Out of the Mouths of Babes
Closed 2h 0m
Out of the Mouths of Babes
82

Out of the Mouths of Babes NYC Reviews and Tickets

82%
(61 Ratings)
Positive
89%
Mixed
11%
Negative
0%
Members say
Funny, Great acting, Entertaining, Clever, Delightful

About the Show

Cherry Lane Theatre presents the world premiere of Israel Horovitz's comedy about four women and the 100-year-old man who loved them. Starring Judith Ivey and Estelle Parsons.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (61)

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302 Reviews | 87 Followers
100
Clever, Funny, Great acting, Great staging, Great singing

See it if You are an intelligent, sophisticated Baby Boomer enjoying fresh views of relationships between women and men and other women

Don't see it if You are very young, unintelligent or do not have a strong command of English to appreciate comedic nuance and double entendre

470 Reviews | 114 Followers
99
Delightful, Enchanting, Entertaining, Hilarious

See it if You love great acting by powerhouse actresses, a funny sitcom plot, and laugh-out loud scenarios.

Don't see it if You're looking for something serious or if you don't like to laugh.

69 Reviews | 36 Followers
90
Entertaining, Funny, Delightful, Great acting, Hilarious

See it if You're looking for something funny, quick-witted, or like any of the leads.

Don't see it if You're looking for something big and showy. It's a funny play though, with a great cast.

156 Reviews | 204 Followers
90
Clever, Delightful, Entertaining, Hilarious, Funny

See it if you like to laugh; you like good older actresses (parsons, ivey); you like situation comedy; you like good old fashioned funny writing

Don't see it if you don't like silly stories; don't like situation comedy; don't enjoy laughing.

442 Reviews | 127 Followers
88
Delightful, Entertaining, Funny, Great writing, Great acting

See it if you enjoy comedy that is a bit over-the-top, acerbic old ladies, good acting, amusing plot; and, of course, Estelle Parsons and Judith Ivey!

Don't see it if you are very young and can't appreciate what it means to have lived a long and interesting life; no other reason to not see it.

62 Reviews | 30 Followers
87
Entertaining, amusing, literate, great cast

See it if You have a sense or humor and don't want to miss theater pros Estelle Parsons and Dana Ivey eat up the stage. Great comedy.

Don't see it if You only like to see millenials perform or you only like dramas.

112 Reviews | 56 Followers
86
Thought-provoking, Funny, Great acting, Intelligent

See it if If you want to see a talented well seasoned cast dealing with the complexities of human relationships. Ms. Parsons is terrific!

Don't see it if You don't want to even think about anyone's sexuality in old age.

240 Reviews | 68 Followers
85
Edgy, Quirky, Refreshing, Funny, Original

See it if You want to see comedic actresses at the top of their game, you enjoy gallows humor, you don't mind adult language/references.

Don't see it if You can't find the thought of suicide funny under any circumstance, you don't want to exert effort to understand an overdone French accent.

Critic Reviews (25)

The New York Times
June 19th, 2016

"An improbable and eventually even fantastical comedy, enlivened by an excellent cast…Mr. Horovitz has written more than 70 plays…'Out of the Mouths of Babes' is not among the most substantial, though it offers roles that snugly fit all four actors…Although the acting keeps things lively, and the growing camaraderie of the women suffuses the stage with a mild congeniality, 'Out of the Mouths of Babes' lacks dramatic drive and has only an intermittent comic bite."
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Time Out New York
June 21st, 2016

"A lightweight comedy about seriously dark subjects...Tales of multiple suicides (and some hilarious attempts), deep depression and overlapping adultery abound…and then the late lover boy’s final wife shows up, and things really get complicated. But that’s also, unfortunately, when the dramatic fizz goes flat...Parsons and Ivey's spiky, sharp-tongued characters are tremendous gifts. Too bad they’re stuck in a sloppy, sitcom-level story that most certainly doesn’t pass the Bechdel test."
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New York Daily News
June 19th, 2016

"Windows in Patel’s fine set play a key role in getting laughs. So do the ace actresses Parsons, who’s delightfully nasty as Evelyn, and Ivey, who makes the most of Evvie, who’s got a bottomless appetite for married men. Fiordellisi and Choy-Kee are less successful mining humor, but that owes more to an uneven script...Kelman directs with broad strokes. At times it works, but on other occasions what comes out of these mouths is noisy and artificial."
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The Hollywood Reporter
June 19th, 2016

"Pure theatrical sitcom, albeit an amusing one. The play is also very well performed, no surprise considering that its cast includes two of our finest stage actresses, Estelle Parsons and Judith Ivey…It's all as supremely silly as it sounds, but under the expert direction of Barnet Kellman the play generates plenty of laughs. It's the sort of farce that decades ago would have enjoyed a nice Broadway run...Now it feels like summer stock in the heart of the city."
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The Observer
June 23rd, 2016

"There are two hardy reasons to shuffle to see 'Out of the Mouths of Babes.' One is the four accomplished actresses. The other is the playwright himself, who still knows how to write a solid comic line that works...The actresses work as an ensemble, playing off each other with skill, and director Barnet Kellman moves them around like chess pieces...It’s a delightful recipe for fluff, bordering on farce and as easy to take as seven-minute frosting."
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Lighting & Sound America
June 21st, 2016

"The kind of 'naughty' boulevard comedy that, in the 1960s, would have closed on Broadway after two weeks, 'Out of the Mouths of Babes' is lucky to be in such overqualified hands. The director, Barnet Kellman, brings his extensive resume in television comedy to give the production a polish it doesn't really deserve…A pretty trashy play...If it hardly represents the best use of their time, I suspect it will be a guilty pleasure for fans of Ivey and Parsons."
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TheaterScene.net
July 7th, 2016

“A stale, overdone and mildly amusing comedy...Mr. Horovitz does have a command of playwriting and affection for his characters, but even with these attributes it all often becomes tedious when used on such a tired scenario...Director Kellman brings his considerable expertise to this production…‘Mouths’ is essentially hollow and inconsequential but due to the professionalism of all those involved it does have a minimum of entertainment value.”
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CurtainUp
June 20th, 2016

“While the situation escalates amusingly and the dialogue and performances are consistently good throughout the two hours, what happens between the intriguing first and last scene isn't a play truly worthy of these stellar thespians. There's too much reliance on over-the-top shtick...Director Barnet Kelman expertly keeps the laughs coming...The play's assets notwithstanding, some plot details come off as either irrelevent or too shamelessly over the top."
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