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See it if you are interested in Judy Holliday or just want to see a top-notch actress/singer get inside the truth of a historical person
Don't see it if you don't like show-biz bio-plays
Also Andréa Burns has been doing fine work for years on and off Broadway, m... Read more Read less
See it if you want to see the great Elaine May back onstage with a great cast
Don't see it if you are not ready to vicariously experience the hellish spiral of caring for an Alzheimers patient
Also There is much humor here, but the play can ultimately seem slow and lo... Read more Read less
See it if you want to hear the work of a younger theater writer who has really learned his craft - and be charmed by 4 excellent performers.
Don't see it if a skillful, charming but lightweight sung-through show is not enough to grab your attention.
See it if you want to see Shaw in a serious vein, excellent character actors on top of their game and a leading actress who is something special,
Don't see it if you think Shaw means "funny", you can't handle a long and serious play about faith vs the Catholic Church.
See it if You like GUYS AND DOLLS and want to see another theatrical take on Damon Runyon's quirky stories.
Don't see it if You want something meaty or hate period pieces. Or hate GUYS AND DOLLS!
Also I found this charming from beginning to end. But if you are unfamiliar... Read more Read less
See it if you want a black feminist tall tale. Paul Bunyan here becomes more like Paula Buns-yan. :-)
Don't see it if you aren't interested in an upbeat, imaginative musical about a black woman's issues.
Also The production design, visual and aural, is top-notch as is choreograp... Read more Read less
See it if you want to see fine performers in a setting you'd never expect for a musical
Don't see it if you have an issue with gay relationships
See it if you're ok with fine actors even if the play offers nothing new
Don't see it if you expect a serious play to show you a new side of some situation or issue
See it if you want to see some hugely talented and likeable performers on an uber-fabulous set (of a '70's gay dive bar).
Don't see it if you have no interest in a little-known event in gay history
Also The show is broadly written - no subtlety here - but it is brilliantly... Read more Read less
See it if you want to see how a specific incident in the playwright's life becomes a universal statement
Don't see it if you have difficulty with strong foreign accents (South African, in this case)
See it if you want to see a master impersonate many real people in order to illuminate a current societal problem
Don't see it if a one-person show about real-world problems doesn't interest you
See it if You want a sassy social satire about the life experience of a black female striver in America.
Don't see it if You really don’t want the above.
See it if you want to be absorbed into two different but related experiences of very intimate theatricality.
Don't see it if you want your theater to be BIG and ELABORATE or don't have the patience to sit through two intimately emotional 1.5-hour plays.
Also Up-close-and-personal experience of fine actors inhabiting finely-writ... Read more Read less
See it if you appreciate excellent writing, top-notch acting and sensitive direction
Don't see it if you aren't interested in dramas by black writers about a black community, or you have no feeling at all for jazz.
Also This show is immensely satisfying. Meaty writing for the actors to dig... Read more Read less
See it if you like farce, appreciate verse plays, appreciate both high and low comedy.
Don't see it if you can't deal with verse and rhyming dialogue, want a story with meat on its bones. Or you can't follow English extremely quickly.
Also I'm a big Ives fan. This play is more cotton candy and less social sat... Read more Read less
See it if You can commit 7 hours to a sprawling, glorious but imperfect melange of the personal, political and universal - funny, scary, moving.
Don't see it if You like your theater neat, elegant or compact. You have to work hard in experiencing this.
Also This is one of the great plays of the 20th century, really one-of-a-ki... Read more Read less
See it if you like theater made of endless static 2-person conversations
Don't see it if you don't like the above. Also if you expect a play about Heifetz. He's just the catalyst here.
See it if You are interested in a discussion about art vs. commerce. You are curious about the personalities of Stravinsky and Disney.
Don't see it if You need more than a two-person talkfest when you see a show.
Also While the play stayed with rather obvious matters and didn't dig very ... Read more Read less
See it if You appreciate an original take on a story you thought had been thoroughly dealt with, a take both brilliant and entertaining.
Don't see it if You just like musicals. Or you don't want to think at the theater. Or anything involving women's issues turns you off.
Also Hnath is emerging as a great, original voice in the theater without be... Read more Read less
See it if -you are a Sondhead - goes without saying. -you want a Japanese perspective on "globalization" -you want a musical history lesson
Don't see it if -you aren't willing to try a minimalistic production of a large show -you don't care about Japan or international relations
Also On balance, Doyle's minimalistic and shortened production loses more t... Read more Read less
See it if You are interested/curious about gay intergenerational relationships, gay history, Harvey Fierstein in a meaty role he didn't write himself
Don't see it if None of the above interest you.
Also Also, older male actors looking for kickass dramatic monologues of gay... Read more Read less
See it if You want to see a brilliant adaptation of a 17th century comedy combining period forms with modern vernacular language and wit.
Don't see it if You can't be convinced that rhyming iambic pentameter can be flat-out funny.
Also This may be the best yet of David Ives' comedic adaptations, given a s... Read more Read less
See it if you are an Anglophile baby boomer
Don't see it if you want your comedy to be seriously funny
See it if you are curious about this play, an early yank into the reality of post-WWII society for the British stage
Don't see it if you expect it to feel as revolutionary now as it did in the 1950's
See it if you want a sense of how those great Gershwin songs fit into the original paper-thin structure
Don't see it if you need your musicals to tell a meaningful tale