Desperate Measures NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (1,066)
See it if you wanna enjoy a Broadway pleaser as it hatches from its shell. Broad comedy, a juicier plot but with nuances that will reward you.
Don't see it if You take your Shakespeare only seriously--cos this one dares to paint the roles red, and lets the actors go to town. Hella fun! Read more
See it if You like clever lyrics, physical comedy performed well, having fun at the theater
Don't see it if You need fancy sets, don’t enjoy laughing during a show, need all of the action to take place only on stage Read more
See it if You are up for a silly, fun, burlesquish, Western-themed musical with six talented comedic musical actors! The small pit is masterful.
Don't see it if You want something deep and thought provoking. Don’t see if you don’t like broad, mugging, (but totally committed) acting!
See it if You want to spend 2 hours enjoying what you seen,listening to and thinking about. Want to forget about problems -go and see the perfect play
Don't see it if You dislike small theater, Wild West stories, singing nuns,governors;drunk priest, too conservative to watch someone marry saloon girl
See it if you enjoy a evening of laughter, fun and a very loose adaption of Shakepeare's Measure for Measure.
Don't see it if are not in the mood for silly laughter
See it if You really want to laugh! I had little to no expectations for this and was shocked by how hysterical it was and the fantastic score. Cast A+
Don't see it if You don’t like musical comedy or you want a serious evening. It’s kinda low budget but that’s part of its charm.
See it if You like musicals, you like Shakespeare, you like westerns, you're a nun, you're a prostitute... There's a little there for everyone.
Don't see it if You're mean spirited and don't like having fun.
See it if you appreciate musical comedy, even with Shakespearean flavor. Clever twist of Measure for Measure set in the old West. Lots of laughs!
Don't see it if you're looking for heavy drama .
Critic Reviews (49)
“A delightful musical...It’s all pretty ridiculous, but those doings (and the repercussions) are presented in a spirited fashion, and with a lovely (and sometimes funny) score, as well as dialogue amazingly pulled off in rhyming couplets à la the bard himself...The cast is game...The villain is a piggish male who is presented as a despicable buffoon. The women are part of a plan to outsmart him, which they nimbly do, using all their wiles. It all works out.”
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"Sometimes an old-fashioned, well-done, energetic, deeply silly musical is the perfect way to spend an evening…Shows of this sort live and die by the direction and performances, and both are swell. Castellino paces the show perfectly, and the cast throw themselves whole-heartedly into the crazy goings-on…Beside their comic talents, they all sing beautifully…As a woman in the lobby after the show summed up, 'You may get here grumpy, but you won't leave grumpy'."
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"Utterly zany, ridiculously charming and unapologetically entertaining...Even this critic...was shaking with laughter more than she was raising an eyebrow throughout this unabashedly old-fashioned but undeniably all-too-relevant production...In the hands of a lesser cast, 'Desperate Measures' could be more problem than play, but under Castellino’s direction, this ensemble shows, rather than tells, the moral questions and quandaries and maintains a feather-light touch."
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"It’s a rare thing when all of the elements come together perfectly to create true theatrical magic...A fast-paced, cheek-aching musical comedy masterpiece! What makes it work so well isn’t any one aspect but all combined...Always clever, sometimes utterly ingenious wordplay that has the audience uproarious with laughter...But what really makes this show soar is its extraordinary cast guided by the deft direction and choreography of Bill Castellino."
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"No previous Shakespearean scholarship is required to follow the show’s wacky plot or to have a rollicking good time...Each member of the excellent six-person cast has ample opportunity to shine in solo, duet, and ensemble numbers, ably selling Peter Kellogg’s consistently witty lyrics...While Bill Castellino directs and choreographs 'Desperate Measures' to make the most of its abundant comedic elements, there is a serious undertone to the work."
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"A witty and quick moving show...The show cleverly addresses themes like justice and hypocrisy through its cast, all of whom have their time to shine. While the music is not the most memorable on the planet it's fun and fits with the attitude of the show. If you're looking for something to entertain you for 2 hours or so, you will certainly find what you're looking for in 'Desperate Measures.'"
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"'Desperate Measures,' a bad-joke travesty of a problem play, is such a hoot...The songs are enthusiastically ordinary, except for the opening number, which is worse...The book is in rhyming couplets. The gags are hoary. Under Castellino’s direction, somehow it’s a delight. There’s less than an ounce of Shakespeare in it, but that probably won’t have the swan of Stratford rolling...That’s the spirit of the terrible, wonderful 'Desperate Measures': Have iamb, will travel."
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"Shakespeare’s plot has been stripped down and stretched out in Kellogg’s clever book...The score, by Kellogg and Friedman, is an airy array of show tunes with country flourishes. But Although Castellino and his cast of six bring bountiful vigor and comedic élan to the production, the characters are mere devices on which to hang songs and jokes. The quest for justice and mercy that burns throughout Shakespeare’s original—and so many Westerns—lies beyond this show’s range."
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