Weegie

See it if this is the definition of a feel-good show. The tickets should come with a guarantee that you will leave happier and lighter and open

Don't see it if a lovely concert with a diverse group of musicians and performers dancing, playing instruments and singing unhampered by wires

Also David Byrne is unique and his lovely thoughtful patter that runs throughout makes you grateful that there are artists who care about the world and will do what they can to improve it.
The entire cast wears simple gray suits and dance, sing and perform against a grey wall--and this makes the differences among performers stand out in the loveliest​ of ways. Charming all around.... Read more Read less

See it if a personal jewel box of a story very small in scope but magnified with intensity will interest you

Don't see it if oddly affected mannerisms, unusual accenting and drawn out storytelling will distract you from the content

Also A solo performance with live accompaniment tells a true story of a long-lasting friendship, with detailed reflections on homelessness, artistic endeavors, creativity, life in the east village, and homosexuality all addressed.
There is a fascinating accompanying exhibit of artifacts in the lobby.
This is a story of feelings-- as there is no dramatic arc, or conflict. Very little happens that you don't already know by reading the program.... Read more Read less

See it if a story told quietly with great simplicity and pathos --but fully, emerges like a butterfly from a cocoon

Don't see it if not sure if this is a good date play-- betrayal not a happy topic, but ultimately this is very romantic in a complex way

Also The minimalist sets are totally brilliant, and the acting is excellent--sort of serene passion. This is a very complex play that will stay with you for a very long time after seeing it.... Read more Read less

See it if you like great characters, want some surprising plot twists and you like to see character growth in a play

Don't see it if middle-aged angst is not your bag, you don't like plays that focus on relationships, and caucasian privilege frustrates​ you

Also Just a beautifully written, clever story with great characters and excellent acting. All-around show that is well worth seeing, and surprisingly not a downer given​ the subject matter.... Read more Read less

See it if A beautifully constructed and evocative version of Fiddler that is perfect for any age to reflect and relate to both emotions and politics

Don't see it if The musical is in Yiddish which is delightful with both English and Russian subtitles cast on the wall, this might bother some

Also Wonderfully acted, great dancing, and just charming-- utterly charming. Tevye is fabulous!... Read more Read less

See it if If this was not all one note I would have been blown away--its an amazing concept but the hour and a half monologue was all rage and discord

Don't see it if there was just​ not enough nuance for me--I would have preferred more anecdotes and also would have liked to see the Shakespeare performed

Also in all the many myriad of ways described.

See it if Honestly, I would give a Tony to Mary Louise Parker right now. She was astonishing. What a complex, earth-shattering, brilliant performance

Don't see it if and what a lovely seamless complex dynamic and interesting play. So small yet so mighty. Definitely​ worth seeing.

See it if you've got to use your brain at this play-- it's a dizzying foray into the world of the deep "Right" and it's scary how easy it is to follow

Don't see it if along --there is a lovely sincerity and gentleness in the portrayal of these young lost twenty-somethings. I would have liked a little less

Also philosophy and more information onthe relationships.

See it if this beautifully crafted complex play about dementia and aging and love and loss is just tremendous​ to behold

Don't see it if this cleverly constructed play, superbly acted, leaves you thinking, as well as sorrowful, but it is more intellectual than heart breaking.

See it if over-amped teenagers sing way too loudly and out of tune about a drug deal that has gone wrong and other angsty issues

Don't see it if quirky teen musicals can be great fun, but not this loud, overworked​ over sung disaster.

See it if Resonant family drama told​ first by the children and later revisited by the same kids as adults.

Don't see it if Lots of twists, very clever writing, poignant drama, quite devastating.

Also One act play told in two parts. Great acting especially by the kids. Lots of unexpected twists in the story-- this will stay with me for awhile​.... Read more Read less

See it if performed in conjunction with Measure to Measure, same cast. This was a play about racism that was overtly racist​. Was it showing us

Don't see it if the evils of racism by being racist? I don't know if​ the play was this subtle or intelligent. It just failed. Uneven acting.

Also Also, why did every character have an actor playing a role but the sister and girlfriend who​ were doubled up? Very strange choices. Very confusing plot breakdown. And no set.... Read more Read less

See it if Super clever and entertaining, polished and astonishingly good acting, thoughtful​ and provocative plot. Just super!

Don't see it if Doubles​ with another play-- complex --you can't sleep through this-- provocative and entertaining, funny and powerful. Just so good.

See it if Great acting and an amazing​ story that one can never tire of, relevant in every way always,

Don't see it if somehow the constant moving and changing of sets made the plot drag out for me, and although much about it was excellent

Also it was not transcendent. It was however fascinating to see all the complexities of the book brought to life on stage, and not simplified. A wonderful kaleidoscope​ of story and emotion, beautifully acted by all.... Read more Read less

See it if A relevant and poignant play about eating disorders and how they affect not only the person suffering but the immediate family as well.

Don't see it if This felt like a cathartic experience for the playwright/actress, and although a valuable story, there was too much message and not enough

Also emotion.the acting was uneven, the plot predictable, and the story too drawn-out.... Read more Read less

See it if very sanitized Cher story with AMAZING costumes, and Stephanie​ Block who is Cher and has ALL the charisma.

Don't see it if you will be annoyed by how way too long this​ show is. At least 45 minutes could have been edited out.

See it if Intense in your face robotic repetitive movement and performance related to the experience of​ being a black man in America.

Don't see it if you are expecting a cohesive story with a narrative--this is an explosion of repetitive movements and intense bursts of action.

Also It is a short one hour piece and the four men who perform are remarkable-- what they are able to sustain and do in that hour is staggering. This is more of a live poem with action and movement-- punching at you unrelentingly to get it's powerful message across.... Read more Read less

See it if you like ambitious bilingual solo shows with intense and violent content with a message.

Don't see it if you don't like seeing one actor play multiple parts, don't like barren sets with lighting, don't like an actor reading from a transcript.

Also This very ambitious play is raw, edgy and emotional and shares the stories of the thousands of women in Juarez who have been raped, killed, lost, missing and kidnapped with no recourse for families.... Read more Read less

See it if Incredible singing and very talented performers bring to life an 11th century mystic, in a complex and weird real story.

Don't see it if you dislike puppetry and plain sets.

Also This is a play where you will benefit by reading about the subject long before you get to the theater to see the show. Maybe you should even take a course on the subject because the complex and subtle lyrics and references are mostly lost to regular theatergoers.
Absolutely stunning costumes.
All the performances are stellar and the playwright and lead is astonishingly talented.
very strange story which is told in a complex way. Oddly felt like a graduate school production (in content) executed by​ a very talented professional staff elevating the material.
Oddly no women of color represented on stage, yet much of the music references African American music and sound patterns.... Read more Read less

See it if Great gospel music powers this show with so so acting by the leads and celebrity drop-in​ guests.

Don't see it if It's about the topics and it is ambitious and relevant and meaningful and worth seeing, but also smug and predictable, and pretentious.

See it if you find humor in the profound​ as well as the mire-- this is a play that digs deep and leaves you laughing, but uncomfortably.

Don't see it if you are unwilling to go down the rabbit hole. This crazy rare insane trip is a delight but also shocking and utterly bizarre.

See it if you love Little Women and you want to see every incarnation of it in existence.

Don't see it if If you don't want to see gender exploration between Laurie and Jo and ill finally "get" why they don't end up together.

Also I had heard so much about Kate Hamill's production of Pride and Prejudice and was eager to see this. It was a crushing disappointment.
A few notes: I was in the front row and a large amount of the production takes place on a second level which you can not see well (or at all) from the first row.
This was the first version of Little WOmen I have ever seen where I did not cry-- and shockingly was disappointed that the Professor" never made an appearance. The book romance that has never made sense--finally just simply eliminated.... Read more Read less

See it if A contemporary​ family saga, a reunion with secrets revealed. Clumsy, clunky and boring.

Don't see it if Not sure what the point of this was--banal, cliched, and sad, but not poignant. Could have been something.

See it if Adorable classic boy from the Bronx who wants to get into show bizz Musical. Funny and well done.

Don't see it if This is solid entertainment in the classic musical format. Don't see it if you want side-splitting laughter or edgy theater.

Also Great acting, great singing, cute Brighton Beach Memoirs type of story set to music. Great to get away from today's issues, politics and miseries. This was plain old fashioned 1950's fun, with nothing to think about or worry about, just two hours of entertainment and laughter​.... Read more Read less

See it if fascinating and tragic true story of a musician lost to history told through music, parade, and live concert venue

Don't see it if don't want to stand--or want an immersive experience.

Also Overall, a tremendous amount of fun and the musicians involved incredibly talented. The "experience" started outside of the theater in a privately disclosed location, where the cast met you and led the audience to the theater parade style--

from there we were led into a theater/club where the actors performed various vignettes and performed song and dance from different corners of the room.

Nothing went into depth, and the story was inconsistent and choppy and sometimes hard to follow, but overall the story was poignant and the experience quite​ magical.... Read more Read less

See it if you will be absorbed by a complex and intricate theatrical piece about challenging multi-layered historical subject matter

Don't see it if you want a straight forward narrative, or don't want to be challenged to think outside the box

Also This show is well worth seeing for the elaborate and incredible use of media, music, and technology used to tell a story. It's truly phenomenal.
It is also really resonant to see a show about Jewish history and the unpleasant history of blackface while you are at a historic theater on the Lower Eastside.
The show is fascinating, but exceedingly slow, deliberate and repetitive and draws out everything at a snail's pace for maximum impact. The message and analysis are valuable and excellent but I could not sit through it again. It was the longest two hours ever.... Read more Read less

See it if I wanted to love this play more than anything but it fights you every step of the way. It's a play to make you think, and in this a success

Don't see it if you don't want to be challenged, don't want to think, don't want to be made uncomfortable​.

Also There are so many brilliant things about this play-- the staging and the set, the complexity and pairing of the characters, the three-part scene design, the fact that you can't leave and take a break from it--and the constant battering to your psyche. It's super clever​ and incredible on many levels, but very hard to love.... Read more Read less

See it if from the moment this play starts you will be glued to your seat. It is fully a wow. You will have all the feels. Don't miss it.

Don't see it if everything about this show is clever and good-the writing-the acting-the staging--the complexity-the mysticism-the stoicism. It's brilliant.

Also Although I laughed, as well as wept, at the end of the show I had to go to the bathroom and sit in a stall to just sob.
In addition, the audience was palpably moved. Everyone who was seated near me felt connected--we all went through​ something significant together.... Read more Read less

See it if like a bit of memoir mixed in with your politics and some musical theater as well as a refreshing look at Asian Americans and China

Don't see it if you don't like stories within stories, quirky song and dance--multiple strands of story and ideas blended together

Also The first half of the show does a lot of setting up for the second half. It is slow, clunky and ponderous but the second half is breezy, fun as well as thought-provoking and a whirlwind.... Read more Read less

See it if you want to reflect on suicide from both the pov of the people left behind as well as the person who makes a choice to end their life

Don't see it if you don't like shows with a solo artist, and you are squeamish about death and intimate human interactions and body parts.

Also this is a very three dimensional view of depression, and suicide and helps explain why someone might make the choice, and all the​ implications it has on both the victim as well as all the close friends and family members.... Read more Read less

See it if A sentimental large cast big set version of the classic musical with a heavy emphasis on letting your children become independent

Don't see it if A little overworked and sentimental and a lot of caricatures.

See it if Clever and fun look at women through the eras-- four short segues through time with singing dancing a lot of irreverence, some humor and

Don't see it if some piercing insights. The sets were magical and oh so clever, but the four vignettes were inconsistent and got a ittle plodding at the end

Also the very best sequence was the memorial planning with Hemingway's wives--that was so good, I would see the show again just to revisit that scene.... Read more Read less

See it if This is a marathon with a huge cast, and some very good acting, but a play with no soul. It is ambitious and it strives hard

Don't see it if but it somehow trivializes its subject and just scrutinizes it, making the show feel longer then it already is and painful to watch.

See it if An installment in the nine play cycle about the African diaspora created by Mfoniso Udofia. The two plays are significantly different from

Don't see it if each other but feature some of the same characters at different points in their lives. The plays feature magical realism, and complex

Also narratives and are flawlessly acted.

The first play was so painful, and poignant that some people left (and didn't stay for the second play) because there was so much to take in.... Read more Read less

See it if you like a third person narrative, clever interspersed dance mixed into a talky evening of twenty-somethings--searching for life's meaning.

Don't see it if you are irritated by third world problems, don't like cliched characters (especially those of color) and a long windy nothing-happens plot.

See it if the concept of a blaxploitation musical with an aging actress appeals to you. High energy and absurdity make​ you laugh.

Don't see it if you don't like plays with a message, you don't like performers who come into the audience.

Also The sets and songs were so clever, and the acting just sublime, absolutely​ silly and over the top and utterly rediculous and just sheer fun and all good times.... Read more Read less

See it if beautifully written, incredibly crafted, and exquisitely acted--two monologues performed back to back but interwoven with themes/metaphors

Don't see it if two poignant stories about being human life, the meaning of life, and value of life, both are sad, as well as beautiful, stories well told.

Also The first monologue Seawall by Sturridge has a head crashingly sad story, which is well laid out --and not surprising, but still untenable and unbearably sad, beautifully told, but slow and achingly so. Gyllenhall's monologue is much faster paced and funnier, although full of just as much pathos-a good note to end on. Incredibly acted.... Read more Read less

See it if In tandem with Dogg's Hamlet and Cahoot's Macbeth a revisitation of two Czech playwrights and their work viewed through a contemporary lens

Don't see it if heady, intelligent, resonant, political and quite astonishing, as well as quirky, dissonant and unusual​.

Also astonishing acting---everything was stellar-- worth seeing twice.

See it if Medea in modern times told through the lens of immigrants. Touches on lots of themes, timeless and contemporary. Moving, but also indulgent.

Don't see it if Repetitive metaphors, cliched characters, a dull set, made this slow and ponderous, as well as message heavy for me.

See it if I expected clever performance art but this show is dated and really is only for kids.

Don't see it if This show seems to have found a formula for success after thirty​ years but its all a cliche now. Boring, even though they invented it.

See it if Entertaining rom-com musical with sixty-something​ performers. Quite silly, but truly fun and fluffy in all the​ right ways.

Don't see it if The plot is thin and predictable but somehow that adds to its charm.

Also Two middle-aged opposites end up stuck in a hotel room in Vegas. Lots of Vegas cliches, but a great little band with a troubadour who sings along with story--who was quite entertaining. I was seated far left and couldn't see him for most of the performance which was frustrating but that was an odd element that was fun. The story was more about taking things at face value and expectations being reverted-- then a love story. Really quite cute. Lots of songs, and a great performance by the "husband".... Read more Read less

See it if you love seeing classic plays reinvented in contemporary settings, love the 4th wall broken, and humor in unlikely places.

Don't see it if you don't want to contemplate the meaning of life in a matinee with a group of indulgent privileged characters.

Also This reworking of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya is well acted, clever, contemporary, but achingly slow. I loved the breaking up of acts--the announcing of features--the conversations with the audience, all of that was extremely clever, but when it wasn't happening, it was a bit dull.... Read more Read less

See it if you enjoy political intense family dramas with an LGBTQ theme. Set in Uganda the repercussions are very serious

Don't see it if dramas with no set design irk you, in this case this is a real disservice to a very talented cast.

Also This story of two brothers and a sister who have lost a parent and struggling to find their identities in a dangerous and complex world is moving and well-acted, but offers nothing new.... Read more Read less

See it if you love to learn more about little known American history, and want to see content and plays with substance. Acting is tremendous.

Don't see it if you dislike characters speaking in vernacular, plays slipping in and out of different temporalities, characters that play multiple roles.

Also This place is very "woke", it's as much a feminist piece as a play about racism and people of color's place in American history. The small ways the characters break the fourth wall is very endearing, and the acting is superb. Players jump in and out of different roles, and the vernacular and recitation of stats and slurs both are​ amazing. I found it both hard to watch and incredibly compelling simultaneously.... Read more Read less

See it if You like intense family dramas where secrets are revealed.

Don't see it if you don't like shows about the military, you dislike unreliable narrators, you don't like actors playing multiple roles.

Also Very good acting​ doesn't elevate this sad drama with great pathos-- if could be very good but somehow just misses.... Read more Read less

See it if This is life-changing theater, It is clever, tricky, surprising, and absolutely phenomenal.

Don't see it if You don't want to be moved, shocked, and changed. It is like an earthquake and the tremors keep coming.

Also This is a play where the surprises are everything. I came in knowing very little​ and was delighted that was the case. I don't want to give away anything, except be prepared for a rollercoaster. At one point my mouth fell open, and I just couldn't close it. Truly astonishing. As riveting and amazing as everyone says.... Read more Read less

See it if Fabulous and clever use of sets, great acting, especially Bryan Cranston who is transcendent, and relevant plot makes this worth seeing

Don't see it if Sags a bit in the middle, but the hype is worth it.

Also Really no bad seats because the in theater out of theater --video screen experience is weirdly wonderful. You have something to watch, and watch and watch. Such a dynamic clever way to tell a story-- just fabulous, and although the story doesn't match the sets and the construction of theatricality the performances do-- Bryan Cranston is just superlative, and Tatiana Maslany is pretty fab too.... Read more Read less

See it if Very British sit-comesque show--everything great on the facade but just look underneath--oh woe!

Don't see it if Very good acting, and overall entertaining but not sure what the point of this is---

Also Lots of typically cliched English characters and very British humor--it was funny, a good concept, but it just never really went anywhere, not sure what the point of it all was. Good acting, great set--not a bore--just not at all thrilling.... Read more Read less

See it if Frankly, just an incredibly creative ambitious and all out avantgarde production of Macbeth.

Don't see it if Seven young women act out the original play word for word, not for those who abhor violence and liberties w originals

Also This was not for everyone. People got up and left storming out of the production, I saw. I found it to absolutley transcend the traditional production to make parallels with teen, sexulaiity, violence and power, in addition to being just a fascintaing redo of Shakespeare.
Unimaginabe stagecraft.
What the young women endure physically, and psychically handle night after night is staggering. Really worth seeing, whether you like it, love it or detest it.... Read more Read less

See it if Powerful and simple story of two unlikely people connecting-powerful and intelligent performances by both actors

Don't see it if This is a play where the drama exists between the lines--nothing happens--a relationship builds slowly and poignantly.