Loveless Texas

See it if you enjoy musicals, especially country music. There is a wealth of new music here, mostly well sung and acted with interesting staging.

Don't see it if you expect a refined production. It runs long with the song lyrics repeated and a band that sometimes is a bit too loud.

See it if You enjoy community theater and an energetic young cast who tries their best.

Don't see it if Poorly acted, poorly sung, confusing plot, lifeless and plodding musical. Way too long. Needs over one hour of cuts.

See it if you like good community theater by an earnest cast with some decent singers. This is waaay too long and lacks nuance, but has some charm.

Don't see it if don't enjoy country, twangy show tunes, broad performances & poorly managed audio in a small space. There's lots of repetition. I got bored.

Also This never engaged me, but their hearts were in the right place.

Saw this at Sheen Center in mid-September 2017.... Read more Read less

See it if You like a LOT of melodrama. I wanted to like this so badly, it's a great concept and some of the songs are really good. But...

Don't see it if You want a good story. It is banal- boring, & even confusing. The acting is uneven and often over the top. It was frustrating to sit through

See it if you enjoy musicals featuring country western music, romantic plot, cute costumes, and cheerful actors.

Don't see it if you dislike any of the above; you can't stand uneven performances, bad sound tech, corny plots.

Also With some editing and more even performances, better sound engineer, this could be a really cute musical. Needs about 1/2 hour cut - less repetition of each song, a few dance lessons for several of the performers., and a more even sound. Music often overwhelmed the singing.... Read more Read less

See it if musical theatre adaptations of obscure Shakespeare are in your wheelhouse, talented cast sings the **** out of the score, attractive staging

Don't see it if musical adaptations of Shakespeare would not appeal to you, unedited material drags the show down, seems a distraction from the storyline

See it if you can enjoy a show that’s flawed but contrives fun & clever answers to the problems of adaptation

Don't see it if you prefer shows that are as close to perfect as possible; you dislike Shakespeare adaptations that don’t keep any of the quotable lines

Also I’m over-scoring this—LT’s far from perfect but full of good ideas. A seed of a really good musical here. The songs/duets/ensemble numbers are great (like showtunes w/ a country flavor). Boomerang knows how to make music an engine to drive a far-fetched comic plot. Well-conceived but rough execution: script packs too much exposition in a few breaths; actors sometimes flubbed lines; staging is ho hum.

Still, Love’s Labour’s Lost is a hard comedy since most of its jokes need footnotes explaining 16th century humor (seriously, Muscovites?). Major kudos to LT for adapting the most bewildering motives in Shakespeare to modern tastes. The prohibition era setting is kind of genius. The recharacterizations work well. I liked the characters’ backstories, the family relationships, the economic consequences of their actions. I was really rooting for these couples. LT needs retooling to appeal to a mass audience but I loved its counterpoints to the source play (which has never had mass appeal).... Read more Read less

See it if you like new musicals that need work but still make you smile, and a very strong cast, with a couple of exceptions. Needs cuts.

Don't see it if you have no patience with Shakespeare adaptations, don't like country and Cajun music, and are expecting polished sound tech.

Also For the most part this was a fun evening with a pleasant hard-working cast, but the plot is far too complicated (sorry, Will), and the two miscast May-December romances were just plain weird. About 1/3 of the songs can go, and the sound design needs serious work. If you can forgive all that, you'll see some strong appealing performances and hear some nice music.... Read more Read less

See it if To see young talents earning their chops. Pleasant Non-twangy country music. Slightly overstuffed but some good ideas.

Don't see it if You think small spaces require no body mikes. You don't want to be hammered by the unsubtle overly loud on stage band. Predictable plotting

Also A minor Shakespeare. Somehow I expected to hew a bit closer to Shakespearean flavor. But I smiled through this, overly long, deliberately cliched yet fresh take on Love's
Labours. The music was more interesting than several Broadway plays I have seen recently. I liked the text changes and updating to the depression era. The dance numbers took advantage of what space there was. The movement of furniture by the cast continues the unfortunate fourth wall breaking intrusion in an already overstuffed play and set. The acting and singing were mostly without nuance and color-- flat outright grinning and aw shucks intact. Yet in this particular production that actually worked.... Read more Read less

See it if A decent musical c&w adaptation of Love's Labours Lost with some fine talent but technical problems: too many songs, too much repetition &..

Don't see it if ...not enough development. Don't do routines if your actors can't dance! Still, a nice entertainment for a reasonable price.

See it if you appreciate great performances from a talented cast despite a plot that is hard to follow. Most of the songs are upbeat and lively.

Don't see it if you insist on a show that is fully polished and easy to understand.

See it if Want a light and fun and small production of a Shakespeare play updated as a musical. Make great use of the limited space.

Don't see it if Wish to see Shakespeare as a traditional play.

See it if You wanna see a fun, musical with great performances, country music and lotsa heart.

Don't see it if You want to see a musical with big production values. This ones tell the story in an intimate theatre

See it if you want to see a 2:40 hour fun musical in depression era Texas/Louisiana loosely based on Love's Labor Lost with great songs and acting.

Don't see it if you are not into long musicals that are silly, predictable but fun.

See it if you enjoy new musicals in a traditional format w/ a big cast of multitalented performers, many of them young & just starting out.

Don't see it if you prefer cutting edge theatre, don't like traditional musicals, & /or are expecting to see a musical version of "Love's Labour's Lost."

See it if A fun musical take on a Shakespeare play. Cutting 30- 45 minutes out of the draggy first act would help. The 2nd act is a delight.

Don't see it if Long first acts leave you with aching body parts

See it if you want a good old fashion musical with lots of singing and dancing where the guy gets the girl in the end, performed by a cast of merit.

Don't see it if you're looking for something modern, edgy or avant garde.

Also The amplification of the actors seemed unnecessary in a theater of this size, but they did need to be heard over the live music.... Read more Read less

See it if you love musicals - the singing was quite good .I especially liked the energy and singing of Joe Joseph who played Berowne.

Don't see it if are expecting a musical with an interesting plot - the story goes on for too long and is repetitive

Also The music mix was uneven throughout and often competed with those singing on stage; some of the singing seemed about the same thing - could use editing. Plot development was too slow. The first act was about 90 minutes - too long.

I saw this show at the Sheen Center in Sept 2017.... Read more Read less

See it if you want to see a entertaining and very moving musical based on a Shakespearean comedy set in Texas in 1929

Don't see it if you like short shows (it is 2 1/2 hours long), and don't see it if you hate country music or a complicated plot.

See it if YOu like musicals with great tunes and clever lyrics. You like Shakespeare's Love's Labors Lost.

Don't see it if You need something serious.

Also I would have rated the show much higher if I'd been able to understand the lyrics which seemed to be very clever when the band wasn't playing. There was something wrong with the sound balance and it was frustrating to miss all that cleverness. Having familiarity with the Shakespeare led to my getting the gist of the story but not to getting the details.... Read more Read less

See it if like shows loaded with pretty but not necessarily memorable songs and with and/or shows with lots of romance.

Don't see it if you don't like shows with too many songs or that are set in the old West.

See it if You enjoy fluffy musicals that root their stories in classic texts.

Don't see it if Are hoping for a story that is faithful to its root story. Also it is a long musical that could be trimmed.

See it if you like plays/musical based on Shakespeare comedies, toe-tapping country-western numbers, very talented actors/singers and a great band,

Don't see it if you do not like upbeat country-western songs, Shakespeare-based romantic comedies updated to the 20th century, and cutesy pairings at end.

See it if You don't have anything else to do.

Don't see it if You expect some good country or blue grass music and dancing.

See it if If u love musicals, great music, singing and staging.

Don't see it if U can't seat over 2 hours or need to see perfect choreography and dancing skills.