In the Green NYC Reviews and Tickets

71%

(89 Reviews)

Positive

67%

Mixed

27%

Negative

Members say

Great singing, Ambitious, Confusing, Absorbing, Slow

About the Show

Lincoln Center's world premiere musical offers the origin story of one of medieval history's most powerful and creative women: Hildegard von Bingen.

Before she became a healer, a composer, an exorcist, and finally a saint, she was a little girl locked in a cell with her mentor, Jutta. "In the Green" is the tale of two women and the journey that leads one to embrace death, and the other to celebrate the beauty and blemishes of a fully lived life.

Member Reviews (89)

Wonderful, Weird, Wacky, Wild

See it if you like experimental musicals. Glorious, all-female voices. Storytelling is confusing, but raises women issues then & now. Untradl staging.

Don't see it if you want a fully coherent story. Read program note before. Innovative approach to biography. Dark material, but some light songs. Stick w/it

Introspective, Weird, Exquisite, Unusual rhythms and harmonies, Great singing

See it if Sublime collage of medieval and modern musical elements sung by 3 Hilde's and 2 Jutta's w/band. Feminist story is more fiction than bio.

Don't see it if You won't enjoy a strange, mystical musical experience. The story had its high points but left me deflated. Terrible ending.

Quirky, Based on a strange biography, Interesting use of puppets, Thought-provoking, Great singing

See it if opera like theatricals with intricate layered music intrigues you. The remarkable life of the woman on whom it is based is worth knowing.

Don't see it if you have a low threshold for unfamiliar situations.

Gravely dull, Original, Ambitious, Great singing, Earnest

See it if u want to see a visually effective, vocally stunning, but ultimately tedious, bio-musical of Christian mystic/composer Hildegarde of Binge.

Don't see it if you aren't interested in Medieval liturgical-inspired music; you hope for a fully coherent retelling of Hilde's uniquely cloistered life. Read more

Lovely, Thoughtful, Inventive, Glorious, Unexpected

See it if you are interested in innovative musical theater or questions of belief, obedience to a code or how best to live in a fallen world.

Don't see it if you prefer your musicals to conform to the tradition: this one trespasses in its music, book & staging. Read more

Avant-garde, Intelligent, Great singing, Great acting, Ambitious

See it if Lady sesh. Powerfully-sung 12th century feminist tract of spiritual individuation. Girl cave-bound with mentor seeking perfected growth.

Don't see it if Feminist self-affirmations with glottal stops.Required belief that women are free to be & a real love of theatre.Mentor and charge in parts. Read more

Disappointing, Excruciating, Ambitious, Great music, Great singing

See it if You enjoy avant-garde, innovative music theater with non-linear storytelling & unique music sung beautifully.

Don't see it if You’re interested in learning about the show’s subject - the book is seriously lacking. I phased out for 40 minutes & didn’t miss anything.

Entertaining, Absorbing, Great acting, Great singing

See it if The early year when she is locked away, and very little after her release. Great music, and large part chanting.

Don't see it if Not your typical musical theater. Not happy story. Read more

Critic Reviews (9)

"For audacity and opacity it’s hard to top 'In the Green'...Unless you’re already acquainted with the masterworks of Hildegard, you’re unlikely to appreciate Ms. McLean’s splintering riffs on the original. The entire production is steeped in a mixture of archness and earnestness that prohibits emotional engagement and easy listening...Give credit, though, to the bold musical experimentation going on here, generated by an ace team."
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"In its gracelessly blunt lyrics and its gimmicky concepts...the show wears its subtext on its long medieval sleeves. But the music is heavenly...The tunes soar even as the story stays earthbound. Director Lee Sunday Evans can't liven up the inaction...An abrupt and seemingly tacked-on ending briefly shows Hildegard's post-Jutta existence and hints that 'In the Green' needed more time to ripen...However, McLean’s promise shines through this fascinating if flawed experiment."
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"Under the elegant, just-playful-enough direction of Lee Sunday Evans, In the Green tells a speculative version of the extraordinary story of Hildegard von Bingen...If 'In the Green' doesn’t always thread the needle with its narrative, it makes up for it with its score. Medieval Christian mysticism was amazingly physical — and McLean creates a musical texture for Hildegard’s story that flows straight from the body."
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"Grace McLean's innovative new musical tells the story of Hildegard von Bingen's formative years."
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"Chamber musicals don't get much more chamber than composer/lyricist/bookwriter Grace McLean's In the Green, an intriguing new piece receiving its premiere at LCT3's Claire Tow Theater."
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"Abstract, though not so much that you can't follow the plot, 'In the Green' is a fascinating work...For a new and experimental work like this, there are really only a couple of bumps along the way...'In the Green' works best when the players are confined to their cell. And musically, this is a score I hope will be recorded so that I can listen to it over again."
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