crowd-pleaser, Harmony doesn’t make the most of the possibilities of its medium. The story of the Comedian Harmonists … deserves musical-theater storytelling as nuanced and compelling as the group’s polyphonic sound. 3 out of 5 stars.

Variety (A.D. Amorosi): Sussman and Manilow’s score for the show lends a contemporary flair to the joy, brotherhood, disappointment, disillusionment and guilt experienced by The Comedian Harmonists … and the women who loved them. In particular, Manilow’s memorable melodies are both cleverly married to the schlager-showtune-cabaret vibe of its time while still sounding as fresh as yesterday. … Sussman, meanwhile, provides a crackling, cracking-wise script. … Every element of Harmony clicks in place like a gorgeous puzzle. … Along with arriving at a collective sense of family by show’s end, this history lesson also demonstrates the power of making humanity sing, even in our darkest hours.

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The Little Prince Review Roundup

Posted on April 16, 2022 by boz

New York theater critics have given primarily negative reviews to the new Broadway adaptation of The Little Prince, based on the 1943 book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The creative team includes Chris Mouron (book, direction), Terry Truck (music), Anne Tournie (direction, choreography), Peggy Housett (costumes), Stephanie Fritsch (lights), Tristan Viscogliosi (sound), Marie Jumelin and Etienne Beaussart (video), and Carmen Arbues MIro (hair & makeup). The cast includes Dylan Barone (Fox, King), Aurélien Bednarek (Aviator), Antony Cesar (Vain Man), Marcin Janiak (Lamplighter), Andre Kamienski (Drunkard), Chris Mouron (Narrator), Adrien Picaut (Businessman, Switchman), Srilata Ray (Snake), Laurisse Sulty (Rose), and Lionel Zalachas (Little Prince), with William John Banks, Joän Bertrand, Marie Menuge, and George Sanders. The production continues its limited run through August 14.

N.Y. Post (Johnny Oleksinski): The woeful touring dance show … does not belong whatsoever where it’s currently situated. That is on Broadway. … In music, dance, design and storytelling, Little comes up short. … We leave not knowing how to feel about The Little Prince, other than that it is French and vaguely whimsical; its messages and life lessons wiped away by a production more content with being wannabe ASMR than an embraceable tale. 1 out of 5 stars.

N.Y. Theatre Guide (Gillian Russo): If you think you’re too old or jaded to watch in wonder as someone flies above your head while rose petals shower down, think again. It’s unfortunate that this dazzling moment doesn’t come until after the curtain call. … Until then, most of the choreography, gymnastics tricks, and even aerial stunts … feel too small for the vast Broadway Theatre. However, by eschewing the trappings of a traditional play, this production asks audiences to do the very thing the book does: Embrace your inner child. 4 out of 5 stars.

N.Y. Times (Elizabeth Vincetelli): This Little Prince is an uncomfortable hybrid, neither fish nor fowl nor sheep. … A few minutes into a nearly two-hour-long production, the realization hits that this Little Prince is going to be a long day’s journey into whimsy. … Despite the performers spending time suspended about the stage, the production remains stubbornly earthbound. Until, that is, what turns out to be a somewhat perverse move: the single showstopping scene … happens after the curtain call, when there is no show to stop anymore.

Time Out (Adam Feldman): Pity the poor Little Prince. Having left his tiny asteroid planet to explore the galaxy, the wide-eyed wanderer has landed with a very loud splat on the stage of the Broadway Theatre. … The Little Prince is not — as its cannily edited videos may have led audiences to expect — a musical or a spectacular cirque piece, though it has several unimpressive musical and circus elements. It is a clunky extended contemporary-dance piece. … The talented dancers deserve better, and so does the audience. 1 out of 5 stars.

Variety (A.D. Amorosi): Whether you’re an adult or a child … much of this amorphous action is messy, confusing and slow in the first act. … Yet, for all the blur, faux-modernity, wrongheaded bluster and maladroitness of the first half of The Little Prince, the second half is brilliant, better paced. … For all of the frenzy and wordiness of the first half, the second, quieter half of The Little Prince is more radically poetic, experimental and adventurously, genuinely engaging — for children and adults alike.

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Penelope Review Roundup

Posted on April 13, 2022 by boz

New York critics have given mixed reviews to the Off-Broadway musical Penelope, or How the Odyssey Was Really Written, a retelling of Homer’s classic narrative poem. The creative team includes Peter Kellogg (book, lyrics), Stephen Weiner (music, arrangements), Emily Maltby (direction, choreography), David Hancock Turner (music direction, orchestrations, arrangements), Steve Delehanty (arrangements), James Morgan (sets), Lex Liang (costumes), David A. Sexton (lights), Bradlee Ward (sound), and Kate Field (props). 

The cast includes Britney Nicole Simpson (Penelope) with Philippe Arroyo (Telemachus), Leah Hocking (Eurycleia), Cooper Howell (Antinous), Ben Jacoby (Odysseus), David LaMarr (Mileter), Jacob Alexander Simon (Bassanio), George Slotin (Haius), Sean Thompson (Barius), and Maria Wirries (Daphne). The production continues at the York Theatre Company through April 24.

DC Metro (Deb Miller): This version offers a new perspective … shifting the central focus of the epic myth from Odysseus’s journey to Penelope’s, in a work that is self-described as “funny, feminist, and fully relevant to today.” The witty script and score reference everything from the legendary figures … to Broadway’s Hadestown and West Side Story. Depending on your personal sense of humor and your definition of feminism, there are a few segments that miss the mark on both funny and feminist. … A winning and euphonious cast of ten delivers the riotously reimagined situations, distinctive personalities, and highly entertaining songs. … It’s a pleasure to see The York and Kellogg back together again in signature style with Penelope … even if it’s more female-centric than full-out feminist.

New York Times (Laura Collins-Hughes): Penelope paints its title character as the author of The Odyssey. It’s a promising twist … [but it] feels like a musical about and for men. In its cast of 10, there are just three women, including Britney Nicole Simpson, who makes a lovely Off Broadway debut in the title role. … The story that Kellogg and Weiner tell suffers from a failure of imagination, as if making her a weaver of tales rather than of cloth gives her definition enough. … This is the kind of show, though, that gestures toward open-mindedness by having the women explain to the men that they must abandon some of their entitled ways. “I’ll adapt,” Odysseus vows. But Penelope itself? It’s a bit of a throwback, in the guise of change.

Talkin’ Broadway (Marc Miller): Penelope throws a couple of clever curves into a familiar tale and manages to be that increasingly rare beast, an ingratiating new musical comedy. For a good stretch, anyway. … Kellogg plays by all the rules of traditional musical comedy storytelling: expository opening number, two-couple format, Act 1 finale with a plot-forwarding surprise, fun anachronisms, happy ending. … To director-choreographer Maltby’s credit, she amplifies the humor with bracing physicality. … Somewhat to Maltby’s discredit, she doesn’t entirely clarify the relationships or motivations. … Kellogg’s insistence on capping all this literate, apolitical nonsense with a gender-woke detour is annoying. But these are dire days, and some of us need musical comedy to help see us through them. We’ll take what we can get.

Theater Mania (Hayley Levitt): If you like a spoonful of sugar with your literary culture, Penelope could be an enjoyable way to pass two hours of your evening. … It’s a fun premise, but one that doesn’t seem to have been given much thought beyond its gendered twist. … Unfortunately, a frothed-up premise does not a story make — just as a female protagonist does not feminism make. And Penelope, in its collection of serviceable but altogether unremarkable musical numbers, often miscalculates how to push the right girl power buttons. … The authors of Penelope certainly don’t have to go the route of Broadway’s favorite histo-remix Six and envision a Penelope that leaves her husband, travels the globe, and joins a pop girl group. But if so little about her existing narrative has been changed, it’s reasonable to wonder why it was rewritten at all.

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Suffs Review Roundup

Posted on April 12, 2022 by boz

New York theater critics have given mixed reviews to the Off-Broadway world premiere musical Suffs, about the women’s suffrage movement. The creative team includes Shaina Taub (book, music, lyrics), Leigh Silverman (direction), Raja Feather Kelly (choreography), Andrea Grody (music direction), Mimi Lien (sets), Tony-Leslie James (costumes), Natasha Katz (lights), Sun Hee Kil (sound), and Mike Brun (orchestrations). 

The cast includes Ally Bonino (Lucy Burns), Jenn Colella (Carrie Chapman Catt), Hannah Cruz (Ruza Wenclawska), Nadia Dandashi (Doris Stevens), Nikki M. James (Ida B. Wells), Grace McLean (Woodrow Wilson), Phillipa Soo (Inez Milholland), and Shaina Taub (Alice Paul), with Jenna Bainbridge, Tsilala Brock, Aisha de Haas, Stephanie Everett, Amina Faye, Holly Gould, Cassondra James, Jaygee Macapugay, Susan Oliveras, Mia Pak, Liz Pearce, Monica Tulia Ramirez, J. Riley Jr., Angela Travino, Ada Westfall, and Aurelia Williams. The production continues at the Public Theater through May 15.

New York Times (Maya Phillips): The whole production feels so attuned to the gender politics and protests of today, so aware of possible critiques that it takes on its subject with an overabundance of caution. … And all these women and stories of their activism are uncomfortably stuffed into a show too scared to miss anything that it becomes bloated with information. … Suffs turns out to be all work and mostly no play, and when it comes to the music itself nothing really pops. … The music is most interesting when it sheds the exposition and allows the characters space to express their hopes, frustrations and desires.

Theater Mania (Hayley Levitt): Suffs is not the female Hamilton. … Suffs, with all its flaws — and there are many in this world-premiere production — does not need the support of a male property to stand on its own two feet.  … The score’s most successful numbers are the climactic protest songs that come at the end of each act: The shouts of “we won’t wait another day” and “the young are at the gates,” linking the suffragists of yore to the activists of today. These moments finally get your heart racing, just as Taub (an activist in her own right) has long proved capable of doing through her insightful and cathartic music. If only Suffs weren’t as splintered as the movement.

Time Out (Raven Snook): A formidable quintuple threat, Taub wrote the show’s songs and script … and also holds center stage. … Suffs is remarkably easy to follow as it presents its sheroes in all their imperfect glory, exploring the ideological, generational and racial divides that persist to this day in feminist politics. Although the show is nearly three hours long, not every pioneering woman gets her due. … There’s much to admire and enjoy in Suffs, which may well have a brilliant future ahead of it. Like its protagonists, it’s a progressive work in progress. 4 out of 5 stars.

Variety (Marilyn Stasio): Taub manages to dramatize the complex origins and conΩtentious development of the women’s rights movement by filtering it through the political coming-of-age narrative of Alice Paul, one of its seminal leaders. Making this a genuine tour de force, the composer-lyricist-writer also plays this central role. … The plethora of historical material clearly calls for an additional act: Lacking the space to breathe, the show chokes once the reformers are granted an audience with President Woodrow Wilson. … As for the ratification and formal verification — well, I’ll tell you all about it on the next march.

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Anyone Can Whistle Review Roundup

Posted on April 11, 2022 by boz

The London revival of the musical Anyone Can Whistle, the largest staged version of the show since its 1964 Broadway debut, has received mixed reviews from theater critics. The creative team includes Arthur Laurents (book), Stephen Sondheim (music, lyrics), Georgie Rankcom (direction), Natalie Pound (musical direction), Lisa Stevens (chorerography), Don Walker (orchestrations), Charlie Ingles (new orchestrations), Cory Shipp (sets, costumes), and Alex Musgrave (lights). The cast includes Alex Young (Cora), Chrystine Symone (Fay), Jordan Broatch (Hapgood), Danny Lane (Schub), Samuel Clifford (Cooley), Renan Teodoro (Magrueder), Nathan Taylor (Dr Detmold), Kathryn Akin (Mrs Schroeder), Marisha Morgan (Baby Joan), Teddy Hinde (John), Hana Ichijo (June), Shane Convery (George), and Jensen Tudtud (Martin). The production ends its limited engagement at Southwark Playhouse on May 7.

Evening Standard (Nick Curtis): Rankcom’s oafish production, packed with pratfalls, mugging and forced hysteria, makes the show’s relative neglect over the decades seem entirely justified. … Rankcom has recruited a partly gender-fluid cast to buttress the idea that this is a satire on conformity, but otherwise compounds the show’s faults. … A shame because Chrystine Symone, as Fay, has a fine voice, and Alex Young as Cora clearly has good pipes too as well as comic flair. But they are given insufficient direction, flailing for attention in a sea of crassness. … Rankcom’s production will please bereaved Sondheim completists. Anyone more discerning should give it a body-swerve. 1 out of 5 stars.

Everything Theatre (Lucy Vail): Rankcom has done a wonderful job of blending and embracing the show’s absurdity with its commentary on society and the role of individuality. … Young here shines as Mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper and her performance carries the entire show … with stunning vocals and perfect comic timing. She has the audience wrapped around her little finger. … I admit, even having watched the show I am still slightly confused by its entire plot line. But it is two hours of complete escapism and fun. Never have I seen such a bonkers show, and one where although not everything was understandable, I couldn’t help but smile! 4 out of 5 stars.

Guardian (Mark Lawson): The plot is absurd both as a theatrical genre and pejoratively, although with some serious intent. … The songs are most interesting for tryouts of rhyming and rhythm that Sondheim will later perfect. “Simple,” a 13-minute sequence of song, dialogue and action featuring a dozen performers, anticipates mature bravura montages. … Rankcom’s production brilliantly gives the show new contexts. … Most transformationally, a local “lunatic asylum” (in the vernacular of then) becomes, through a young cast, four of whom identify in the programme as non-binary, explicitly a place where society confines those who won’t conform. 4 stars out of 5.

London Theatre (Mariana Swain): Cora is the gleefully corrupt mayoress who reigns over an economically depressed small town. … Her plot strand is the clearest tonally: it’s vaudevillian slapstick backed by a pastiche score. … The other half of the musical is much harder to get a handle on. It features do-gooder nurse Fay Apple. … There’s a resonant point somewhere in here about how we mistreat “others” in society, whether that’s artists who think differently or those who don’t fit our existing norms. But, ironically, the show is so strenuously unconventional that all meaning is lost. A fun attempt, but this is one for the Sondheim completists. 3 out of 5 stars.

London Theatre 1 (Chris Omaweng): There are those who very much enjoyed it, and those who very much didn’t. The style of humour, dependent on one’s disposition, allows audiences to indulge in escapism, or otherwise is infantile to the point of being insufferable. … There are no weak links to report in the cast … even if the plot is sometimes unclear, a subliminal message that there is far more that people have in common than what separates us provides a poignant touch. For the most part, though, this is a production that revels in its own ludicrousness, providing much pleasure to those who find merit in the madness. 4 out of 5 stars.

Times (Donald Hutera): The rarity factor is practically off the scale when it comes to this cartoonishly bright, buoyant revival of Stephen Sondheim’s early cult flop. It has been staged with emphatic flair by Georgie Rankcom. … Materialising on Broadway in 1964 before audiences in thrall to shows such as Hello, Dolly! and Oliver!, Sondheim’s audaciously “fanciful” (his word) musical-comedy closed after nine performances. Was the failure justified? It is more than a mite understandable. Sondheim’s score is memorable — witty, sometimes touching and melodious, but robust; Arthur Laurents’s ambitious book, however, is far trickier. 3 out of 5 stars.

WhatsOnStage (Alun Hood): Rankcom has set this new production in a non-period-specific, candy-coloured fantasy land … and cast a joyously diverse ensemble. … It’s refreshing to see such a company of triple threat genuine talents who are so fabulously themselves. … Sondheim and Laurents’s bizarre confection isn’t in whistling distance of being a great musical, but it is … worth going along to hear these magnificent numbers performed live, and to witness the glorious Young take scenery-chewing and grabbing flailing material by the scruff of its neck, to new heights of dizzying delight. 3 out of 5 stars.

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2022 Olivier Awards

Posted on April 11, 2022 by boz

Last night, the winners of the 2022 Laurence Olivier Awards were revealed at the Royal Albert Hall in a ceremony hosted by comedian and West End veteran Jason Manford. They were the first Oliviers to be held since 2020, due to the pandemic shutdown of UK theaters. The green carpet (hosted by Emma B, Angellica Bell, Frank DiLella, and Anita Rani) was livestreamed on YouTube, and the ceremony itself was broadcast on Magic radio featuring hosts Alice Arnold and Ruthie Henshall, with highlights broadcast on ITV. You can watch the full ceremony below.

The revival of Cabaret, which went into the night with the most nominations (11), ended up with the most wins (7), including best musical revival, best actor in a musical (Eddie Redmayne), best actress in a musical (Jessie Buckley), best director (Rebecca Frecknall), best supporting actor in a musical (Elliot Levey), best supporting actress in a musical (Liza Sadovy), and best sound design (Nick Lidster).

Winning musicals also included Back to the Future (best new musical) and Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) (best entertainment), while Kathleen Marshall took home best choreography for the revival of Anything Goes, Catherine Zuber best costume design for the West End premiere of Moulin Rouge, and Simon Hale best new orchestrations for the Bob Marley biomusical Get Up, Stand Up.

Other notable winners of the evening include Life of Pi, which earned five awards including best new play, Constellations (best revival), Wolf Witch Giant Fairy (best family show), Revisor at Sadler’s Wells (best new dance production), and Royal Opera’s Jenůfa (best new opera production).

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Paradise Square Review Roundup

Posted on April 7, 2022 by boz

New York theater critics have given generally negative reviews to Paradise Square, based on the 2012 musical Hard Times by Larry Kirwan. The new musical premiered at Berkeley Rep in 2018, followed by a pre-Broadway run in Chicago last year. The creative team includes Larry Kirwan (concept, book, music, arrangements), Christina Anderson, Marcus Gardley, and Craig Lucas (book), Jason Howland (music, music direction, arrangements, orchestrations), Masi Asare and Nathan Tysen (lyrics), Moisés Kaufman (direction), Bill T. Jones (choreography), Alex Sanchez (musical staging), Allen Moyer (sets), Toni-Leslie James (costumes), Donald Holder (lights), Jon Weston (sound), Wendall K. Harrington (projections), and Matthew B. Armentrout (hair & wigs).

The cast includes Joaquina Kalukango (Nelly O’Brien), Matt Bogart (Willie O’Brien), Kevin Dennis (“Lucky” Mike Quinlan), John Dossett (Frederic Tiggens), Sidney DuPont (Washington Henry), Jacob Fishel (Milton Moore), Chilina Kennedy (Annie Lewis), Gabrielle McClinton (Angelina Baker), A.J. Shively (Owen Duignan), and Nathaniel Stampley (Rev. Samuel Jacob Lewis).

AM N.Y. (Matt Windman): Although well-meaning and filled with some striking visuals and pointed political commentary, Paradise Square is sappy, overstuffed, overlong, and tiresome. … Kaufman seems to have approached it more with a visual eye than a dramaturgical hand. Its best moments involve large, striking tableaux and full-bodied, expressive modern dance choreography by Bill T. Jones. On the other hand, the book (credited to no less than three writers) is a labored mess, and the score (credited to no less than four writers) is a strange amalgam. … If not much else, Paradise Square might be an ideal show for educators who want to take their students to a Broadway musical about U.S. history but can’t score tickets to Hamilton.

N.Y. Daily News (Chris Jones): Jaws clenched, limbs firing and hearts on the line: That’s what the admirable cast of the gutsy Paradise Square is delivering … led by a blockbuster lead performance from Joaquina Kalukango. … All of the writerly comings and goings can be felt at times … although far less than in Chicago, thanks to the unifying efforts of Howland’s growing suite of music, which is rich, earnest and emotionally potent. … The show genuinely wants to be entertaining, of course, and much of the time it succeeds. It movingly celebrates the power of love and of families we make for ourselves. But it does not want to offer the traditional cathartic comfort of musicals; rather, it seeks to reflect all the pain these struggling characters feel.

New York Times (Jesse Green): The show seems more interested in saying the right things than in telling a coherent story. Wait — I take that back: It does tell a coherent story, in two ways. One is in the dancing, which employs a kaleidoscopic crash of contextual styles. … The other source of coherence in Paradise Square is Kalukango, who somehow alchemizes the remarkable difficulties of the role into her characterization, making it incredible in the good way instead of the bad. … Nothing really prepares you for the moment when an actor brings everything she has to the stage and essentially writes what needs to be said while you watch. It makes you believe in making history.

Time Out (Adam Feldman): It’s a handsome production, with a talented and notably large cast; the exciting dance sequences … are among the show’s highlights. … The problem is that the writing doesn’t support the spectacle, yielding a ponderous hash of good intentions that often feels like a training-wheels version of Ragtime. … The thrilling exception that proves the rule is Nelly’s final number, “Let It Burn.” Like Cynthia Erivo in The Color Purple, Kalukango keeps her performance at a slow and steady smolder for most of Paradise Square, then flares out with deep emotional force. Her heat is infectious: The crowd rises up, finally inflamed. 3 out of 5 stars.

Variety (Naveen Kumar): The blunt and belabored history lesson of a new musical … purports to be a fable of American race relations. But while conflicts between the neighborhood’s Black and Irish residents at times come thrillingly to life through dance, Paradise Square is wrong-footed from the jump. … Paradise Square puts a host of stock characters in a broadly sketched historical setting, piles on the plot, and hopes for contemporary resonance. The result is a tiresome mess. … Amid its convoluted logic, Paradise Square has an invaluable asset in Joaquina Kalukango, who delivers an exhilarating, star-making performance as the iron-backed bar owner.

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2022 Lortel Nominees

Posted on April 7, 2022 by boz

On Thursday afternoon, POTUS performers Lilli Cooper and Lea DeLaria announced the nominees for the 2022 Lucille Lortel Awards, which honor the best of Off-Broadway theater. New this year are an Outstanding Ensemble category and non-gendered performance categories. The musicals Kimberly Akimbo, which transfers to Broadway later this year, and Oratorio for Living Things lead the pack with six nominations each. The winners of the 37th annual awards will be revealed at a live ceremony in NYU’s Skirball Center on May 1. In addition to the competitve prizes, Deirdre O’Connell will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award and David Henry Hwang will be inducted onto the Playwrights’ Sidewalk. Tickets for the ceremony are available at tickets.nyu.edu.

Among the nominations for Kimberly Akimbo are Outstanding Musical, choreography (Danny Mefford), two lead performances (Victoria Clark, Justin Cooley), and two featured performances (Steven Boyer, Bonnie Milligana). In addition to its nomination for Outstanding Musical, Oratorio for Living Things garnered notice for its direction (Lee Sunday Evans), ensemble, costumes (Márion Talán de la Rosa), lights (Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew), and sound (Nick Kourtides).

The two other Outstanding Musical nominees are Black No More and Intimate Apparel. The former was also noted for its choreography (Bill T. Jones), lead performance (Tamika Lawrence), featured performance (Lillias White), and lights (Jeff Croiter). The latter also earned nods for its lead performance (Kearstin Piper Brown) and costumes (Catherine Zuber).

The nominees for Outstanding Revival included the musical Assassins, which also earned nods for its direction (John Doyle) and two featured performances (Ethan Slater, Will Swenson). The remaining musical with multiple nominations is The Visitor, which is in consideration for its lead performance (Ahmad Maksoud) and projection design (David Bengali and Hana S. Kim).

Other remaining musical nominees include Little Girl Blue for Outstanding Solo Show, Trevor for choreography (Josh Prince), Cheek to Cheek for choreography (Randy Skinner), and Space Dogs for sets (Wilson Chin).

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Better Nate Than Ever Review Roundup

Posted on April 7, 2022 by boz

Critics have given generally favorable reviews to the Disney+ film adaptation of Better Nate Than Ever, based on the 2013 book by Tim Federle about an unpopular teen who dreams of becoming a Broadway star. The creative team includes Tim Federle (screenplay, direction), Gabriel Mann (music), Declan Quinn (cinematography), Kate Mcquerrey (editing), Jane Musky (production design), Keri Lederman (set decoration), and Jordan Carroll (music supervision). The cast features Rueby Wood (Nate), Joshua Bassett (Anthony), Aria Brooks (Libby), Norbert Leo Butz (Rex), Finn Egan-Liang (Jimmy Madison), Michelle Federer (Sherrie), and Lisa Kudrow (Heidi).

Movie Nation (Roger Moore): The film itself is an innocuous but pleasant Junior High School Musical from the writer/creator of that Disney blockbuster with Gabriel Mann serving up pleasantly forgettable songs. … Nate’s irrepressible “THIS is where I’m supposed to be” renews Aunt Heidi’s enthusiasm for the cattle calls, the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd. … The premise is so adorable as to give you a toothache. The production numbers have a Guys and Dolls era artifice that’s just as cute. … Our lead, a veteran of the stage tour of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, has enough charm and musical theater chops to hold our interest even if the movie is aimed at more of a tween or young teen audience. 2-1/2 out of 4 stars.

New York Times (Amy Nicholson): [Federle] paints Times Square in cotton-candy colors. As a filmmaker, he doesn’t yet have the comic timing to prod a laugh from a montage of rats and garbage. But his leads deliver hearty performances that elevate the movie, particularly once we’ve had time to adjust to the gusto of Wood, whose wired performance has the flavor of Hugh Jackman’s exuberance squeezed into an espresso cup. The slight story is buttressed by the LGBTQ affirmations, even if the movie is indirect in delivering them. At least the script finds creative ways to do that — as when Aunt Heidi (Lisa Kudrow), herself a struggling actor, sighs, “Some boys aren’t comfortable admitting they know every word to Pippin.”

Rogert Ebert (Nell Minow): Thank goodness for theater kids. If not for the mysterious but unquenchable spark in the kids born loving plays and musicals, who would tell our stories? … Like any classic movie musical, there are some elaborate dream-like numbers as well as the diegetic songs in the auditions, all expertly staged. … There are two good reasons to watch Better Nate Than Ever. First, it is smart, fun, and funny, a great movie to share with the family. Second, becoming a Rueby Wood fan right now will make sure you will not miss a moment from a performer who is already a master of comedy, drama, singing, and dancing. Someday, when he wins a Tony, you will want to be able to say, “I saw him in his first movie.” 3-1/2 out of 4 stars.

Variety (Courtney Howard): What hooks and disarms audiences minutes after clicking play on Better Nate Than Ever is its infectious energy. … Federle welcomes us into this world with the tantalizing promise of major things to come in a semi-biographical tale of an underdog chasing his dream of becoming a Broadway sensation. … Funny, vibrant, yet schmaltzy to a fault, this Disney+ family film can carry a tune, but falters in crafting a runaway hit. … Its heaping doses of sincerity make platitudes about finding your light and being true to yourself go down easy, giving hope to those who may be struggling with self-acceptance. Still, without some of the bigger ideas combining perfectly into a powerful crescendo, the song it sings sounds pitchy.

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