What Critics Thought Of Brighton Beach

BROADWAY MAGAZINE - Last night, the new Broadway revival of Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs opened. This morning, Broadway Opening Night critics have begun to publish their reviews of the production. An examination of 12 opening night reviews yields some insight into the production. Did the critics like director David Cromer’s production of Neil Simon’s beloved comedy? In a word, “yes.” Collectively, reviewers were positive about this production in nearly every facet. Most reviewers noted the strong cast (particularly newcomer Noah Robbins), reviewers also noted that Cromer’s direction preserves the humor, but emphasizes the other dimensions of the story as well. Though multiple critics felt that Brighton Beach Memoirs as written is not canonical, this production feels effective and fresh, even given its sentimental qualities.

Three Key Take Aways From Opening Night Reviews of Brighton Beach Memoirs

1. Noah Robbins -All critics gave particular attention to the exceptional performance by Noah Robbins. Spontaneous and truthful, Noah Robbins performance has earned those rare kinds of positive notices that come only once in a decade or so. A star-making performance of the rarest kind.
2. Cromerfied Simon - Critics also were consistent in recognizing the unique nature of director David Cromer. Though the tone of Neil Simon comedies are often dictated by a desire to get laughs, Cromer has augmented the one-liners with an added dimension of reality. The humor is not muted in the production, but it is also not in the spotlight. Cromer has made a label for himself dusting off American classics and unearthing a particular classics authentic core. Critics loved this Cromerfied version of Simon’s comedy.
3. All In The Family - The theme of family runs through Brighton Beach Memoirs, and most critics felt that dimension was solid in this production. However, a few critics felt that some performances lacked an authenticity of ethnicity that would have made the production more effective.

Should You See Brighton Beach Memoirs On Broadway?

Yes, especially if you like Neil Simon, comedy, family, Noah Robbins, Depression Era stories, jokes, star-making performances, Brighton Beach, coming-of-age stories, families, baseball, squabbles, dinners, one-liners, David Cromer, realism, nostalgia, and positively reviewed productions.

Opening Night Broadway Reviews of Brighton Beach Memoirs

As Eugene observes, love and loathing are inextricably linked in family relationships. If that paradox feels only fitfully real in this production, it achieves affectingly vital life whenever the squabbling, interdependent Jerome boys take to their room. -Ben Brantley, New York Times

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Daytimes Leading Lady Weighs In On Burn The Floor

Susan Lucci knows a thing or two about show-business. Lucci has starred on the ABC daytime soap All My Children since January 5, 1970. From her long and successful run on daytime TV Lucci has eared the title as “Daytime’s Leading Lady.” Last night we caught up with Lucci on the Burn the Floor red carpet. Lucci was on season seven of Dancing With The Stars and knows how hard it is to be a good dancer in front of a large audience.

After Burn the Floor’s Broadway opening night, we caught up with Lucci again at the after-party to see what she thought of the show. Watch the video above to see what Lucci had to say about Burn the Floor’s Broadway opening.

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What happens when you put world class ballroom dancers in little clothing and mix it with live vocals that give you goose-bumps? You have your self a sexy, exciting and raw dance night on Broadway.

When we interviewed Carrie Ann Inaba at the Burn the Floor press event last week, we were admittedly confused when she said, “This show is outside of the box, and I like that.” Inaba is known as the feisty judge on the hit ABC show “Dancing With The Stars” and came on as a producer for Burn the Floor recently.

Outside of the box is correct. Not your typical Broadway production, Burn the Floor mixes Latin and Ballroom dance in a way that Broadway has never seen before. With dancers from Australia, New Zealand, England, and Germany among other countries, Burn the Floor brings audiences romance and excitement through world class dance.

Broadway productions usually have a defined plot giving you a storyline to follow. Burn the Floor has you following hips being wowed by moments of men’s and women’s bodies intertwined; allowing the audience to create a romance in their minds as they watch the company of dancers upstage each previous number.

Adding star power to the international set of dancers, newly engaged Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy from “Dancing With The Stars” enter on stage with cheers. Still, it is all of the dancers moving as one that make the production so strong. Nevertheless, the blonde bombshell Peta Murgatroyd is who kept catching our eye as she moved across the stage with grace and a physical appearance that is nothing short of beautiful.

Ricky Rojas and Rebecca Tapia add to Burn the Floor singing live lyrics. Tapia’s spirit on stage resonates through the crowd. With a Beyonce like flair and a voice that could hold its weight alone on stage. The way the cast of dancers sensuously move to the beat of the music brings Burn the Floor to the next level. Tapia’s appeal is matched by her male counterpart Rojas. Rojas sings the Spanish love song “Para Tu Amor” and you can see people in the audience grabbing their date’s hands - a neat feeling.

Burn the Floor is a show that we highly recommend. Playing at the Longacre Theatre until mid-October, get your tickets now to see Burn the Floor make Broadway history.

 Broadway Critics Praise Revival

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – Nothing to be done. The final play of the brilliant Broadway season of 2008-2009 opened last night, and today we offer our review matrix for Waiting For Godot, starring Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin. The praise for this production is nearly unanimous, with exceptional notices for stars Nathan Lane, Bill Irwin, John Glover, and John Goodman. Critics are in agreement that this production succeeds in capturing Beckett’s comic spirit, without sacrificing the haunting tone of the play. With strong reviews coming on the eve of the Tony Award nominations, look for Waiting For Godot to be one of the biggest hits on Broadway this Spring. Excerpts from reviews below:

Tramps for Eternity: But in 2009, Anthony Page’s smart, engaging production for the Roundabout Theater Company makes it clear that this greatest of 20th-century plays is also entertainment of a high order. –Ben Brantley, New York Times

An Absorbing Revival: With Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin as the two funny-sad tramps Estragon and Vladimir, John Goodman as the overbearing Pozzo and John Glover as the half-mad, enslaved Lucky, this most famous play by Samuel Beckett fully lives up to its reputation as one of the greatest works of 20th-century theater. –Malcolm Johnson, Hartford Courant

Accessible ‘Godot,’ absurd ‘9 to 5′ round out Broadway season: But like the current revival of Eugene Ionesco’s Exit the King, this Godot is noteworthy less for its cast members’ marquee value than their ability to make the existential, universal questions posed by the text accessible to a mass audience. –Elysa Gardner, USA Today

Lane Tramps Through Godot: Theatrical tradition, though, has always relied on spicing up things with shtick from a savvy director and expert comic actors. So Anthony Page has staged in some extra comic touches, and the actors, too, may have supplied notions of their own, but without overstepping Beckett’s text or intentions. –John Simon, Bloomberg

Review: Lane-Irwin balance emotions in ‘Godot’:
Master and servant are played out by John Goodman as the lordly Pozzo and John Glover as his ever-obedient Lucky, surely the most perversely named character in the Beckett canon. Both are superb: Goodman, often roaring his lines with hurricane force; Glover, silent except for a long gibberish speech near the end of Act 1. –Michael Kuchwara, AP

Broadway revival of “Godot” worth waiting for: Lane infuses his line readings with his trademark snappish delivery, bellowing voice and perfect comic timing, while the circus-trained Irwin enhances his gentler turn with his expert miming and physical clowning talents. –Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Waiting For Godot Review: Aside from its title, there’s no more perfect summation of “Waiting for Godot” than Estragon’s complaint “Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful.” But there’s no trace of that monotony in the perversely gripping non-drama and fine-grained emotional textures of this haunting revival. –David Rooney, Variety

Theater Review of Waiting For Godot: Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin display fantastic chemistry together as bosom buddies Estragon and Vladimir, excelling in both the vaudeville comedy and heartbreaking melancholy aspects. While Lane’s is deeply emotional, he resists the urge to indulge in the comic shtick that has marked so many of his recent performances.—Matt Windman, am New York

Waiting For Godot: Along with the aforementioned tree that Beckett stipulates as the play’s setting, designer Santo Loquasto supplies a plethora of totemic rocks. The resulting look may resemble a lunar landscape, but the play’s lunacy is only partially realized. –David Finkle, Theatermania

Waiting For Godot: Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin, two of our most skilled stage clowns, find the zestful comic joy and soul-crushing despair in Beckett’s sorrowful everymen. –David Sheward, Back Stage

Sex, Passion and Critics

Last night Desire Under The Elms opened on Broadway (stay tuned for our opening night article and video). Speaking to the actors last night after the show, everyone agreed that the show is a bit dark and confronting. Today, critics weigh in on the show and are generally mixed on their reviews. Click here to see the full list of reviews.

The Norman Conquests Triumphs With Broadway Critics

By Broadway Magazine Staff

Last night saw the official opening of the Broadway revival Alan Ayckbourn’s trilogy The Norman Conquests on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre, and today the critics have unanimously declared this revival the most successful comedy on Broadway. The Norman Conquests consists of three full-length plays, each of which stand alone…but when seen all together provide a unique and rewarding theater experience. Critics agree that the work of the six actor ensemble is impeccable and hilarious, and also that Matthew Warchus’ direction is outstanding. Significant accolades are going to playwright Alan Ayckbourn, who’s work is compared to Anton Chekhov in multiple reviews. Simple put, The Norman Conquests are the best reviewed comedy of the season to date. Samples of critics’ reviews below.

For in its impeccably natural portrayal of tales of ordinary misery, “Conquests” suggests nothing so much as Chekhov pumped full of nitrous oxide. Like “The Seagull” it is built on one of the wonderful paradoxes of theater: deeply unhappy people can generate profound happiness in audiences allowed to eavesdrop on their lives. -Ben Brantley, New York Times

England’s most commercially successful living playwright, the prolific Ayckbourn has long been known for his innovative dramatic structures. He first showcased this proclivity with “Norman,” which consists of three separate works (”Table Manners,” “Living Together” and “Round and Round the Garden”) featuring the same characters and taking place during one weekend at a home in the English countryside. -Frank Scheck, Reuters

The Norman Conquests is so damned funny (though grounded, as Ayckbourn’s comedy always is, in real human emotion) that it may simply perpetuate the misconception of Ayckbourn as a skilled boulevard entertainer. Which would leave American audiences still largely ignorant of the astonishing body of work by - controversial-pronouncement alert! - the greatest living English-language playwright. -Richard Zoglin, TIME

Three full-length comedies view the same extended-family July weekend in adjacent locales, providing titillating revelations as funny as they are serious. They may be seen in any order, and if you don’t have time for all three, each stands perfectly well on its own. You may not yet know the six fine young British actors, but you will recognize at least one person they play: yourself. -John Simon, Bloomberg

Much of the success owes to Matthew Warchus (”God of Carnage,” “Boeing-Boeing”), a director with a Midas touch for comedy who’s steered a wonderful, well-oiled cast from across the pond. The six actors draw you irresistibly into their exploits. -Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Daily News

As played by Stephen Mangan, Norman is something of a madcap. Bearded and shaggy-headed, he dresses ridiculously at times, as costumed by Rob Howell, who also designed the sets.-Malcolm Johnson, Hartford Courant

We watch as desperate lothario Norman (Stephen Mangan) attempts to seduce his sister-in-law Annie (Jessica Hynes), charm his brother-in-law’s conwife Sarah (Amanda Root) and woo his estranged wife Ruth (Amelia Bullmore), during a disastrously hilarious weekend of eating, drinking and misunderstanding. -Matt Windman, am New York

Woody Allen in his prime was a great proponent of the theory that comedies should do the job in 90 minutes. Thankfully, Alan Ayckbourn must have missed that memo. Over seven hours of hilarious peaks and contemplative valleys, his 1973 trilogy “The Norman Conquests” delivers more laughs than ought to be legal while steadily expanding our perspective on the needling dissatisfaction beneath the comic chaos of his characters’ lives. -David Rooney, Variety

For all its clever writing, however, this triptych would not work as well without Matthew Warchus’ assured direction or the performances of this superb, clockwork-working ensemble (of whom Mangan is first among equals.)-David Finkle, Theatermania

“Critics Wowed…”

Another spring opening last night and we have the full list of reviews from cricits.

August Wilson’s celebrated play Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is set in 1911, the play chronicles the journey of Herald Loomis who, after seven years of hard labor, journeys north with his young daughter searching for his wife. Ending up at a Pittsburgh boarding house, Loomis must learn new ways of the world while discovering a spirit of self-reliance. Directed by Tony award-winner Bartlett Sher, this highly anticipated revival of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is a timeless tale of perseverance and triumph.

Mental Illness Musical Meets Critics

 Last night Next to Normal opened on Broadway. We were on the red carpet and at the after party to interview the stars. At the same time, Broadway critics were submitting their reviews of the new musical. Next to Normal has a great story of how it came to Broadway. First off Broadway Next to Normal made a trip to Washington DC and now is on Broadway after significant changes to the production.

Next to Normal tackles the issue of mental illness, something that is taboo to mention in the United States. What did critics think of the Broadway production? We have a full list of the reviews, read them by clicking here.

Did Critics Rock Out?

Last night Rock of Ages opened on Broadway. This show could be characterized as the “little engine that could” first starting out in a bar in LA, then making its way to off Broadway. Receiving critical acclaim off Broadway, the show moved to Broadway and opened last night. The writer for Rock of Ages said he never thought the show would get this far. Now Broadway critics have their chance to comment on the show.

Our Broadway Magazine team has rounded up a full list of reviews from Broadway critics; click here to read the reviews for Rock of Ages.

Critics Sound Off

Last night the famed musical HAIR came back to Broadway with great fan-fair. Today our Broadway Magazine team rounds up the reviews from critics. The show inspires love, peace and unity. The revival cast of HAIR is comprised of mostly young actors and brings a ‘fresh face’ to Broadway as a whole. But that is what we think. Click here to see the full reviews from critics. Photo: Joan Marcus