"You’ll ingest more schmaltz than at your bubbe’s seder table with 'Goldstein'...It has heartfelt intentions—and an ideal synagogue venue—but smacks of the generic, and most of its characters are tired Jewish stereotypes. Clunky direction, Roberts’s somber songs and the production’s barely-there design do not exactly liven things up. Give thanks, then, for the committed and talented actors, including multiple Broadway vets, who put across the material as if it really were Pulitzer-worthy."
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"Its lack of ambition ultimately leads to its downfall...Book writer Schulman shirks any sort of dramatic contrivance that would add moral and ethical fireworks into the piece...Roberts contributes a similarly flavorless score that emulates the cheerful but unadventurous sounds of 1990s off-Broadway musicals...It's not the most skilled musical, but it's an unobjectionable one."
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"There are many moments that make 'Goldstein' the musical worthy of hearing...A multi-generational family flashback that fills in the blanks with songs...There are moments that generally stir and interest the audience...The highlights of the musical are in the more human moments...Largely it works. The evening is a pleasant exploration with a sepia touch that reminds one of sitting on grandma's plastic wrapped couch hearing the stories behind the yellowing photos in an album."
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"There's rich material here, but Charlie Schulman's book is too sketchy and Michael Roberts' songs rely on basic melodies and even more basic rhymes. To be fair, there's an eleventh-hour plot twist that nobody in the audience at my performance -- me included -- saw coming...If the director, Brad Rouse, can't make anything urgent or compelling out of these family stories, his cast is reasonably solid...But this complex saga is too cursorily treated to really come to life."
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"With the rhythm of Neil Simon and the fierceness of Philip Roth, Shulman’s solidly constructed and inventive book renders this archetypical premise with an abundance of humor, sentiment, and suspense. Roberts’ music is a tuneful assortment of melodies some of which have an appropriate ethnic flavor...Bermowitz dominates the production with her steely yet empathetic portrayal of the controlling matriarch...A small-scale entertainment that is rich in emotional resonance."
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"The innocuous, 90-minute tuner has some great moments but tends to suffer frequently from unrealistic dialogue and elementary lyrics...What 'Goldstein' does well is question the meaning of legacy...Roberts knows his way around a catchy melody and his tunes lean toward traditional Broadway fare. With such a talented cast he could benefit from adding a few show-stopping numbers that really bring the house down."
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"'Goldstein,' while pleasantly entertaining, doesn't add much to the genre. Its family is rather ordinary and its great romantic secret rings the bell of predictability…It takes some time to become invested in the characters, whose situations and behavior border on the clichéd and whose humor is generally as flat as a matzo. While the lyrics in several songs are quite effective, too much of the music…is generic; it could easily fit a show called 'Smith.'"
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"'Goldstein' is a quaint, bittersweet musical that moves seamlessly from humor to tragedy...There are no big, show-stopping numbers but instead light tunes that don’t get in the way of the plot...Among the nice touches is the use of the center aisle as a pathway for death and birth. Owen is eminently likable as the narrator, a man facing his own personal issues, while McGinnis proves once again that she has a magical voice."
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