Thursday, April 24, 2025
Gilbert & Sullivan’s pirate ship docks in New Orleans in this jazzy-bluesy vision of the crowd-pleasing classic, in an outrageously clever romp sizzling with Caribbean rhythms and Fren…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:51PMExcept for the central performance by David Hyde Pierce, marvelously underplaying the tongue-twisting Major-General, the production has a sweaty quality, bordering on frenzy, that’s hopele…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:49PMThis “Pirates!” (mind the punctuation) isn’t particularly modern (adapter Rupert Holmes doesn’t take it that far), but it is a major Broadway staging — and oh so general.
The post …
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:48PMMore than that—it is Pirates staged with wonderfully energetic aplomb by director Scott Ellis, wittily choreographed by Warren Carlyle and expertly performed by a dream ensemble. In keepin…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PMRather than a slave of duty, Pirates! is the servant of too many masters: Gilbert & Sullivan, Dixieland jazz, milquetoast liberalism, and the tourism lobby New Orleans & Company, whi…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PMIf the cast seems instructed to play just a tad broadly, and hit the jokes a touch to hard, and the second act runs a bit too long, well, the overzealousness does little to dampen the overal…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PMThere might be a few bumpy waves in this piratical adaptation, but the booty is well-worth the effort. Even though it is unlikely to spur a trend of Gilbert and Sullivan revivals, this produ…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:46PMThe continental leap dusts off the 145-year-old operetta and gives it an energetic oomph of swing and ragtime music, and the stage is brightened up by hot-sauce pops of purple, yellow and fi…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:46PMUntil Pirates!, “Dear Bill” from Operation Mincemeat was my standout sung performance of the Broadway season; but Hyde Pierce’s rendition of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major Ge…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:46PMThe delightful foam on the grog here is his being backed up by Scott Ellis’ outrageous direction of a flag-waving chorus that carries out Warren Carlyle’s foot-stomping choreography to m…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:46PMThe modern world is full of stress, so go and have a party, brah, And shake it like a necklace made of gaudy beads at Mardi Gras. Enjoy this Broadway hybrid that is tuneful and poetical: A m…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:46PMWednesday, April 23, 2025
In 1959 Hawkins, Indiana, the Creel family seeks a fresh start, especially their teenage son Henry, who is eager to escape his troubled past. Initially, things go well — he finds friendshi…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:46AM“The First Shadow” fulfills its franchise requirements in terms of spectacular art direction and compliance to the series’ canon (to which it adds tantalizing tidbits). Whether it is s…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:46AMThree hours in the “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” universe passes in a blink. By the end, you’re convinced they’ve pulled off another trick: an exorbitant spectacle wrapped arou…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:45AMEnough can’t be said that this production doesn’t just change the game of Broadway, it smashes the game board and shoots it into a new dimension. When you take one of the most watched te…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMThe First Shadow, now an integral part of the ST canon, is an absolute must-see for all enthusiasts, and it will certainly inspire some of the uninitiated to binge the original (mission acco…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMIf The First Shadow is purely an act of fan service, at least it’s an unapologetic and, if the audience around me was any judge, satisfying one. Is it a play? I mean, yes-ish? Is it an ext…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMImmersive, heartfelt, and exhilarating, First Shadow is a must-see spectacle for the Stranger Things obsessive as much as it is for the theater aficionado who wants to see the medium pushed …
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMNothing is left unscathed. Jump-scare noises blow out your eardrums. Blinding lights and raining sparks make you crave Anna Wintour’s indoor sunglasses. And there’s so much billowing haz…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMThe result? A three-hour fan wiki brought to life, complete with origin stories, stilted dialogue, lame jokes, and sequences seemingly constructed only to set up the next visual effect. Yes,…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMThe Netflix series, at its best, delivers a gritty film noir quality to this supernatural tale. What’s on stage at the Marquis resembles a jukebox musical comedy with lots of shock effects…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMMonday, April 21, 2025
Floyd Collins is a gripping and powerful musical based on the true story of a cave explorer in Kentucky, 1925. While chasing a dream of fame and fortune by turning Sand Cave into a tourist a…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:32PMYet one of the wonders of the show’s glorious-sounding new production, which opened on Monday night at the Vivian Beaumont Theater with a thoroughly winning Jeremy Jordan in the title role…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:32PM“Floyd Collins” is somber, unique and sprinkled with tender moments. It’s a fine production with a gem of a lead actor, but the show is desperate for a raison d’etre. The musical rin…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:31PM[Trensch] and Jordan (and that opening sequence) are worth the price of admission, as are Ted Sperling’s music direction and Bruce Coughlin’s orchestrations. Floyd Collins is an odd piec…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:30PMSumptuously desolate yet charged with enough emotion to reach the heavens, Landau’s crystal-clear revival allows us to see the show for what it truly is: an elegy for a carefree way of lif…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:30PMFor a show with such a potentially powerful symbol at its core — a man trapped in the rock, singing as he’s crushed by America — Floyd Collins leaves far too soft an impression. It nev…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:30PMDespite some scattered strong elements, it’s hard to totally make sense of “Floyd Collins” or feel that it really works as a whole… There may be treasure hidden deep in the cave that…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:29PMGuettel’s songwriting here repeatedly recalls the sweeping chromatic music flecked with tantalizing dissonances that distinguishes “Piazza” and, later, “Days of Wine and Roses.” An…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:29PMWith Guettel’s often sublime score and lyrics that get at the terror, cynicism and, most of all, undying hope against hope well captured in Landau’s book, Floyd Collins might haunt some …
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:29PMIf you’re already a fan of Floyd Collins’s score, you are likely to enjoy this eminently respectable performance of it, and maybe even respond to it emotionally. If not, though—if, lik…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:29PM 
