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New York Musical Theatre Festival - NYMF Reviews
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The Beastly Bombing -- Who knew! Review by: sandwhaaaat, Oct 3, 2007 |
| I saw the Beasty Bombing last night... this was the first time I've seen a NYMPH show... if they are all like this, I am going to see more. A friend of mine has seen the show in LA and said how good it was -- whatever, Los Angeles-- but I thought I would give it a try. I laughed my ass off and the songs have been stuck in my head all day. All the actors were excellent and even though I squirmed at some of the jokes... it was really fun. ... read more The second act of the show is a off -- but if they fixed it I think this should have a real run. |
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My recommendation:
Make an effort to see
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I saw this show with:
Spouse/Partner
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Recommended for:
Tourists, Adults
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Are you there, Jesus? It's me, disappointed theatre-goer. Review by: Disappointed, Sep 22, 2007 |
A few days ago, I saw the opening of "Look What a Wonder Jesus Has Done", at St Clement's Theatre in Manhattan.
The premise of the show is an African family's struggle through slavery in the early 1800's. An admirable premise. Too bad the writer has absolutely nothing of value to say on the topic. Going for easy sympathy and drawing on the so-cute-I'm-gonna-gag factor of singing eight-year-olds, Walter Robinson writes flat, stock ... read more characters and expects us all to root for them. Denmark Vesey (a really clunky name to sing, by the way) is the honorable slave who is trying to free his people, including his wife and two young children. He and the local slaves rally together to build their own church in a series of songs the lyrics to which are interchangeable. Having built their church, they rejoice, and the big bad slave-owners come and tear everything apart. Colonel Moore makes it known that he is after Vesey's wife in a physical way, which complicates the story...not much. The end of the show is confusing and shoddily crafted, as if thrown together to meet a deadline. The costumes lack a period feel (especially the zippered prom dress of the slave-owner's wife). A couple of songs (the more gospel-inspired ones) are really catchy and even the actors perk up a little while singing them. But then there are some that it's hard not to laugh at.
The actors, sadly, have very little to add to this banal Christian lovefest. Some seem almost bored to a point of yawning, even during what are supposed to be inspiring moments. It can't really be discerned whether this was a choice of the director's, or the actors are simply, actually bored. There are exceptions to the rule, and many of them have lovely voices, but there is no life to most of the bodies milling about on stage. It looks as though they received the set pieces (unwieldy wooden benches) about two hours before the show, and they struggle moving them on and off stage.
This show, alas, will have a market with Christians everywhere who want to pat themselves on the back for disagreeing with slavery. It has won the author over forty grants and prizes, according to the NYMF website, because apparently, ANY show about slavery has to be worthwhile. |
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My recommendation:
Don't go
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I saw this show with:
Spouse/Partner
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Recommended for:
Seniors
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| * Review is an opinion of a BroadwayBox user and not that of BroadwayBox.com and BroadwayBox, Inc. |
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