Amazing Grace
Closed 2h 25m
Amazing Grace
73

Amazing Grace NYC Reviews and Tickets

73%
(194 Ratings)
Positive
70%
Mixed
14%
Negative
16%
Members say
Great staging, Thought-provoking, Absorbing, Great acting, Entertaining

About the Show

A musical of romance, rebellion, and redemption, based on the awe-inspiring true story behind the world's most beloved song.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (194)

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77 Reviews | 37 Followers
98
Enchanting, Great writing, Masterful, Must see, Original

See it if you want to get your mind blown and find the true story behind the original song

Don't see it if you don't want to cry

230 Reviews | 46 Followers
90
Delightful, Absorbing, Great staging, Great singing, Thought-provoking

See it if you are a fan of great singing, and of the featured song

Don't see it if you like a more contemporary topic

995 Reviews | 946 Followers
90
Delightful, Entertaining, Great staging, Thought-provoking, Absorbing

See it if this show is completely underrated. It has a stunning score and some of the very best voices on the broadway stage right now. Great story.

Don't see it if this show is poorly marketed. It's not the story of the song. It's a great story of slavery and redemption.

224 Reviews | 43 Followers
88
Entertaining, Great staging, Original, Intense, Thought-provoking

See it if You like history and great music

Don't see it if If you don't like to cry

82 Reviews | 29 Followers
87
Absorbing, Resonant, Thought-provoking, Intense

See it if you want to feel uncomfortable and moved at the same time. Amazing Christian experience.

Don't see it if you are an atheist and want to ruin the show for everyone else.

297 Reviews | 78 Followers
85
Exquisite, Great singing, Great acting, Great staging, Epic

See it if big LOUD musicals rock your world. There's a lot to be had here. Excellent cast, tough subject-matter masterfully staged, stunning ending.

Don't see it if anything to do with slavery and seeing it portrayed live will upset you. There are no short-cuts here, but it's tastefully portrayed. Epic.

228 Reviews | 62 Followers
85
Entertaining, Great acting, Great staging, Romantic

See it if IF U like British history (circa 18th C.) & a "clean" portrayal of Romance with a little Faith message in between U will really enjoy this!!

Don't see it if The Biblical references may offend atheists & die-hard agnostics, but most of the faith moments are very subtly played out in the text.

93 Reviews | 36 Followers
83
Absorbing, Great staging, Slow, Thought-provoking, Great singing

See it if Amazing staging and singing couldn't hold the audience. I enjoyed it however and the graphic slave scenes were illuminating. True story.

Don't see it if You are looking for a light hearted feel good play

Critic Reviews (68)

The New York Times
July 16th, 2015

"Unfortunately, while aspects of Newton’s tale are indeed noteworthy, maybe even amazing, the musical itself unfolds as an overstuffed history lesson trimmed in melodrama, with a standard-issue romantic subplot and some dutiful attempts to explore the lives of the slaves... 'Amazing Grace,' thick with such moralizing, naturally concludes on a note of uplift, or rather many notes of uplift: a choral singing of the title song... The song is simple, beautiful, immortal; the musical, not so much."
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Time Out New York
July 16th, 2015

"Personally, I expect poetic license in the theater, but I expect it to serve a strong artistic or political vision. 'Amazing Grace' has neither. It comes out strongly against slavery; well done. But as with the recent, equally dismal, 'Doctor Zhivago', 'Grace' proves that folks are willing to burn piles of money trying to resurrect the 1980s-style megamusical. At best, the piece might move audiences to sympathetic tears, but in the end, it’s preaching to the choir."
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New York Theatre Guide
July 17th, 2015

"There isn't an oven big enough for this turkey; a Sunday School polemic that beats you around the head with its message but fails to have any charm or memorable melodies...I can't imagine this subject matter ever being dealt with in a more elementary way – even a middle school assembly project would give a more insightful and educational exploration of the theme. The direction and staging heaves under the viscous book and uninspiring score."
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New York Magazine / Vulture
July 16th, 2015

"The equivalent of a child’s drawing: naïve, sincere, glowing with an unimpeachable if hard-to-pin-down vision of what it wants to be...It is also a confusing cartoon so lacking in craft that it ruins any chance of being taken seriously. Certainly it can’t be recommended as history; it’s riddled with falsehoods that alone would sink it. But it also fails as musical theater, on two counts: the music and the theater."
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The Wall Street Journal
July 16th, 2015

"It’s not so much a musical as an antislavery pageant, with innocuous songs by Christopher Smith and a vertiginously high-minded book by Mr. Smith and Arthur Giron. ... Whatever its weaknesses, this is one of the best-looking musicals to reach New York in recent seasons...I can’t imagine that 'Amazing Grace' will last long on Broadway, but it’s a perfect fit for the drama departments of Christian high schools and colleges, where it will doubtless have a profitable afterlife."
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Deadline
July 16th, 2015

"Epically bad show...If you’re going to make a musical about one of the best-known and most-loved songs of all time, you’d better be equal to the task. That, fundamentally, is not the case with this earnest but cringe-inducing freshman effort...Finally, however, we do get what we’ve paid for: that sinuous melody, those elegantly simple words. The closing scene is as powerful as it is predictable, as the hymn builds to its climax, sung by the entire company. Everything that has come before is instantly forgotten."
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New York Daily News
July 16th, 2015

"It’s a remarkable moment — the show’s only one, alas — in this fact-fudged telling of a historical figure’s life. Otherwise, this earnest but plodding musical needs lifelines of its own. Songs are serviceable but lack significance and surprise. You can hear the boilerplate lyrics coming a mile away. Even the potential power ballads don’t have the structure to make an impact. The jumbled book is another issue. The creators have good instincts about a story worth telling. But their reach exceeds their grasp."
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Variety
July 16th, 2015

"There’s an audience out there for 'Amazing Grace,' flawed as it is. Christian congregations and other faith-based groups should respond to this epic-scaled saga of how John Newton, an 18th-century British slave trader played by Josh Young, experienced a 'miraculous' religious conversion, became an Anglican minister, and went on to write 200 church hymns, including the stirring title piece. But ye of little faith will find it tough sledding."
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