Living on Love
Opera star Renee Fleming fronts a new comedy concerning a war of infidelity between a diva and her maestro husband.
... Read more"Living on Love" tells the story of celebrated diva Raquel DeAngelis. When her husband, the fiery and egomaniacal Maestro Vito DeAngelis, becomes enamored with the lovely young lady hired to ghostwrite his long-delayed autobiography, Raquel retaliates by hiring her very own—very handsome—ghostwriter to chronicle her life as an opera star. Sparks fly, silverware is thrown, and romance blossoms.
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- 2 hours and 10 minutes
- Already closed
- Longacre Theatre (Midtown W)
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Reviews (56)
27 Critics' Reviews
"The play seems more like a forgotten bottom-drawer comedy from the 1930s, the kind that occasionally resurfaces at suburban dinner theaters...everybody in 'Living on Love' appears to be having a fairly good time. Whether audiences will share their joy is debatable." Full Review
"Rather than a madcap farce or a heartfelt tribute to opera, 'Living on Love' comes off more like a mildly funny sitcom pilot: The premise is solid, but the writing hasn't hit its stride, nor have the performers entirely taken ownership of their roles...'Living on Love' misses the mark." Full Review
"The new Broadway comedy 'Living on Love' isn’t just filled with clichés — it revels in them. This is a show that has its cake, eats it, and then rubs whipped cream all over its face. It’s all shamelessly silly, and it works: In Joe DiPietro’s play, broad jokes and shameless hamming make for a guilty pleasure." Full Review
"Joe DiPietro’s comedy is an airy spoof of a famed soprano and her temperamental husband...It’s all very charming until the ill-advised saccharine payoff which has half the audience cheering and the other half wondering how long we have to put up with yet more shameless pandering to the social zeitgeist." Full Review
"The canned corn of DiPietro’s writing is pressed into mush by Kathleen Marshall’s clunky direction; the younger actors, who spend most of the play in a panic, are nearly unwatchable. 'Living on Love' is meant to be hammy, but it’s not even that. It’s a bland, synthetic dud: a ham-flavored turkey." Full Review
"Plenty of punch lines, but the audience’s response to them seemed as canned as the material. This is only in part because the play is set in 1957 and feels as if it were written then too. 'Living on Love' is tacky and weirdly downmarket, as if divas and maestros could only be made palatable to contemporary audiences by turning them into buffoons." Full Review
"It isn’t funny. Not even slightly so. Indeed, it’s so unfunny as to make the viewer despair of ever laughing again, much as a starving man might despair of ever eating again. 'Living on Love' originated at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, whose directors really should have known better than to send it to Broadway to die. " Full Review
"There's nothing contemporary and too little that's consistently funny about playwright Joe DiPietro's refried serving of 'Peccadillo,' a minor Garson Kanin comedy from 1985. The new version does have the sporting turn of celebrated lyric soprano Renee Fleming. But when she is not onstage, the fizz quickly evaporates." Full Review
"Directed with Technicolor flair by Kathleen Marshall , 'Living on Love' might have been enjoyable were it not for the complete emptiness of the piece itself. Although reminiscent of the screwball film comedies of the 1930s, it never moves beyond a simple, static scenario." Full Review
"Mixed-up romantic couples and larger-than-life eccentrics are meant to ignite bright comic fireworks. But too many lame jokes and broad-as-a-barn performances extinguish any chance of that. I laughed twice. That’s not much for two hours at Broadway prices." Full Review
"DiPietro’s script is so inside in its opera jokes that you may find yourself gasping for air, though probably not from the laughs that director Kathleen Marshall works overtime extracting. It’s possible to imagine this as the perfect diversion for a summer evening. But on Broadway, it’s piffle, forgotten by the time you reach the corner." Full Review
"'Living on Love,' another example of a well-crafted triviality without subtext or a thought in its head beyond trying too hard to entertain...The production has the broad, exaggerated physicality of a comic musical -- albeit, perhaps, one most comfortable as larky summer theater." Full Review
"Arrives on Broadway amid a resurgence in farces and comedies, which the critics don’t much like but audiences adore. In the case of 'Living on Love,' it’s best to trust the audiences and not the critics, who never appreciate the difficult art of creating a good laugh." Full Review
"The play is directed with comedic aplomb by Kathleen Marshall. The material could be accelerated and made into a farce, but Marshall never lets the comedic elements upstage the looney characters themselves. Stick around after the curtain closes on this satisfying, sweet comedy and you'll find a cast that returns to mug, unable to help themselves." Full Review
"A little knowledge of opera helps, but it’s not key to admiring the frothy and fizzy 'Living on Love,' in which soprano Renée Fleming makes her Broadway debut -- you’re apt to enjoy the celebrated diva in this send-up of celebrated divas, even if the in-jokes about Maria Callas pass you by." Full Review
"How do you deliver a pitch-perfect performance when the writer keeps giving you flat notes? This is the conundrum faced by the cast of 'Living On Love.' Playwright DiPietro provides a few sharper lines, but not enough to sustain...Still, director Kathleen Marshall keeps the pace brisk, and her actors are infectiously game." Full Review
"You might not expect Puccini to appear in full Diva garb at one point, but otherwise this play is as predictable as death and taxes. And similarly rewarding. Kathleen Marshall is a woman who understands the inherent musicality of comedy but not even her talents can make a dent on this plodding nonsense." Full Review
"If you're a fan of Renée Fleming, then you will love 'Living On Love,' the new Broadway play about an aging opera singer starring the real life opera singer...There are moments of greatness - and truly funny insider jokes - but those are not enough to make this overly familiar and rather generic show feel as special as it needs to be." Full Review
"'Living With Love' flies by...It's not exactly full of surprises, but the light comedic throwback is well executed by the cast and creative team. Director Kathleen Marshall has a knack for the piece's scale and the quick rhythms of its banter." Full Review
for a previous production "You could call the play featherweight, except that down can get pretty heavy...Right now, there’s no real sense of what Raquel and Vito have meant to each other over the years, so the threats of divorce don’t ratchet up the tension as they ought to. If Ms. Fleming and Mr. Sills could communicate this bond the merrymaking might just matter. It would also help if this oddly chaste sex comedy became rather sexier. In the meantime, though, there’s plenty to divert and amuse. " Full Review
for a previous production "It’s period fluff that borders on the cusp of door-slamming clichés, but artfully polished to hurricane velocity in a production of perfection that keeps the laughter loud and constant...a silly play served with perfection, a diner menu prepared with the flourish of a four-star chef. Think Spam flambé, and pray that it gets to Broadway." Full Review
for a previous production "'Gets better and better, especially during its playful second act...During opening sequences, Living on Love feels just too cornball to be palatable and true. It takes a short while to comprehend the deliberate absurdity of it all. Hence, camp comedy reigns supreme...In all, Living on Love (think about that title) is pleasant, diverting, and even, as the final curtain beckons, cute." Full Review
for a previous production "A sliver of a comedy...Despite the spot-on casting of the ensemble, the hero of the endeavor is director Kathleen Marshall, who has staged this minor piece of froth at a dead-run and lathered it with sight gags, well-timed blocking, and comic action whipped up to a frenzy. If not for Marshall’s interventions, and the arias and songs inserted by music oordinator Rob Fisher, the evening would be little more than a celebrity sighting." Full Review
for a previous production "A frothy, blessedly zany affair that is having the time of its life...Highly skilled, welcoming actors go for broke in a comedy whose knowingly improbable plot coasts on the currents of farce, near anarchy and sharp wit. This is old-fashioned laugh-making in the very best sense." Full Review
for a previous production "A thin but breezily funny farce done with great brio and panache...Silly but carried off with such aplomb, like the production as a whole, that the material’s insubstantiality becomes almost irrelevant...the play is really about top-shelf pros showing off, and that’s enough." Full Review
29 Members' Reviews
See it if you want to see Renee Fleming in a straight play. The rest of the cast will be back; I doubt she will.
Don't see it if you're looking for anything but a vanity piece for Renee. She's swanning around; the rest of the cast is acting.
See it if you like the cast don't have high expectations.
Don't see it if you are looking for something that will stand out as fabulous among others that you've seen.
See it if you like Renee Fleming and want to see her a bit "out of her element."
Don't see it if You want something thought-provoking.
See it if You simply want to have a good time watching ridiculous characters being ridiculous.
Don't see it if You're looking for something deep or meaningful; you want a musical.
See it if you are a fan of Renee Fleming.
Don't see it if want a serious play.
See it if you saw Scarlet Pimpernel when you were a kid, and got really excited to see Douglas Sills on Broadway again.
Don't see it if you like quality plays. This has a great cast, but is a total mess.
See it if you can't afford a ticket to see Renee Fleming at the Met (or just wait at the stage door); otherwise, don't bother because she barely sings
Don't see it if you want to watch a poor transition in Ms. Fleming's career (she's not an actress); you want to see a play with clever writing and a plot
See it if you like Renee Fleming enough to sit though a thoroughly uninteresting and cliched show where everyone overacts because it's all they can do
Don't see it if you don't want to spend $20 on a double of wine at intermission because it's the best way to get through the second act
See it if You want to see a great cast working together. Too bad the story was a bit weak. The highlight was when Renee Fleming sang.
Don't see it if You expect a story that holds your interest for more than a few minutes periodically.
See it if need to see any of the talented cast and do not cast that the story/plot/book falls short.
Don't see it if want to see something fast moving and entertaining. Or want more than just a few good laughs
See it if You like fluffy comedies, no matter how weak the material, or you want to see how bad an actress Renee Fleming is.
Don't see it if You're looking for smarter fare.
See it if Predictable and cliched. I did enjoy seeing Renee Fleming. I saw her a few weeks prior at The Met, so there was that.
Don't see it if I would say pass. Other than hearing Renee Fleming belt out a few high notes the rest of it was pretty forgettable.
See it if You are a fan of Renee Fleming. The plot is intended to mimic those madcap film comedies of the 1930's.. but it falls short.
Don't see it if You primary motivation is to hear Renee Fleming sing.. She only performs one song.
See it if you are a fan of the stars
Don't see it if you are expecting a great musical, she barely sang.
See it if enjoy great talent, funny moments and operatic moments!
Don't see it if you need things to kick off from the start (it's a little slow).
See it if you are a fan of the actors.
Don't see it if you are a fan of the actors..... Plot is dated, stale and overacted.
See it if You really like Renee Fleming and want to see her in anything regardless of content.
Don't see it if you have any other options, this show really didn't need to be on broadway.
See it if You want to see a silly play. Anna Chlumsky was great.
Don't see it if You're easily bored, you don't like silly plays. You want to see René Fleming sing.
See it if you're a big Renee Fleming fan. She was great in this show.
Don't see it if you haven't heard of Renee Fleming.
See it if Renée Fleming and funny shows.
Don't see it if You expect a nice plot and amazing staging.
See it if You hate yourself
Don't see it if You have emotions
See it if Want to see a comedy.
Don't see it if You don't want to see a show with just ok storyline.
See it if you like plays, original stories, Jerry O'Connell, Renee Fleming, and Anna Chlumsky!
Don't see it if you get bored easily, it moves slowly
See it if Like old fashioned farce. You want an outrageous comedy.
Don't see it if You want something fresh and thoughtful.
See it if You are a fan of over the top, soap opera-like acting + just want a good laugh. It's a light show + Renee Fleming gives a good performance.
Don't see it if You want a story that's original and thought provoking. Everything is cliched and predictable in this show from start to finish.