Hans Christian Andersen: Tales Real & Imagined

See it if you Like creative work including puppetry, sensitive portrayal of the writer Hans Christian Anderson

Don't see it if You don’t like puppets, classical music, and aren’t interested in Hans Christian Anderson

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. This is not for children. First act needs some tightening but second act very good. This show is not for everyone. I really like this company's shows and their use of live classical performers, instrumental and vocal as well as puppets. There was no use of dance and very little video in this play unlike others in the past. There was some Purcell but mostly 20th century classical music used. Really indepth look into a person's life. Read the notes in the playbill before the show starts since they are very informative of the music, composers and life of the character.... Read more Read less

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 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.

Pianists-wonderful
Puppets-many too small
Puppeteers-need more training
Puppeteers-need better costumes
Singing-was it in English?
Stories-not always clear... Read more Read less

See it if You like Hans Christian Andersen. You like classical romantic theatre, history, 2 grand pianos, puppetry and storytelling. New works.

Don't see it if You don’t like any of the above. It’s got way too much too tell in 2 hrs so it got confusing. You don’t have patience or imagination.

Also Do stay for the 2nd act. It’s much more beautiful than the first act. It needs to be shortened. The acting is good. The music beautiful. The countertenor divine.- according to the playbill there are two alternating- I don’t know who I saw. Oh wait- I found the insert- it was Daniel Moody. The music was glorious and unexpected. 16 musical pieces and 2 pianos.
The audience would benefit from reading the lengthy notes prior to seeing the performance.
I’m glad I saw it however. I expected more recognizable HCA stories but his life story is compelling.... 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.

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 interested in Hans, his life, stories and struggles with great dueling pianos and music

Don't see it if You do not like puppets and want a traditional play

See it if you are interested to learn more about Hans Christian Andersen's life: great program notes which help understand music & acting on stage!

Don't see it if you don't like the music of Henry Purcell and countertenors or the music of Benjamin Britten. A LOT of it in here - very well performed!

See it if you like Hans Christian Anderson stories told in mixed media including puppetry.

Don't see it if you don't enjoy children's stories told in an unconventional style, puppetry or classical music

See it if you like multimedia plays including music, singing, and puppetry with a unique perspective.

Don't see it if you cannot appreciate an odd mix of creativity, despite being somewhat confusing.

See it if you ran out of seeing everything else. I wasn't a fan of this show, but my friend I took liked it. She enjoyed the uniqueness of the show.

Don't see it if don't know anything about Hans Christian Andersen. I knew the stories, but really wasn't interested in his life story. The music was good.

Also I went in excited to see something different. The stage setup looked interesting, they had 2 pianos, and a percussionist.. So was looking forward to some great music (Which was really good). The opera singing, I could do without.. was repetitive and annoying.
The main actor was good. He played multiple parts, but still the story was not interesting. The best part of the whole show was a little shock factor in the little mermaid portrayal, but other than that, I was bored. The Puppets we cool, but just wasn't enough to save the show.... Read more Read less

See it if you enjoy classical/instrumental numbers & tenor operatic singing. These are the redeeming aspects of an otherwise confusing narrative.

Don't see it if you don't like aforementioned musical style, puppetry or care for H.C.A. life story & his writings. But it's a delight to watch the tenor!

See it if You are interested in HCA and enjoy historical musical stories.

Don't see it if You are bored by too much meaningless action with puppets doing who knows what all the time and all over.

See it if You want to learn about Hans Christian Anderson's life accompanied by live music, singing and puppetry.

Don't see it if You are not prepared--read about Hans and listen to music by Henry Purcell and Benjamin Britten in preparation for show.

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 You have nothing better to do.

Don't see it if You loved ERC's Van Gogh show and expect something comparable--this isn't anywhere near that level.

See it if You are a fan of Hans Christian Andersen and are very familiar with his work - you may be interested in this unique depiction of his life.

Don't see it if You are not familiar with Hans Christian Andersen or do not enjoy puppetry or classical or operatic music.

Also This was a unique production with talented performers and wonderful musicians but it just doesn’t come together in an engaging way. A few people left during the intermission. There are several drawn out scenes featuring no dialogue, just music, or only puppets. The dialogue felt a little long and dramatic, and although there were sparks of cleverness, most of it felt like it was trying to be clever.

There are elements of a one-man show since the main actor plays multiple roles. The singing may be a little hard to understand for some (although the singer is talented) and if you are not familiar with Andersen’s stories, you will likely be confused by what is going on with the puppets.

The general mood was one of angst (not dissimilar to his stories) so although there are puppets, I wouldn’t recommend this for children.

Overall, a good effort and I did enjoy learning more about Hans Christian Andersen but, unfortunately, it felt a bit tedious.... Read more Read less

See it if want to read absorbing program notes about HC Andersen's life. You'll need to, because what's onstage is disjointed and very hard to follow.

Don't see it if are expecting the music to enrich the proceedings. It mainly gets in the way, and curiously isn't even from the era in which Andersen lived

See it if Like puppetry ;professional good music by various composers; 2 piano, differerent percussions; incredible "Musicology" notes in Playbill

Don't see it if Need a plot, want to understand songs,do not want to see Pappeteer on stage too often

Also wonderfull theatre, comfy sits, the best ushers ever, intelligent and super respectful.
Good misicians; no need for actor, who is "Andersen", he is no good, overacting... Read more Read less

See it if you have some urge to know a little about Hans C. A.

Don't see it if you get board seeing letters flying through the air and small puppets doing things that don't make sense.

See it if you want to hear some well performed music and see some good puppetry with a narrative of how HCA's life informed his stories

Don't see it if you mind the narrative being unclear at times and it not being clear how various element are connecting. The opposite of an integrated play.

Also This is a multi-media play, at times all the medium's work but together its a bit of a mess. I think the relationship between Hans and Edvard just isn't that compelling. There isn't really a great arc there. Hans wants something more from it, but not clear what, and Edvard maintains a distance likely due to his being straight and unsure what Hans wants. Some of the puppetry worked but at times it wasn't clear why they were or were not there and what the almost ballet like segments were saying. While there is nothing at all offensive or concerning here I will note most people with children seemed to leave during intermission (I don't know that I've been to a play that had a bigger crowd loss) as the play is just too conceptual for kids.... Read more Read less

See it if Like piano music played well and have patience for the rest of a poorly created entertainment piece.

Don't see it if You wish to spend your time better. Puppetry awful. Script poor.