Red Roses, Green Gold NYC Reviews and Tickets

“The good news is that the songs, which lean heavily on a classic Americana sound, are effective in a sit-down, smoke-free theatrical context...Unfortunately, Mr. Mann has shoehorned them into a cartoonishly corny story...The zany mood is furthered by Rachel Klein’s bouncy staging...As manic as the goings-on are, they cannot entirely detract from the music...The songs are drenched in folk, country and blues, and rendered quite well by the multitasking cast, which plays all the instruments.”
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"The featherweight endeavor crams some two dozen beloved Dead songs into a flimsy narrative that wouldn't sustain an animatronic theme-park attraction. The book must have been written under the influence of the band's favorite illicit substances...The sketchy storyline mainly provides an excuse for the actor/musicians to deliver the numbers...The renditions here leave much to be desired. Many are delivered in a frantic, over-amplified style that robs them of their charm."
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"A very good Dead cover band takes a tour of the band’s hits...Sorry to say, the good music comes wrapped in decidedly un-good nonsense...On the plus side, Kovach has used the space well, with an open, colorful setting...Chimenti’s arrangements do justice to the catalog of songs...'Red Roses, Green Gold' isn’t so much a long strange trip as it is a brief tumble into cozy, pain-free nostalgia."
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“’Most enjoyable when Klein makes the show into a good old-fashioned rock concert...When the story doesn't intrude, the show and its performers deliver genuine excitement...Whether it's worth wading through a drawn-out plot to get to those performances will depend on how invested you are in the music...Those looking for an entertaining story to go with the music may want to ‘turn around and leave and walk away.’”
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"Is it possible to make an entertaining jukebox musical out of the songs of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter? Not under these circumstances...One of the most glaringly incompetent musical books in recent times...The performers, all of whom are gifted musicians, do their best, but all night long they must fight the noise made by the projectors...Thus, an already flat, convoluted script is made even less compelling...Garcia, Hunter, and the others at least deserve something better than this."
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"It’s terrifically performed and snappily presented but lasting close to two and half hours including an intermission and with encores, the tired plot makes it less then enthralling...Though it’s wonderful experiencing such spirited renditions of Grateful Dead classics by the talented ensemble, 'Red Roses, Green Gold' doesn’t really cohere into a satisfying work of musical theater."
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"You might well be pleased by its tunefulness, but you’ll also have a fair amount of trouble deciphering the lyrics, which makes it doubly hard to understand how they fit into the silly plot...It often can’t decide whether it just wants to be a cover band concert or an actual musical, a problem Rachel Klein’s rather uninspired direction does little to solve...You might have a perfectly good time at 'Red Roses, Green Gold,' even if it’s less a diamond in the rough and more fool’s gold."
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"There is little pretense for the songs to connect meaningfully to the text or to defining any of the corn-ball characters such as they are. However, this raucous showcase gives its multi-talented cast of eight every opportunity to keep the ridiculous plot going...I doubt if the fans will care how well the songs are integrated into the farcical fable."
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“’Red Roses Green Gold’ has all the beauty marks and all the scars of a jukebox musical. There are wonderful songs...The music is admirably performed, not by a tribute band, but by a diverse ensemble of eight actor/musicians (five men and three women) who bring their own interpretations to the material...And a storyline so poorly conceived and executed that it almost ruins the fun...Fortunately, these folks can sing and strum a mean streak.”
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"It’s about a family from a few decades before the rock advent that plays Grateful Dead classics and thereby stays together...A good deal of fun for the Deadheads in the audience, of course, but others not so caught up in the country-rock band’s mighty thrall will also be entertained. Since the venerated originals don’t do much these many years on, here’s a more than acceptable fun substitute.”
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"The familiar songs that drive the plot have been reworked with new arrangements that capture the genuine folk spirit of old-time Americana...All eight actors play an astonishing array of electric and acoustic instruments, bring full-out emotion to the songs, and deliver spot-on harmonies...Klein keeps the story flowing and the characters moving with high-energy direction and choreography...An entertaining reimagining of the nostalgic and transportive music of the Grateful Dead."
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"Despite a clunky book, it makes for a lively hoedown-cum-quasi-rock concert kind of show...The infectious twang of the music and the talents of the eight-person cast, who are in effect the band as well, give the show an energy that can be appreciated by more general audiences...While they can’t lend the goings-on much credibility, the general affability of the cast makes it tolerable, and once the music begins again, all is forgotten and forgiven."
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"All of this is somewhat confusing. But it does allow the versatile cast to burst into song many, many times. There’s rock, country, folk, blues, and a few ballads that are tuneful and moving. All of them will be recognized by Deadheads and appreciated by others..The rustic set sits uneasily with the psychedelic lighting. And the costumes often leave the audience wondering where and when all these shenanigans are taking place. But the antic antic action and its accompanying music never stop."
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