Dreaming Zenzile NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Production Covid-19 Safety ProtocolsShow-Score Member Reviews (66)
See it if you want to be mesmorized with beautiful vocals and storytelling. An absolute gift delivered by playwright Somi Kakoma
Don't see it if you are looking for a staightforward, standard musical
See it if you love Miriam Makeba and/or Somi (voice of an angel), beautiful music and dance and simple but elegant setting
Don't see it if you need big story, sets and costumes
See it if Fan of Makeba and her music, great jazz and African singing, more like a concert than play, incorporates flashbacks to her life experiences
Don't see it if Uninterested in life and music of Makeba, don’t like political activism themes, you want a linear story/plot, this is more like a concert
See it if You are interested in a show that will educate you about life in South Africa and the life of South African music legend Miriam Makeba.
Don't see it if Shows based on African history are not of interest to you.
See it if Miriam Makeba memory play/biopic with AMAZING singing. Story's not the clearest jumping back and forth in timeline.
Don't see it if Non-linear story, no major plot, less musical more performing songs. 2.5 hours; 1 intermission. Read more
See it if you are happy to overlook the story and immerse yourself in the great music and performances.
Don't see it if you expect an insightful narrative about Makeba. If I hadn't read the short bio about her in the lobby I would have been lost.
See it if you have any interest in Makeba and/or jazz.
Don't see it if you are indifferent to the genre/artist or strongly dislike bio jukebox musicals to begin with. Read more
See it if You love seeing a great singer perform great songs
Don't see it if You are looking for a clear story
Critic Reviews (7)
It's a little surprising to see companies on the level of New York Theatre Workshop and National Black Theatre expending money and energy on a wobbly entry in the Dead Celebrity Playhouse genre. (The recent Little Girl Blue, in which Makeba's sometime colleague Nina Simone unravels onstage, is another example, but you can probably come up with a dozen more, going all the way back to Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill.) Dreaming Zenzile has all the hallmarks: A cursory narrative, a lack of dramatic action, and an awkward framing device.
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Lacking the style and thematic force that defines Blain-Cruz’s best work, the show feels less like a narrative than a tone poem, which can make time hang heavy in the first half; it takes an hour just to bring young Miriam to her professional debut. ... At its best, 'Dreaming Zenzile' is a thank-you note, written with deep and abiding gratitude."
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"Overall, though, this bio-musical is an excellent one that feels fresh amid the many others on Broadway and beyond right now. It respectfully and deeply honors its subject matter without lots of spectacle, allowing room for Makeba's spirit and calls to action to shine through."
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"Seems unfinished despite evident musical virtuosity, a long development, and an encyclopedic list of producing partners. These include NYTW, Octopus Theatricals, National Black Theatre, Arts Emerson, the McCarter Theater Center, the Apollo Theater, and the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. That’s a lot of co-production. Yet somewhere in all that collaboration, Somi Kakoma’s bio-musical about the great South African singer Zenzile Miriam Makeba has slipped halfway through the cracks."
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"['Dreaming Zenzile'] will be particularly cherished by those knowledgeable about Makeba, her music and her fierce anti-apartheid advocacy, but it is so deftly written, and performed with such luminous grace, that it’s hard to imagine anyone coming away less than transfixed—both by Makeba’s music and Ms. Kakoma’s shining talents."
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"As far as jukebox musicals go, 'Dreaming Zenzile' earns a B-: plenty of musical gems decorating a rough book. One suspects that Makeba — a stateless person who smashed through borders with her music — has a story that can do much more."
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"'Dreaming Zenzile,' while assuredly Kakoma’s homage, is also an opportunity to show off her magnificent voice. She’s able to produce some of Makeba’s tone, and often, marvelously, there are even Sarah Vaughan echoes. The joy of African songs written by Makeba — a prime inclusion is Nongqongqo — and others is replicated by the several Kakoma has put together."
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