John Lithgow: Stories by Heart NYC Reviews and Tickets

"To begin with, give Mr. Lithgow a sound effects award. And then give him one for spiritual effects, because 'Stories by Heart' is delightful: illuminating the stories, uplifting us...Though golden enough for any nostalgist, 'Stories by Heart' is neither soporific nor cute. For starters, the two stories that Mr. Lithgow recites are superb, outlandish and, in very different ways, hair-raising."
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"It is hard to imagine who, aside from John Lithgow, could fashion a Broadway show from a pair of bedtime stories and not make everyone fall asleep. Yet there the actor is in 'Stories by Heart'...with nothing to keep us on the hook but his masterly cultivation, confidence, and warmth...It is a pleasant way to stay put on a winter’s night...Likable though the stories themselves may be, the heart of this show is in their telling."
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"There’s a healthy helping of nostalgia in there, but 'Stories by Heart' is full of smart, good-natured charm. It’s like listening to the reminiscences of a favorite uncle...The stories themselves are, excitingly, not what you might expect...Lithgow has picked material that undeniably showcases his virtuosity. His accents are impeccable, his impressions side-splittingly absurd, and his physicality both playful and precise...Pure entertainment of the most ancient and appealing kind."
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"Despite the performer's estimable talents, 'John Lithgow: Stories by Heart' smacks mainly of self-indulgence. The charms of Lithgow's chosen stories prove only intermittent...Ironically, the most resonant moments of come not from the stories Lithgow recites but rather the personal anecdotes he shares. However, those are not enough to compensate for the thinness of this gussied-up literary reading, which seems out of place in a large theater charging steep Broadway prices."
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"This is ultimately a basic piece of theater that never really digs below its cozy, slightly drab surface...As an actor, Lithgow does brilliant work here...But the play itself is clunky and a smidge too earnest for its own good...His anecdotes about growing up and growing old feed into stories that hardly deal with those subjects...Indeed, when taking the play as a whole, the inclusion of these literary classics can almost feel like a distraction from Lithgow’s own performance of memoir."
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"Lithgow is the most personable of performers...The two stories are charming examples of the ones that his dramatically disposed father recited to his audience of spellbound children...'Haircut' is a deceptively folksy yarn...'Uncle Fred Flits By' is a typically droll Wodehouse story...It’s not a typical Broadway audience’s cup of tea. But it takes on richer meaning when Lithgow tells us that it was his father’s favorite story, and the one he read to his parents when they were old and ill."
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"John Lithgow reads two of his favorite short stories out loud and tells us how he came to know them. That’s all there is to 'Stories by Heart,' and it’s more than enough. Rarely have I spent so entertaining a night at the theater—or witnessed so touching a tribute to a departed parent...I rather wish that Daniel Sullivan, the director, had suggested that he tone down the comic effects a notch or three. On the other hand, Mr. Lithgow is so naturally funny that he gets his laughs anyway."
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“An evening of erudition, magic, and joy...Staging by Sullivan is minimal, but it moves Lithgow in and out of superbly lit spaces that illuminate the spirit of the star’s imagination and accent the moods of his interpretative skills. The rest is up to the man who dominates the proceedings...leaving his spectators spellbound...The joy of the production is not really the stories, but the passion and gusto with which Lithgow tells them.”
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