Out of the Mouths of Babes NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (61)
See it if you want to laugh, see great actresses, a fun night out
Don't see it if you don't have a sense of humor
See it if You want to see a fun summer show with very good acting by all four women.
Don't see it if You want to see more traditional fare.
See it if Are a fan of the one and only Estelle Parsons!
Don't see it if Are unwilling to go in a fun, lightweight ride.
See it if You want to see 4 perfectly-cast women go head to head in a well-written comedy.
Don't see it if You're looking for anything serious or lasting. Also, avoid sitting in the very back of the theatre. It felt miles away.
See it if enjoy laughing at others' mistakes; well written, well acted plays performed primarily by talented elderly women; funny, emotional dramedies
Don't see it if you're concerned about aging, infidelity, suicide, May-Dec romances, and cunnilingus or, as the man is described, "he's very cunnilingual"
See it if You like some comedies.
Don't see it if You expect the play to be really very funny.
See it if you're a fan of legendary stage actors like Estelle Parsons and Judith Ivey, and you're ready to laugh at absurd, over-the-top situations.
Don't see it if you prefer your humor more grounded in reality.
See it if You like plays that are on the smaller size and want to laugh.
Don't see it if Plays that deal with cheating and suicide upset you. The start of the play is a bit slow but it picks up.
Critic Reviews (25)
“Playwright Israel Horovitz writes old-school humor with veteran flair. He also 'gets' women, describing our fears, illusions, and age-explicit hopes with warmth and insight, eschewing rose-colored glasses...Director Barnett Kellman has an eye for comedy that extends from realism to shtick. His cast uses the stage with variety, specificity and finesse. Timing is wonderful...In the capable hands of Estelle Parsons and Judith Ivey every pause, look and gesture lands on target.”
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"There isn't much of a story line...The play is chock-full of one-liners so determined to elicit laughs that you can almost hear the rim shot in the background as they're spoken. But no matter. The lines are funny and, under Barnet Kellman's affable direction, the women deliver them with pizzazz...'Out of the Mouths of Babes' is silly and misogynistic, and it doesn't even pretend to offer any deep truths about life, love or anything else. But I still dare you not to have a good time."
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"In between the rollicking laughter, surprising plot twists, and intricate, humanly drawn characterizations, Horovitz includes pithy truisms about life and love. The play infuses an accumulated wisdom of the ages about women’s need for men and men’s even greater attraction and compulsion for women…Incisively paced and directed with specificity by Barnet Kellman, 'Out of the Mouths of Babes' sports an intriguing scenario…This is wicked fun."
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"Estelle Parsons, Judith Ivey and Angelina Fiordellisi play the dead man’s earlier consorts with a sure comic touch...Horovitz’s dialogue can actually be pretty funny, in an undergraduate way, particularly when he heads on to smuttier terrain. Under Barnet Kellman’s usually fluid direction, his play is a slight but well-executed romp, as if Alan Ayckbourn decided to take the old Renault for a spin after a long lunch."
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“Israel Horovitz has written that rare comedy that is genuinely funny, outlandish in reality but plausible for the theatre. Granted, there are some lines that misfire, but as a whole it is thoroughly emotive, entertaining, and enjoyable...A screwball comedy that also has its zany moments, with some delightful acting from this all-female ensemble...Barnet Kellman, the director, is no stranger to comedy...His direction here is compact and fast-paced.”
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"Hilarity ensues with the introduction of each woman to the equation. Generational differences are discussed, analyzed, bitched about and thrown against the walls to see what will stick...Hilarious and entertaining! These women will make you laugh about being loved, jilted, and replaced. If only we could meet the dead guy - who remains unnamed in the script!"
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"Witty lines receive witty deliveries (and earned audience responses from the skilled actresses), but the characters make little sense. The dialogue and tone of interaction becomes cloying when the purportedly intelligent women snipe at one another rather than unpack their similarities...After spending two hours with these characters and this set, I wanted to move into the apartment but I knew the characters no better than when they first entered."
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"'Out of the Mouths of Babes,' a fun new situational comedy by Horovitz, explores both the light and dark sides of life...Death can provide a microscope for the living to look at their lives in the present. Although at first they are cynical and even antagonistic toward one another, the women develop a rapport...A topic can be made funny by the right ratio of drama to comedy. Under Barnet Kellman’s direction, the balance is perfect."
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