It Shoulda Been You NYC Reviews and Tickets

"It’s so aggressively bubbly it gives you the hiccups. Or do I mean acid reflux? In any case, it’s not easy to swallow... There’s not an element in 'It Shoulda Been You' that hasn’t been used, and wrung dry, before. "
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"While the antics are predictable they’re not unenjoyable, thanks to a seasoned and flavorful all-star ensemble...Though the cake is stale, they decorate it well. It shoulda been better but it coulda been worse."
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"'It Shoulda Been You' doesn’t die; the cast is too good for that, and a few well-placed zingers perk up the proceedings. But let’s just say it’s on life support."
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"David Hyde Pierce has staged the proceedings with a brisk expertise that makes the 100 intermission-less minutes fly by. It’s the sort of show that practically redefines the term guilty pleasure...For all its obvious deficiencies, 'It Shoulda Been You' is the sort of shamelessly lowbrow comedy too often missing from Broadway these days."
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"'It Shoulda Been You' is sometimes about as fresh as a week-old danish and the score is largely uninspired. On the flip side, however, you also get to see a bevy of marvelous cut-ups and singers vibrantly giving their all."
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“'It Shoulda Been You' is awfully funny. That’s strange, because there’s nothing especially clever about this musical comedy... These actors know how to get a laugh even when they don’t have a laugh line...Seriously, it’s OK to laugh — although you may hate yourself in the morning."
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"A musical farce that is by turns desperately unfunny and relentlessly preachy. Brian Hargrove’s been-there-done-that plot was already a cliché a half-century ago, and today its whiskery stereotypes are a millimeter away from being actively offensive...It sounds like a medley of discarded theme songs from the pilots of failed ’70s sitcoms. The cast, fortunately, is excellent."
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"It’s terrible. And it shoulda been left in turnaround after years of kicking around agency offices, instead of being offered up for sacrifice in this $7 million vanity production...So much talent, so little show."
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"There are times when 'It Shoulda Been You' feels as if it belongs to a previous generation of shows with similarly chirpy scores that you thought had choked long ago on the prime rib once served for dinner...The ease of identification, coupled with strikingly lively direction and a veritable plethora of superb farcical performances explains why a great deal of the content in this show lands with its audience."
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"As far as comedy goes, the most rewarding wedding is the one that goes off the rails. And so Broadway’s new musical 'It Shoulda Been You' piles on the mishaps — only the show itself ends up quite the blunder. These talented, hard-working actors are a joy to watch, and almost make up for the drecky writing. Almost."
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"The show is a harmless diversion. But this is Broadway. 'It Shoulda Been You' shoulda been better."
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"It's just a shame that the show itself is so dated and unfunny. When the material is this disappointing, no one can save it...The sitcom humor is well-worn and hokey, the music is weak, the characters are one-dimensional stereotypes and the concept is tissue-paper thin. Ironically, having great actors involved doesn't make it any better. Instead, you feel frustrated that they're not in a better show.."
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"If nothing else, the casting is ideal...'It Shoulda Been You' may strike some as ‘been there done that,’ but I bet you have never seen it done with this much talent!"
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"We’re privy to one of the wackiest wedding days in this madcap, fast paced musical comedy...It’s a light, laughable, goofy fun production, with a twist that pushes all the current buttons."
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"It’s a show that panders to people who have in the past been ignored onstage, whether it be gay men and lesbians, overweight people or African Americans. 'It Shoulda Been You' has a twist for each of them, meant to empower but coming off more as the forced hug of a politician awaiting their vote...While there are laughs plenty and a tender moment or two, 'It Shoulda Been You' ends up feeling like being invited to a wedding as someone’s plus one, and wishing you had just stayed home instead."
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"It abruptly swerves in a completely unexpected direction, and yet still manages to be the most predictable show on Broadway...Even if the gags were funnier, or the score more noteworthy, they could not make up for the absence of any authentic-feeling observations about love or commitment or weddings or…anything."
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"Unfortunately, at its core 'It Shoulda Been You' is ridiculously unbelievable, and the major shift in action sets the show on a course from which it can never recover. Just like in a real marriage, one commits for better and for worse. Be prepared for both and you might get a good chuckle, but I’m not sure these wedding bells will ring for long."
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"Weaknesses still remain, led by the contrived story and a decidedly non-rousing score, but what was well-nigh intolerable in New Jersey is now... well, tolerable."
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"This story of the beautiful bride’s plus-size sister could use more Melissa McCarthy and less Jenny Craig, but the circus around her rarely fails to entertain...Terrific book, numbingly bland music. "
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“'It Shoulda Been You' is a guilty treat of a musical that I couldn’t help liking. Slight in score, silly in its story, this unassuming show is undeniably -- and unabashedly -- a farcical fondue about a wedding that goes wrong for all the right reasons."
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"'It Shoulda Been You' the delightfully giddy, goofy musical comedy, this Broadway season's freshest and funniest to date, defies skepticism, both in its wacky humor and its big, buoyant heart. The 100-minute 'Shoulda Been' can feel like a revival of some lost screwball classic."
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"If we really must go down that aisle again it helps a lot to have the comic ace David Hyde Pierce behind the scenes in his Broadway directing debut. Equally essential is a cast of real pros...Lyrics that say we've 'seen it all before' are the truest words in the show."
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"The musical has a story and jokes that might have been retrieved from a time capsule buried 75 years ago...Against all odds, a lot of this aged material is pretty funny...'It Shoulda Been You,' has its moments, but no big ones. "
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"Overall, this is fair-to-middling material that’s elevated by a superior cast. It’s a good show, but you can’t help thinking it shoulda been better."
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"If you leave your sense of disbelief checked in the cloak room, you might just have a fun time as you watch this marriage romp unwind, filled with twists and turns that are always one jump ahead of you during this intermissionless improbable farce...By the time it was over, 'It Shoulda Been You' had gained my respect, and I found I’d had a most enjoyable time...none of it could have happened, but to paraphrase the wedding planner, I’m sure glad I didn’t call in sick today."
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"Even if you see many of the jokes coming a long way off, the sheer talent on display in 'It Shoulda Been You' is worth snagging an invitation to this comically inventive wedding."
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"This is a musical comedy with big theater names and remarkably forgettable music and lyrics — when walking out of the theater, I couldn’t name a single song I just heard. But I did have fun...The plot appears deceptively simple. But then there’s a major twist that I won’t spoil, and that twist elevates the plot just enough to make this an intriguing show. There are lots of genuinely funny moments as great actors do the best they can with so-so material."
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"A superb cast; clever, sprightly direction; an enjoyable score and clever books and lyrics. A musical theatre marriage of the best kind...See it. Don’t be that person about whom people say It Shoulda Been You that saw it."
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"'It Shoulda Been You' is a good-humored musical with a pleasing, but not very memorable score; and a very fine, but underutilized cast...'It Shoulda Been You,' a trifling production that coulda been so much more."
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"We can't think of a single thing we disliked about the show! It did EVERYTHING right...We can't rave about it enough! 'It Shoulda Been You' is a MUST see!"
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"A triumph of great casting over moderate material, 'It Shoulda Been You' is a breezy, old-fashioned comedy that is as pleasant as it is forgettable."
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"The new musical 'It Shoulda Been You' takes the wedding day setup that fuels so many romantic comedies, but offers a twist that livens up the proceedings...The characters are often overly familiar and the sentiment sticky...one wishes the musical felt more consistently original."
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"'It Shoulda Been You' is one of those shows that I hope stays around for a good long while. It’s loads of fun, and the cast and production team have put together a fun and high energy musical...For those who want to experience a great light evening of theatre, 'It Shoulda Been You' is the show for you."
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"For a musical comedy that traffics in stereotypes and has a weak score, 'It Shoulda Been You,' does surprisingly well when it comes to the gauge of audience laughter...You could be forgiven for thinking this show is half a century old...The cast’s energy yukking it up through quick-moving sequences lifts the production and makes this largely formulaic storyline funny."
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"'It Shoulda Been You' shoulda been good. The score is weak, though, and the book would have been a scream back in 1965...How does such a slight entertainment get a gilt-edged, first-class mounting? One guesses that Director Hyde Pierce, husband of lyricist/librettist Hargrove, pulled strings and called friends. The cast seems to be having a grand time, at least, and their clowning more than compensates for the weary writing."
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"Throughout the first act, I found myself wondering what it was that could have led the multiple award winning New York producers to produce this very dated, anything for a laugh, musical situation comedy. Rarely does any character act or speak like a recognizable human being, display any intelligence or respond to events with any consistency...Maybe, I'm taking this dated, stereotyping bit of fluff too seriously. As noted, the George Street Playhouse does have an audience pleasing hit on its hands."
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"Delightfully ebullient, often hilarious, new musical comedy...A splendid cast, under the breezy and accomplished direction of David Hyde Pierce (making his directorial debut) is certainly bringing out the very best in Hargrove’s laugh-a-minute script and in the spirited, melodic score. "
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"Remember "Bridget Loves Bernie"? It was a short-lived, critically panned comedy deriving its humor from the stereotypical portrayals and culture clashes of the extended families of a young Jewish-Catholic couple. It wasn't funny then and it's not funny now. Apparently no one told this to the authors of "It Shoulda Been You," a cliché-ridden musical...But the stellar ensemble on stage and the creative artists behind the scenes do a magnificent job of putting the uneven material across."
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So many times, musicals have good first acts and lackluster second acts. "It Shoulda Been You" avoids that fate. After its very good first act, it has an even better second act. Granted, this hit does have an agenda; act two may not please conservatives. The rest of the population, however, will roar with laughter and cheer with unmitigated approval..."Shoulda" should be a smash on Broadway."
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"Take one part 'Abie's Irish Rose', add one part TV's 'Brigit Loves Bernie' and take one part the early stand-up routines of Anne Meara (Irish Catholic) and husband Jerry Stiller (Jewish), mix gently and you have a hint of the hilarity...in the bright, fun-filled musical with an all-star cast 'It Shoulda Been You.'"
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