Ride the Cyclone
Closed 1h 40m
Ride the Cyclone
81

Ride the Cyclone NYC Reviews and Tickets

81%
(210 Ratings)
Positive
86%
Mixed
11%
Negative
3%
Members say
Quirky, Entertaining, Clever, Great singing, Funny

About the Show

MCC Theater presents the NYC premiere of this dark musical comedy about a group of teenagers whose trip to an amusement park takes a very surreal turn.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (210)

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219 Reviews | 88 Followers
100
Absorbing, Entertaining, Must see, Refreshing, Funny

See it if You're ok with an offbeat/dark view of things. You like a wide variety of musical styles. You want to see a fresh voice.

Don't see it if You are overly disturbed by death or macabre humor; otherwise it's just brilliant

100 Reviews | 25 Followers
100
Must see, Refreshing, Hilarious, Great writing, Great singing

See it if you enjoy dark, but humorous stories along with great dancing and singing.

Don't see it if you don't like stories revolving around young people/teenagers. Read more

111 Reviews | 18 Followers
95
Great acting, Relevant, Refreshing, Hilarious, Clever

See it if you want to see a wonderful piece of new theater with lots of new talent and a wonderfully hilarious and heart breaking storyline

Don't see it if N/A. Definitely see it if you can, it's absolutely remarkable.

290 Reviews | 92 Followers
95
Great writing, Great staging, Great singing, Must see, Thought-provoking

See it if You want a great night of theater with super performances by all and things to ponder after it's over.

Don't see it if If you want more conventional theater experiences.

180 Reviews | 39 Followers
95
Delightful, Entertaining, Great singing, Great staging, Great writing

See it if You want to c an absolutely wonderful new musical! Fun fun fun & SO well done. Energetic, creative & imaginative. Talented cast & production

Don't see it if You r looking for something serious or predictable. This musical constantly had my friend & I saying "Wow!". Amazing set & use of technology

142 Reviews | 20 Followers
93
Funny, Enchanting, Great writing, Quirky, Dark

See it if you're in the mood for something fresh, dark, witty, and - let's face it, a ride unlike anything else you've ever seen.

Don't see it if ..honestly, I think this show should be seen by as many people as possible. You may not love it, but its so unique that it deserves a chance Read more

197 Reviews | 531 Followers
93
Clever, Great singing, Great staging, Unique, Quirky

See it if Unique, dark/funny musical about the death of 6 teenagers set in a decayed amusement park. Fantastic! You won't see anything else like this.

Don't see it if The theme of death or the creepy carnival set would bother you. Each actor was great & had a moment to shine. Great set & special effects. Read more

225 Reviews | 48 Followers
92
Delightful, Funny, Great staging, Great singing, Refreshing

See it if You want to see a dark but very humorous show with amazing production values. It's quirky and very fun with a score full of hits.

Don't see it if You already have a fear of roller-coasters. Otherwise I do not have much to say bad about it!

Critic Reviews (35)

The New York Times
November 30th, 2016

"This delightfully weird and just plain delightful show will provide the kind of thrills we look for in all musical comedies, however outlandish their subject matter: an engaging and varied score, knocked out of the park by a superlative cast, and a supremely witty book…All of the performers are terrific…Although the show is primarily a series of solo turns, the staging is dynamic...For a musical about dead teenagers, it’s high-spirited and just plain fun from start to finish."
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Time Out New York
December 1st, 2016

"A lengthy cooking time has only resulted in a derivative, if energetically plated stew...'Cyclone' earns points for its hectic mix of misanthropic satire and small-town melancholy, and the eclectic score keeps things lively—Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond's tunes run the gamut from Ukrainian rap to French chanson and indie pop. But at 100 minutes, this gaudily hand-painted car trundles along after the thrill has faded."
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New York Magazine / Vulture
November 30th, 2016

"It clearly wants to be both eerie and funny, as well as subversive, serious, touching, and great. As a result it’s a little bit of all of the above, except for the last...It’s only toward the end, as the stabs at snarky humor subside and the kids start considering the brevity of the lives they are leaving, that anything emotionally engaging happens. Until then, 'Cyclone' feels like a queasy hangover dream with the late Prince as the dramaturge and some serious short-term memory problems."
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The Hollywood Reporter
November 30th, 2016

"The impulse toward the easy, cheesy laugh means that unlike other teen-angst musicals, the emotional stakes remain flat. The young cast is talented and appealing enough, but their characters and their sketchy back-stories too seldom escape the cartoonish…As a musical score, it lacks cohesion, mostly sounding like inferior versions of numbers you've heard before in more thoughtfully crafted shows."
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Chicago Tribune
December 2nd, 2016

"The dark but perversely lovable little tuner...A work at once macabre and sweet, melancholy and affirmative, merciless and compassionate...'Cyclone' felt a tad tenser, slower and less certain of itself at the MCC Theater than had been the case in Chicago — the performances did not entirely capture the requisite blend of the strange and the deeply intimate. The score revealed itself to be in need of couple more songs...But there's no other show in town even remotely like this one."
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Theatermania
November 30th, 2016

"This quirky show pushes hard for its desired audience response, be it laughter or tears. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as funny as the writers seem to think and a last-minute U-turn toward schmaltz comes across as unearned…Everyone in the cast works up a sweat selling the material they have to work with...Under the steady and efficient direction of Rachel Rockwell, the whole thing feels like a Fringe Festival musical with really high production values."
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BroadwayWorld
December 1st, 2016

"Curiously lacking in any kind of emotion or tension. Director and choreographer Rachel Rockwell's production is a lively one, featuring a boisterously talented cast...But while the book contains a decent number of guffaws and the score exudes a pleasant assortment of contemporary sounds, the hints that something of significant profundity is contained within the text are left unfulfilled."
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Lighting & Sound America
December 1st, 2016

"The emotional payoff is nil, because the songs neither illuminate the characters nor help explain why they should be allowed to live...'Ride the Cyclone' looks and sounds much better than it is, thanks to Rachel Rockwell's direction and choreography and a top-flight cast of fresh faces...Still, it's hard to get away from the idea that 'Ride the Cyclone' is little more than a batch of random songs strung together by way of a forced, silly narrative concept."
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