See it if You have any wonder in your soul. Beautifully paced often edge of your seat. A heartbreaking Kong... and a breathtaking set and staging.
Don't see it if unfortunately everything else really sucked. I wish that it wasn't a musical. Lots of music and sound effects: good banal songs: bad . Read more
See it if you want to be amazed by puppetry. Watching the puppeteers maneuver Kong was so interesting. HIs face expressions are so good.
Don't see it if you want to leave the theater singing the songs. To me, none of the songs were memorable, however the voices were great. Read more
See it if you miss full B'way shows that don’t cut corners. Made to wow new audiences, not stubbornly defend out of touch values of bygone eras.
Don't see it if you prefer the 1930s & dislike adaptations—particularly ones taking a critical look at the originals & acknowledging modern sensibilities. Read more
See it if For the technology, choreography and the message
Don't see it if You just don't want to sit through the story
See it if You want to see a new improved version of the King Kong story. See it if you what to see a stunning, fast moving production.
Don't see it if You don't like loud noises or strobe lights. King Kong can be scary. Read more
See it if you're interested in the stagecraft aspect - the gorilla is really cool! I also love the performance of Christiani Pitts.
Don't see it if you're expecting something more complex than the original B-movie material (which I think is unfair to the show, tbh). Read more
See it if You wanted to be amazed by King Kong! The execution of the puppet is absolute perfection. Christiani Pitts is an absolute force!
Don't see it if You want to believe the bad reviews
See it if Everyone will like this show from young kids and up. King Kong is so expressive we bond deeply with this noble beast. Very moving play.
Don't see it if You get scared by giant gorillas with a very fierce roar and you get bored by broadway dance routines. You hate sad endings.
“A dismal disaster...Strip away the ropes, cables, wires and pulleys, and what you’ve got is a brain-damaged story about a boy, a girl, and a monkey. The monkey is the only thing you’ll remember...The animatronics engineers are nimble while they manipulate the big ape to make him look real...Too bad they can’t do the same for the actors...This show is so bad that while the plot just stumbles along, you can’t wait for the gorilla to come back.”
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"Alas, a great popular musical needs more than the big daddy of all puppets to deliver a hit show that pounds the heart and licks the bananas of the mind. And the best way to sum up everything wrong with 'King Kong,' it would be that the show created a star worthy of the biggest marquee in Midtown, but not credible or complex characters with whom the titular dude can meaningfully interact, once he is winched down from the heavens."
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"Too bad that most everything else wrapped around this animatronic marvel, onstage for just a quarter of the show, is such a mess...Director Drew McOnie has the dubious distinction of overseeing the overwrought, out-of-place choreography. The show is a study in mood disorder, careening from high drama to even higher camp, to graphic stylized violence and tacked-on, artificial uplift...'King Kong' is less fun than a barrel of monkeys."
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"A group of puppeteers, clad in black, are on stage throughout the show, making him move in real time as the story unfolds. Watching them work is fascinating, and the result is an inanimate object that feels alive — his facial expressions, his movements, the chest beating, that roar...If only the musical lived up to its star. Under direction by Drew McOnie, none of the characters or songs are as compelling as the creature."
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"I am terrified of the monstrous concoction that has been cooked up in the international laboratory of mercenary producers eager to remake Broadway in the image of Barnum & Bailey. The best thing about this tourist attraction is Kong himself...'King Kong' doesn’t simply come up short as a stage translation of a landmark horror film. It actually manages to fit around this failure one of the most ludicrous Broadway musicals in recent memory."
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"It is just as technically innovative and absolutely ridiculous as you would expect a stage musical adaptation of 'King Kong' to be...Perfect’s pop-style songs are embarrassingly insipid. Far preferable is the background underscoring provided by Marius de Vries. The dialogue is flat...That being said, Kong is a wonder of contemporary stagecraft...Kong (although built out of steel and fiberglass) is a living, feeling creature giving one of the best performances on Broadway."
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"By musical theatre standards, it falls short. The music, book, choreography — fairly mediocre. But target audiences are likely coming for one thing, and that thing stands mighty tall...The effects are astonishing thanks to an army of handlers who manipulate practically every inch of Kong's 2,400-pound body...Thorne offers a truncated story with structural holes and loose ends. Perfect's pop songs aren't bad, but they feel wedged in and disconnected, almost like a jukebox musical."
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"Say what you will about 'King Kong,' but it's nonstop entertainment, even when it's campier than a giant gorilla at a rave. It's actually impressive how book writer Jack Thorne managed to take an already ridiculous story and make it goofier through halfhearted feints at social relevance...Gavin Robins has masterfully directed an immediate team of 10 puppeteers who surround Kong...In a story devoid of heroes, these fearless performers come the closest."
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