Choir Boy (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets

“An engrossing production...Scattered throughout the play are gloriously harmonized, aggressively choreographed choral sequences...I seriously hope the production receives a cast album...Some of the plot twists are outright bizarre, and other moments are left decidedly murky, which adds to the play’s sense of mystery...In any event, ‘Choir Boy’ makes for highly engrossing, personal and poignant theater. It is a smashing start to the new year on Broadway.”
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“Cullman’s clear-eyed direction makes excellent use of music and movement to evoke the students’ surging emotions...Each of the performances ring oh so true...It’s hard to imagine anyone but Pope as Pharus...It is his impassioned performance that makes the play truly sing...McCraney’s soulful writing brings to mind the great August Wilson. With ‘Choir Boy’ he establishes himself as a major new voice in the theatre.”
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“Ferociously entertaining...’A deep, multifaceted role, and Pope's work here is monumental...In the half-decade since MTC premiered ‘Choir Boy’...McCraney has continued to finesse the already smart and satisfying piece...McCraney has made some exceptional revisions...‘Choir Boy’ feels less rushed, now, especially when it comes to the breathtaking gospel numbers...If ‘Choir Boy’ were that alone, it would be enough, but this great play, like its main character, contains multitudes.”
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"While the play takes place in contemporary times, McCraney and Cullman’s warmly affectionate tone gives it the kind of nostalgic feel that's familiar to the genre. And the issues that arise in the piece do have a touch of familiarity. What isn't familiar, though, is placing a young gay man of color - one who feels he has nothing to hide - at the center of it all, considerably raising the significance of placing a play like ‘Choir Boy’ in front of Broadway audiences.”
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“Pharus' life on a psychological tightrope is honestly and fearlessly rendered throughout, for which the director has provided a sleek, fast-moving, generally well-acted production. The playwright has built a number of spirituals into the action, each...rendered in harmonies so beautiful they can bring tears...A certain sketchiness plagues ‘Choir Boy’...The principals could use some fleshing out...Still, McCraney conjures this hothouse world with mordant wit and warmth."
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“Utterly up-to-the-minute...But...it leaves a thread or two hanging. Part of the difficulty is structural: Fine choral singing, often-fine drama, but how neatly do they coexist?...The transitions from song to scene and back can feel arbitrary and unmotivated...McCraney is to be congratulated for giving a minority subgroup a voice it needs and has too often lacked. But has he written a tidy, concise, consistently absorbing and probing play? Not quite.”
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“A knockout tale of music, homophobia, and racism told in rousing and entertaining manner...With an expanded production, a strengthened script, and the return of three of the central actors, McCraney’s play is even more powerful now...Spirituals, sung by the choir, are woven through the drama...What is most significant about these spirituals is that they are so exceptionally performed...Pope is remarkable as the self-assured singer who refuses to back down.”
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“McCraney’s tender coming-of-age drama...McCraney has endowed Pharus with a war chest full of wisecracks, an arsenal of verbal armor to guard against homophobic high school classmates and hypercritical educators...As far as portraits of young gay men coming to terms with their sexuality, McCraney has dug deeper, and to greater effect...The choral music is rich and rousing. And the choreography positively electric.”
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