Bandstand NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (1,061)
See it if I loved this show so much I went twice. It is a shame it closed. I loved the music and the singing was outstanding. Wonderful musicianship.
Don't see it if If you aren't interested in big bands and WW2 themes.
See it if You enjoy singing, dancing & a great storyline. The music is good & the dancing is great. The cast puts out a lot of energy to make it work.
Don't see it if You don't like a traditional musical with singing, dancing and boy gets girl in the end of the story. Sad to see it close so soon!
See it if A solid show with a good moving storyline that is nicely developed. Great evening out for dance & music lovers.
Don't see it if Musicals aren't your favorite entertainment.
See it if You love new musicals which break the mold, incredible choreography, a talented cast, a wonderful score and book and relevant subject
Don't see it if You want a juke-box show, you want a feel good musical, you just want to be entertained
See it if you love a moving, heartfelt story that involves fantastic singing and choreography. I gave a mid-show standing ovation for Laura Osnes.
Don't see it if You are sensitive to shows dealing with intense subject material such as the telling of war stories and characters struggling with PTSD.
See it if Laura RULES the stage in the finale and Corey is sensational with the great Beth in the supporting role. See this show before it leaves!
Don't see it if I know it won the Tony for best choreography but, for my taste, less is more. There is too much movement and people on stage, all the time.
See it if You want to see a classical musical with a great story, big ensemble with dance numbers and a happy ending. You are or know a veteran.
Don't see it if You don't want to see a musical related to WW2 or don't like musicals with a classic feel. You want to see a more modern show.
See it if You love music of the 40s. You are a jazz fan. If you like great dance choreography
Don't see it if If you don't like up beat musicals
Critic Reviews (64)
"The cast is pitch-perfect...The catchy, beat-happy score pays homage to the big band era...Director and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler seamlessly nods to 1940s popular dances in coming up with some lively, inventive moves, performed by some terrific dancers...All of this terrific entertainment and artistry is arranged around a plot that also recalls the 1940s, but ultimately not in a good way...The more the singing contest takes over the plot...the more the plot stumbles."
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“A sincere, upbeat, but overly sudsy and clichéd musical…They deserve a chutzpah Tony for creating a show in which the central characters are musicians who play, not the actual big band swing of 1945, when the show is set, but pastiches…While 'Bandstand' never overcomes the impediment of its ersatz tunes, exciting director-choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler keeps our eyes and ears glued to his inventive staging, jitterbugging, and boogie-woogieing.”
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“It’s not going too far to suggest that the enthralling musical beats with the kind of heart that throbs throughout ‘South Pacific’…Arguably the best new musical of the season…Oberacker and Taylor have written a work that brims with honesty…Osnes gives the performance of her career so far. The voice is pure as mountain water…The purity of her acting is what lifts her into a new performing stratum. Less well known, Cott finds every dimension of heartsick, furious, talented Donny.”
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“A show that never allows us to digest the horrors of what vets go through…The cast is winning...Bender, Packard, Hopkins and Carroll are all terrific musicians and actors. Part of the problem with 'Bandstand' is that their stories are not fleshed out and we really do want to know them…Blankenbuehler’s direction is too dark and he chopped his choreography to shreds…I left the theatre wondering how a show that I was rooting for went so wrong."
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“It has not been a spectacular season for dance on Broadway...There’s almost no competition for Blankenbuehler’s arresting choreography in the new musical ‘Bandstand’…All he needs now is a musical worthy of his talents. ‘Bandstand’ is not that musical…The book initially intrigues, because it’s so damned dark for a Broadway musical…Alcoholism, divorce, drugs, unemployment, and chronic war wounds are not a plot…The second act is one long uneventful slog to the big city.”
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"Employing identically dressed chorus members, Blankenbuehler creates a shattered hall-of-mirrors vision of protagonist Donny’s wartime memories...The plot follows a cliched track...Fortunately, Taylor and Oberacker delve deep into the traumas suffered by Donny and his crew and the score cleverly uses period music to create mood and explore the theme of the vets’ alienation...'Bandstand' does sing a familiar tune, but it has drawn up some new and arresting arrangements."
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“Osnes and Cott are fine singers and good actors…One wishes them better luck next time. Muddy arrangements of music that lacks not only 1940s flavor but actual melody conflict with unoriginal lyrics which neither sync nor sing…The book is the best thing about this piece. It has grit, wit and sincerity. While Blankenbuehler works well with his actors, overall action is often a mess…In different hands, this might’ve been a genial, vivacious show with a future in national touring.”
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“The results, which intentionally jumble the dance focus in challenging ways, are visually and emotionally compelling. But for all that originality and a startling cast of virtuosos who play their own instruments like members of a genuine jazz-swing band, the show never overcomes the feeling that inside the heartfelt, meandering 2 1⁄2-hour evening, a 90-minute powerhouse is struggling to come out…The musical is both too much and not quite enough for a satisfying whole."
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