Call Me Madam NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (85)
See it if you love old fashioned musicals
Don't see it if if silly stories are not your cup of tea Read more
See it if this production was Encores at its best The cast, muxic, the staging-all terrific Don't miss it
Don't see it if you don't like Broadway musicals
See it if You love Encores! and what they do—bringing older shows, dusting them off, making them fresh, and reminding when theater was entertainment.
Don't see it if You need the hot new show. This is old-fashioned, pure entertainment. Don’t go if you’re looking for big sets, contemporary themes or ideas. Read more
See it if you enjoy wonderful musicals that have great singing and dancing mixed with laughter.
Don't see it if you do not enjoy endings that tie everything together and makes you feel good.
See it if you want to hear the music of Irving Berlin in a musical spoof on the politics of the 1950's that is still relevant today.
Don't see it if you want a musical with more elaborate sets - the Encore performances focus on the music.
See it if You love Encores! Carmen Cusack and Rob Berman are amazing!!
Don't see it if You do not like classic show, restaged fairly faithfully to the original. Read more
See it if you appreciate Berlin: (You're Not Sick) You're Just in Love/I Wonder Why, It's a Lovely Day Today; Cusack's southern charm, Davis' voice.
Don't see it if you can't stand love-conquers-all musicals with a hum-able score. Read more
See it if you enjoy a delightful romp through history with a sublime Irving Berlin score and great singing and dancing.
Don't see it if you can't appreciate minimalist staging and are unaware of historical references. Read more
Critic Reviews (13)
"The pulse-lowering Encores! production...Cusack, a strong performer in other circumstances — is overpowered here by material that, if it can work at all today, can do so only when rough-handled by a mauler....'Call Me Madam' can’t support much political reflection, or any reflection, really...The songs mostly backfire dramatically by forcing us to sympathize with characters, especially Adams, whom the book otherwise wishes us to treat as objects of surprisingly coarse satire."
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"Sadly, Carmen Cusack doesn’t quite have the larger-than-life presence necessary to lift this flimsy star vehicle. She does, however, have a gorgeous voice and charm to spare, and these assets, along with Irving Berlin's terrific score and some deftly amusing supporting performances, make this 'Call Me Madam' enjoyable if not spectacular...For every joke that falls flat, there's a terrific song."
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"What passed as 'political satire' in 1950 does not have quite the same bite in 2019 — at least not as seen in the flat and tiresome revival...While 'Call Me Madam' has at least four good songs, much of the rest is second-rate operetta pastiche and the book is drawn-out. The Encores! revival still could have made for charming entertainment, but it is hampered by tone-deaf, draggy direction by Casey Hushion and an ineffective lead performance by Carmen Cusack."
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“’Call me Madam’ is breathing in new life in the 21st Century...Cusack's casual charm comes with a delightful drawl and spirited country-pop vocals...By no means a classic musical, ‘Call me Madam’ is nevertheless a classic style musical of its time, offering 1950s audiences some good laughs, some pleasing new tunes and a big star performance. And you didn't have to take out a loan or access a government program to afford tickets.”
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“A wonderful performer in her own right, you can see and hear Cusack struggling to reshape the role to match her acting and singing style. It's not that her performance is boring or incompetent; it is just a forced fit that never catches hold...The same could be said for pretty much the entire cast...Encores! has long abandoned simple stagings of musicals in favor of well-wrought productions. This undercooked 'Call Me Madam,' while hardly a disaster, does not live up to its own standards.”
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"It would take quite a fabricator to wax excessively enthusiastic about the Crouse-Lindsay script...What 'Call Me Madam' has in carloads is the Berlin score, undoubtedly tossed off in green-apple-quick time when—unlike today’s scores too often—melodic scores were expected and delivered...It could be said that 'Call Me Madam' is a period piece. It also could, and can, be said that, in this incarnation at least, it remains a joyfully entertaining piece."
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"The new 'Call Me Madam' satisfactorily delivers what they used to call a good old-fashioned musical, with sly cracks from the jokebook interrupted by a parade of brightly tuneful but not especially relevant songs. This is accomplished in high fashion, with some enjoyably charming turns from the players...'Call Me Madam' is, yes, enjoyable and cotton candy to enthusiasts of the genre. But the holes are apparent...It’s the ministrations of choreographer Jones that most delight the crowd."
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"Cusack soon makes the role of Sally, who is appointed to be ambassador to the tiny European duchy of Lichtenburg and ends up way too involved in its affairs - in every sense of the word - her own. She has a down-home way of speaking that is ideal for the Oklahoma-born heiress; a warmth that makes it easy to see why the ultra-suave Cosmo Constantine (the velvet-voiced Davis) would fall in love with her; and a strong yet supple voice that lends itself beautifully to numbers."
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