It Shoulda Been You

"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. " Full Review

"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." Full Review

“'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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"'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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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.." Full Review

"The show is a harmless diversion. But this is Broadway. 'It Shoulda Been You' shoulda been better." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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. " Full Review

"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. " Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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!" Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"'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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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." Full Review