Ensemble for the Romantic Century presents this world premiere production featuring live music by Benjamin Britten and Henry Purcell, classical puppetry, and the timeless classics that have transcended generations. More…
Go beyond the magic and into the imagination of the iconic author Hans Christian Andersen, and discover how his complicated personal life inspired countless beloved tales such as "The Little Mermaid," "The Princess and the Pea," "The Ugly Duckling," and more.
See it if You like fairy tales. The singing was good. Liked the personal stories but some of the detail went long in some parts
Don't see it if You do not like reimagined fairy tales. Play running time a bit long. Many left at intermission due to vagueness in story line
See it if You want to see something completely different - music, some acting, singing, puppetry.
Don't see it if You want any kind of story that you can follow. You want any type of insight into Andersen's life - maybe you had to know it already.
See it if you are fanatical about the author, are a fun of the absurd
Don't see it if you have anything better to do
See it if you have an abiding interest in the title character
Don't see it if you hope to see a coherent rendering of an interesting man
See it if You enjoy biographies done imaginatively and if you like to see possible reasons for writers to write.
Don't see it if You do not like puppets or serious works.
See it if You like Britten and Purcell music You want to know more about him but only a little more
Don't see it if Don’t take children! Very pretentious “High art” Puppets were distracting and confusing l
See it if You are interested in the life of Hans Christian Andersen and enjoy live piano music as well as some puppetry.
Don't see it if You don't enjoy mixed media of acting, puppetry and live music or if you don't enjoy a tragedy.
See it if If you wish to learn more about Hans, very good musicians
Don't see it if Did not like the puppets, did not like the the structure of the play, slow
See it if you might like a whimsical glimpse rather than a comprehensive chronicle about the emotional formation of a literary icon.
Don't see it if you are unhappy with incompleteness, non-linear and non-narrative storytelling, or oddball puppetry.
Also If you don't come looking for the ultimate origin story of HCA and if ... Read more Read less
See it if the puppetry is interesting, but overly long and slow
Don't see it if too long and slow and very confusing and definitely not for children
See it if interesting puppet work but not enough to warrant the 2 hours
Don't see it if You can’t contain yourself for 2 hours . 90 minutes would have been enough
See it if Unless it's raining outside and you have nowhere else to hide, don't waste your money
Don't see it if The orchestra and music were superb, but too high in caliber for the elementary and boring script. Worst live theater show I have EVER seen.
See it if Saw it yesterday. Very unique show. Incorporates actors, some singing, puppetry,small orchestra that includes TWO GRAND PIANOS.
Don't see it if You hate puppets. Those were adorale!
Also It was difficult to make up the words of the songs. But there only a f... Read more Read less
See it if you want a review of Andersen's life, mostly troubled, that led to his exploration of the arts and resulted in his tales, some shown here.
Don't see it if you expect a review of Andersen's works-only a few are given some show here. The excellent live music and okay puppetry have a difficult fit
See it if Puppetry introduced to this ongoing chambre music canon.Lamenting his rejection, Hans births dark kids' tales. Opera in English.Grand pianos
Don't see it if Series always provides an abundance of riches and can be uneven trying to throw all forms of high art into the mix. Can't top their Van Gogh
Also "The world is not as your mother says, but what the neighbours say."
See it if You enjoy 19th century music. You have some familiarity w/HCA. You want a concert with dialogue. You like puppetry.
Don't see it if You're expecting a biography of HCA. You prefer dialogue-centric storytelling: most is through music & puppetry. You prefer modern music.
See it if you wish to see a very creative telling of Andersen's life and look at his fairy tales in a different way. Great use of music and puppets.
Don't see it if you don't like classical music especially 20th century, countertenors, or if you only like a straightforward play.
Also Puppets are used but in a dark way to portray his life and his tales. ... Read more Read less
See it if You want to learn a little about HCA's life. You enjoy great music with interesting puppetry. You like eclectic shows
Don't see it if You want a streamline production that has an understandable beginning, middle, and end. This feels like blurry polaroid snapshots.
See it if go 4 musicianship, tolerate puppets & depressive storytelling, like H.C.Andersen, 2 support Ensemble 4 Romantic Century, like experiments
Don't see it if no love of classical music, dislike hybrid forms, poorly formed puppetry, gay subtext & front-text, trying to figure out the mimed sequences
Also Musicianship is their forte, storytelling is their not so forte
See it if you are VERY familiar with all of Hans Christian Anderson's stories or just very interested in very experimental theater.
Don't see it if you don't want to see a relatively disjointed production(exposition, puppetry, opera, classical music)that only peripherally work together.
Also I'm not sure how the opera and classical music actually fit the story.... Read more Read less
See it if I loved the idea of the show, was confused by the totality. I love Anderson's stories. You have to know them to get some of them here.
Don't see it if A show of many parts:acting, music, singing, puppetry, storytelling. Too many parts, not all of equal quality and not all well put together
Also I saw the first preview. Great elements need pruning and refining.... Read more Read less
See it if You are interested in terrific music, interesting staging, & the story of HCA's life. But the beautiful elements don't mesh perfectly yet.
Don't see it if You're planning a family outing-this isn't aimed at kids, despite the clever puppetry. Read notes in the playbill for better comprehension.