Grand Hotel, The Musical NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (145)
See it if you like dark musicals. 1928 Berlin looks glittery, but it's grimy underneath. Well-paced, GH engrossed me, but it did not fully delight me.
Don't see it if you want memorable songs or to be touched. But GH was beautifully presented (w/only 2 wks rehearsal). Strong ensemble cast; chic dancing.
See it if If you like a big musical. One of Encore's very best production. Rhodes does a great job with this show.
Don't see it if If you do not like a bigger musical, or do not like musicals.
See it if you enjoy musicals. The score is lovely. There are a lot current themes women's rights, antisemitism, drugs issue, etc.
Don't see it if don't enjoy musicals. With enormous resources in people it lacks imagination about how they use them. None of the many themes are explored
See it if you're a fan of the original show or of the film, like musicals that tackle serious matters, enjoy great music, dancing and voices
Don't see it if One act musicals are too long, Berlin 1928 doesn't interest you, don't like atmospheric shows, characters who do bad things, unhappy endings Read more
See it if a hoot! marvelous choreography, incredible begin/ending tango, tenor brings down house, B. Uranowitz steals show w comic stylings
Don't see it if a little hokey; tunes not memorable; some performers don't understand acting has 2 be droll in send-up like this Read more
See it if you want to see a show done with great singing, staging and choreography. Encores outdid themselves.
Don't see it if you do not like musicals. Read more
See it if High gloss staging & sensational dancing keeps focus away from clumsy book & uninspired songs Uranowitz & that Tango duet true showstoppers
Don't see it if Book strains for relevancy (#MeToo moments) while drug-addicted narrator is underutilized Ghost of Tommy Tune hovers despite Rhodes' efforts
See it if Great dancing/singing, stories of life at the Grand Hotel.
Don't see it if If you do not like musical, dancing, want one story. Read more
Critic Reviews (16)
"One of the most sumptuous pieces of eye candy ever to glitter from the City Center stage. As for what churns beneath its opulent surface, it’s still a rather dreary slog...Rhodes’s production isn’t grim, but it’s oddly uninvolving, and only some of the cast members emanate the vivid magnetism that is a musical’s life blood...Rhodes is a skilled traffic cop, and his choreography is appropriately stylish throughout...Think of it as a glossy tabloid set to swelling violins."
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"A triumph...Rhodes delivers a smoothly polished production that blends near-constant choreographed movement and dazzling dance with seamless grace. Many of the visually arresting stage pictures are clearly indebted to Tune but not so slavishly that it feels like a mere carbon copy of the original...The cast may not be star-studded, but they are all first-rate...One of the finest Encores! productions in the organization's 25-year history."
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"A fully polished production with a showstopper at every turn...Josh Rhodes, who directs and choreographs this production, embraces the spectral forces to pay a loving homage to the original, while still creating his own stylish version...The direction doesn't always escape the trappings of the material...But what Rhodes managed to bring out of his cast sets a new high bar. They make up for any failings of material in spades, turning out highlight after highlight."
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"The visuals supplied by Tune acted as an additional method of authorship, enhancing material that might not be as effective without such a strong directorial hand. The score to 'Grand Hotel' is generally a good one...The book succeeds in the difficult task of presenting numerous characters in intertwining plots...The dramatic impact doesn't hit quite as hard as it might with more time. But nevertheless, this week's City Center mounting is a lovely showcase for some fine performances."
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"Not to be missed. The evening benefits from a number of main performances but the true star is most decidedly director-choreographer Josh Rhodes. This relative newcomer, has staged up a storm here; this 'Grand Hotel' is always afoot...The written material seems to play considerably better than it did back in 1989...What had been a disjointed score now sounds more of a piece...The cast is not star-filled, as these things go, but the performers impress."
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"Taking up Mr. Tune’s mantle is Josh Rhodes whose direction and choreography energizes the patchy material in his own distinctive and arresting fashion. With a lackluster score and a stilted book, to succeed the show requires and receives theatrical razzle-dazzle...Rhodes incorporates creates several riveting balletic sequences including a sensational Bolero...Overall, he offers an inventive reconception...A triumph of physical staging, performance, and design over its weak elements."
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"A sumptuous, haunted revival...The cast is quite good, and if a few of the performances here and there cannot outrun the memory of those who came before, for the most part the company is able to put their own indelible stamp on things...The director and choreographer Josh Rhodes has retained so many elements of Tommy Tune’s original staging that this is not so much a revival as un hommage."
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"As wonderfully and decrepitely good in that first unveiling...This surprisingly Broadway-ready production, thrown together in the shortest of time frames...looks as polished and ready for its close-up as any show that has graced this series...It’s a gloriously lush production, dark but life-affirming...It deserves a longer life, but I’m not so sure this story has a desperate need to be told."
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