See it if You enjoy domestic dramas with everyday themes like parenting & relationships. You appreciate sincerity. You like well-written plays.
Don't see it if You don't like domestic dramas. You don't want to see same-sex relationships on stage. You want a play with more worldy issues.
See it if You wanted something so badly and then you got it and then you wonder why you wanted it and if you still do. You like modern sets.
Don't see it if You don't want to see a drama about infidelity, relationships & marriage, or about families and growing up. You prefer happy-go-lucky shows.
See it if You like new plays about modern issues, especially gay parenting.
Don't see it if You don't like plays about gays and/or wealthy, white New Yorkers and their problems.
See it if gaining perspective of gay parenting in NY will interest you.
Don't see it if gay issues bother you.
See it if like thinking about how and what makes a family. About what makes some couples perservere
Don't see it if you are narrow minded about what makes a family
See it if Parenting issues are the same for all of us, straight, LGBT and the problems that arise are similar for all.
Don't see it if You are averse to LGBT and gay marriage and do not see all the array of "family"
See it if you're interested in a drama on parenting challenges & the difference between a gay man's life in the 80s & now, & don't mind full frontal
Don't see it if characters who are a little too into themselves & their decidedly first-world problems will grate on you. I enjoyed it, but they tested me.
See it if you are interested in a story centered around the challenges of gay parenting
Don't see it if not interested in LGBTQ issues
"It almost feels like watching a gay version of Downton Abbey, absent the likable characters. They mention the help in passing, but (just like the children in question) we never see or hear from them...Hopefully, same-sex families in America (the vast majority of which do not look like the people depicted in 'Dada Woof Papa Hot') will one day get a more authentic depiction of their lives onstage."
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"Infidelity, closeted-ness and other martial issues creep into the picture, but what works about the play is primarily the expertise with which director Scott Ellis's sold cast delivers Parnell's sharp and entertaining dialogue. It's a bit of style over substance, but 'Dada Woof Papa Hot' has enough that's interesting about it to keep the night fizzy."
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"In this incisive if not quite riveting 100-minute play by Peter Parnell, four gay men who not that long ago hungered for the opportunity to be regarded the same as straight couples learn that maybe their desires and dreams weren't as developed as they thought... Parnell's investigation of the gay commitment question feels fresh, but this subplot does not, and comes across as an awkward attempt to evoke equivalency that's not needed for the play to function."
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"Peter Parnell's play isn't quite the groundbreaker it wants to be…His intention to take his new look at life in today's more open-minded world is valid, but it seems forced in this play…Despite my reservation 'Dada Woof...' is more often than not enjoyable. Director Scott Ellis sees to it that the actors smoothly navigate these diverse views on parenthood and commitment."
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"The main problem with 'Dada Woof Papa Hot' is that, despite the brilliant acting of all concerned and Parnell’s sharp ear for the language of each person, it’s difficult to empathize deeply with these characters, all of whom appear to be well off, well educated and by no means victims of circumstances. They wanted to be married. They wanted to have children and then complain endlessly about the vicissitudes of their actions."
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"Gay or straight, the problems are the same, which isn’t news to any of us straight folks who have raised children…So, nothing new, which tends to elicit some audience chuckles or moments of depression depending what life has offered up. In spite of some of the boredom listening to a lot of chatter about children, Scott Ellis has pumped up the glib dialogue and there are enough laughs to go around, along with a major amount of putting on our psychoanalyzing caps."
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"Parnell’s characters are genuine and credible...Director Scott Ellis seems to once again effortlessly tease thoughtful nuance out of stock situations…The quality of the acting is not at fault—no one is less than terrific…That said, watching gay men struggle with parenthood is not that interesting…More to the point, it is neither entertaining nor enlightening…So while there are truths told in 'Dada Woof Papa Hot'—there isn’t a lot of new ground broken."
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"Stilted and overstudied to the point where it feels mummified...It’s slightly disappointing that in a play that thinks of itself as so groundbreaking when it comes to addressing the concerns of gay men, it’s a heterosexual woman who steals the show, by not only conjuring the doubts boiling among the audience, but also by allowing herself to live with her imperfections...One wishes it hadn’t decided to treat most of its characters like children."
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