Kid Victory NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (175)
See it if you are interested in what happens to a person after he is abducted.
Don't see it if you don't like scary, dark shows. Read more
See it if Looking beyond the conventional. Support ambitious young theater, created by a BWay legend,
Don't see it if Offended easily. Looking for the best of Kander - trademarks are there, but not as polished.
See it if you enjoy edgier musicals with darker themes
Don't see it if you are disturbed by the idea of a musical exploring repression, religion etc in a small town
See it if you enjoy darker musicals, want to see some strong performances from a solid cast.
Don't see it if you want to see a show with a well developed plot. Get frustrated with plot holes or scenarios that may be highly unlikely. Read more
See it if Kander & Pierce's brave attempt to musicalize sexual predator story engrosses despite weak score & book Actors work hard to flesh out roles
Don't see it if Despite chamber quality, more complexity needed to sustain story but Tommy's staging grounds work & Flynn and Denham are exceptionally good
See it if You are in the mood for a short Kander and Pierce musical of a coming of age story with a dark twist.
Don't see it if You are bothered by an empty nest story where the fledgling doesn't fly in th direction you imagined.
See it if you enjoy theatre that challenges you to think about some of the most compelling issues of the day, you enjoy the work of Kander and Pierce
Don't see it if you're looking for a traditional musical with a linear story, you're uncomfortable with issues of Christian fundamentalism or homosexuality.
See it if You appreciate a blend of music and great acting in an unexpected context.
Don't see it if You don't like feeling uncomfortable in the theater and your idea of a great musical is Phantom.
Critic Reviews (37)
"'Kid Victory' is not easy to watch. That’s not always a bad thing, but it makes for an uneven exploration of difficult subject matter that hits more dissonant chords than likely intended...Flynn...is tasked with carrying the emotional weight of 'Kid Victory'...It’s a sweet and vulnerable performance...Kander’s score has a few melodic highlights...Director Liesl Tommy does little to bring cohesion to 'Kid Victory,' which suffers from an identity crisis that rivals its lead character."
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"The work of 89-year-old John Kander...and Greg Pierce....dives into the dark waters of a teenager's sexual enslavement; the results, though, may not be as deep as the subject warrants...Despite its imaginative staging...the piece never fully coheres. It veers from being predominantly musical, with the dialogue in recitative mode, to long passages, especially one toward the end, without any music at all."
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"'To the west of pain is a paradise.' It is an intriguing, provocative suggestion that may make theatergoers squirm, but it also invests the musical with an unusual compassion and psychological insight. 'Kid Victory' is aided by a universally impressive nine-member cast that director Liesl Tommy has assembled...Kander employs his arsenal of blues and hymns, ballads and dirges to tell a story that might work without any music, but stays with you all the more because of it."
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"Little about the show’s psychology feels likely or lived in, which makes it difficult to access the work emotionally, despite some simple, lovely melodies from Kander and their mournful, reed-heavy orchestrations...The director, Liesl Tommy, and the scenic designer, Clint Ramos, make one terrific choice, setting the whole of the show in Michael’s basement, suggesting that Luke’s escape is incomplete. But Tommy encourages most of the actors to exaggerate their assigned traits."
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"The cast is first-rate...Brandon Flynn is a star and we totally follow him as he breaks our hearts with his disconnect...Kander’s score is hauntingly beautiful. The lyrics and the emotionality of this score capture this journey and it is like dropping down a rabbit hole. There are pieces of Mr. Pierce’s and Mr. Kander’s story that needed more...This show is not for everybody, but it is well done, speaks to issues that society would like to bury underneath a rug and does so with respect."
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"Kander, Pierce, and director Liesl Tommy are superb when they keep things simple...Kander is famous for giving his musicals a showbiz structure, but the razzle-dazzle here jars...Luke never sings in 'Kid Victory.' Are Pierce and Kander saying that his problems are beyond the limits of music? Or are they not up to the task? Less can be more, but with a subject this painfully big, you have to deliver more."
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"To my surprise, I liked Greg Pierce’s book far more than John Kander’s music. In general, I did not think the music either heightened emotions or advanced the plot...The cast is uniformly strong and the story is consistently interesting. Liesl Tommy’s direction is mostly assured, but occasionally leaves characters doing nothing for long periods. I admire Kander and Pierce for taking on such a difficult subject, but am not sure that musicalizing it was the best approach."
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“It isn't clear why the collaborators have decided to tell this tale or what they want it to say...The music is similarly ambiguous, failing to settle on a sound that captures the emotional experience of this show…Some of the new melodies are lovely...And Pierce's lyrics are fine, some of them quite clever. But none of it really commands the ear or lingers there…Still, the acting is strong and it's particularly nice to see such stage vets as Ziemba and Denman get a chance to shine once again.”
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