Party People NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (71)
See it if you want to learn more about Black Panthers & Puerto Rican groups in late 60's set as a musical, minority politics & compelling songs
Don't see it if setting the Black Panther story to music discomforts you, you'd like genuine character development, don't like too many visual distractions
See it if you have a pulse. Just go and let it inspire you and frustrate you and make you think and galvanize you.
Don't see it if you want to pretend the world we live in is 100% wonderful.
See it if you are interested in the politics of the sixties and seventies, most specifically, the evolution of the Black Panthers and Young Lords.
Don't see it if you want a coherent play from start to finish; more story in a more concise presentation; a more involving first act; good editing.
See it if you are interested in the Black Panthers and Young Lords of the 1960's and how they are relevant to today's politics. Inventive staging!!
Don't see it if you are not interested in historical pieces. Also, if you need all questions answered that are raised in this production.
See it if I don't really have anything good to say. I left at intermission. The story was banal and unmotivated. The songs were astoundingly bad.
Don't see it if The acting wasn't awful but the plot was...plotless. The one hard hitting moment missed its mark for me buried between bad dance and music.
See it if enjoy a piece that ties together the minority political experiences from 50yrs ago to today. It's a meaningful connection.
Don't see it if creative historical-contemporary theater using multi-media, song, dance and angst isn't your thing Read more
See it if See if you are interested in the history of the Black Panthers and Young Lords from the 1960s on.
Don't see it if feel uncomfortable with a new form of play which centers on race relations.
See it if you like an interesting Political Topic seen from multiple points of view. Great coverage of the Black Panther Movement.
Don't see it if you don't like distracting live cameras with multiple screens at the theatre. Aren't a fan of historical pseudo- documentary / Art pieces.
Critic Reviews (27)
"In the current political climate, it may be the most frightening and exciting piece of theater now up...'Party People' derives its language, vibrant and volatile, from actual interviews. Yet the storytelling is less than cohesive...It is too long, too unfocused and perhaps too democratic...Yet in a room full of people distraught and enraged by the election of Trump, 'Party People' felt heartbreakingly timely and intensely necessary."
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“A wildly ambitious and overstuffed homage to grassroots activism and in-fighting among the Black Panthers and the Young Lords…’Party People’ is nothing if not kinesthetically engaged…The piece is a researched yet original blend of docu-musical, family comedy, live video and hip-hop, defiantly unstable and sprawling...As it is, 'Party People' is a galvanizing education for the young (or ignorant) and a provocation to everyone to take sides."
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“Two young men are introduced in the process of putting together an evening of performance art to explore the ways in which the activism of their forebears might be carried out in the present. This apparently includes gassy monologues, overacting, and a mortifying clown show…However much this history needs to be explored, merely relating facts and demonstrating atrocities does very little to elucidate the matter. Brutality comes to seem not just the cause of action but a motive in itself."
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"Nonstop music, movement, and energy undergirded by scant thematic substance…As Primo, Ruiz portrays the most insufferable theatrical creation in recent memory…It all feels incredibly exploitative with very little redeeming value…Liesl Tommy delivers a production that does little to clarify the haphazard script and regularly skimps on the basics of efficient direction…This is unfortunate since this tireless cast seems more than game for any physical challenge thrown their way."
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"Millicent Johnnie's choreography imitates the rebellious demands for freedom that these demonstrators took to the streets, backed by a lively musical score of Latin, funk and soul...After an election that has left many feeling that their rights and physical well-beings are in danger (yes, there is a mention of our president-elect) 'Party People' is enormously relevant, as Americans keep finding new ways to band together to express their outrage and work for change."
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"This is rich, rich material and the biggest problem with 'Party People' is that it tries to mine the entire lode, raising fascinating questions but never exploring them in enough detail...'Party People' runs about two and a half hours, but that isn't nearly enough time to deal with the teeming cast of characters or to consider the complex, troubling issues that it raises...If 'Party People' is something of a mess, it's a lively, provocative one - riveting and irritating in equal measure."
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"Something of a mess, with so much on its mind that it ends up not saying much of anything at all…None of it, though, makes following the myriad plot threads any easier; there are just too many for any of them to receive the necessary amount of development time, especially given the raft of musical numbers applied on top...It also does not help that only a few of the performers, who are all skilled, are charismatic enough to jolt you into the realm of caring.”
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“At times, ‘Party People’ is confusing as it tends to blur time and place so that it is not always clear what is happening in the present and what happened in the past. The show also has several false endings before the real one which is hauntingly moving. ‘Party People’ which is too long and could use a bit of tweaking is nevertheless a powerful, inventive investigation into a history and an era which has almost been forgotten in a time when many of the same issues are still being fought.”
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