First Date: Review Roundup

Eric Ankrim and Kelly Karbacz in First Date

Reviews for First Date, in its world premiere at ACT in Seattle, have been mostly favorable. The creative team is Austin Winsberg (book), Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner (lyrics and music), Bill Berry (direction), Josh Prince (choreography), August Eriksmoen (orchestrations), Matthew Smucker (sets), Frances Kenny (costumes), Alex Berry (lights), and Kai Harada (sound). The cast includes Eric Ankrim (Aaron), Greg McCormick Allen (Man #3), Benjamin Harris (Man #2), Kelly Karbacz (Casey), Vicki Noon (Woman #2), Brandon O’Neill (Man #1), and Billie Wildrick (Woman #1).

Misha Berson (Seattle Times): The fix-up portrayed in the delightful new musical First Date at ACT Theatre isn’t an instant love connection. But this crowd-pleasing show attracts the audience from the moment nervous, nebbishy Aaron (Eric Ankrim) enters a bistro to meet sleek, skeptical Casey (Kelly Karbacz). The best co-production by ACT and 5th Avenue Theatre up to now, First Date has the smart, frisky appeal of a choice episode of Sex and the City – minus the bed-hopping. … Musically, the pop-flavored tunes are fairly generic. But lyrically, they are terrific – snappy and irreverent in the main, yet thoughtful in a couple of introspective ballads. … It’s another mark in the show’s favor that it contains many swings of emotion, and an ending that’s more about new beginnings than happy-ever-afters. This is, after all, only a first date – but a very promising one.

David Goldstein (The Stranger): Every theater premiere is like a blind date, and this one didn’t start so well, with a forgettable opening number and cliché-laden dialogue that had me expecting the worst. But once the show got rolling, I gradually warmed to its charms. … The songs are likable, the book and lyrics are sometimes very funny, and the staging includes a handful of clever sight gags. Best of all, the very talented ensemble appears to truly enjoy itself, an attitude that is infectious. … I ultimately managed to put aside my notions of the ideal match to settle for what First Date really is: a pleasant and enjoyable farce. … First Date is best when it isn’t trying to be what it’s not – and it’s not a show populated by fleshed-out characters we genuinely care about. … Fix the opening and accept it for what it is – a not-very-romantic comedy – and the creators might have an off-Broadway success on their hands.

David-Edward Hughes (Talkin’ Broadway): Feeling more like a revue of singles dating and all that goes with it, ACT Theatre and 5th Avenue Theatre have wasted an excellent cast and production on a piffle of a musical. … The score of the show by composers and lyricists Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner sounds mostly like some of the (better) cut-out show tunes that ended up in the revues Starting Here, Starting Now and Closer Than Ever by Maltby and Shire. The shell of a book by Austin Winsberg makes us care a little about Aaron, it’s true, but not much about Casey, and not a whit about anyone else. That task is left to an extraordinary cast. … Though the whole cast does great, Ankrim is the best reason to see the show. … Re-reading my own review, I realize I had a moderately good time at First Date, despite the slim material. But I won’t be going back for a second.

Lynn Jacobson (Variety): Most first dates are a complete story, with a beginning, middle and definitive end. But the best ones are preludes to something grander, and such is the case with First Date. … Elegantly conceived and executed, First Date follows a blind date from awkward introduction to equally awkward goodnight kiss. Along the way, the central characters, Aaron (Eric Ankrim) and Casey (Kelly Karbacz), detour into memories and fantasy with the help of four able singer-dancers playing multiple roles. … By the end, Aaron and Casey have begun to forge a connection, but you can’t say that wedding bells are exactly in the air – except perhaps for the creative marriage between composer-lyricists Weiner and Zachary. Their songs are the highlight of the show, not because the contemporary pop tunes are anything more than pleasing, but because the lyrics are flat-out ingenious.