Southern Comfort NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (54)
See it if you want to learn about people coping with the complexities of gender identity. It helps if you like country music.
Don't see it if your tolerance for country music is limited.
See it if you want to see a show about trans issues, even if it does seem a bit outdated.
Don't see it if you are hoping for a show that really delves into trans issues as opposed to just scraping the surface.
See it if you enjoy clever use of backup country & western band as singers/characters in cast; lays bare visceral parent rejection
Don't see it if similar country & western songs bore you; production blunts impact by checking off too many transgender issues
See it if you have an interest in the trans community, as it is well done in that regard.
Don't see it if trans issues make you uncomfortable, you need to see people cast correctly.
See it if You're interested in LGBT subject matter.
Don't see it if You are looking for compelling musical theater, i.e. another Fun Home - this show felt VERY bland.
See it if Big opportunity to introduce audiences to issues of the trans community wasted. The characters were not clearly drawn, difficult to connect
Don't see it if The Public Theater is a wellspring of great musical theater. Do not expect much from this show. It is really in workshop stage.
See it if You wanna see another victim play. Although the performances rise above the lame ass writing and you find yourself touched by some moments.
Don't see it if Well, it closed today, so this is moot.
See it if you feel it's important to support a show about transgendered couples. They handle the subject respectfully.
Don't see it if you are looking for another ground-breaking musical from The Public. (This isn't it!)
Critic Reviews (36)
"If 'Southern Comfort' has a meaningful story to tell, it falters in its telling. Maybe the traditional story structures of conflict, climax and resolution are themselves too normative, but creating satisfying alternatives remains difficult...The songs have a certain sameness and too often re-articulate material from the book...Still, it’s pleasure enough to spend an afternoon or evening among these characters."
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"This touching and heartfelt show is sure to move you…The book and lyrics by Dan Collins and bluegrass score by Julianne Wick Davis are musical gems…This cast is remarkable, but it is Ms. O’Toole who immerses herself so much into the character, she disappears and we only see Robert. Right now, this is the performance to beat as the best of the year."
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"Needless to say, 'Southern Comfort' is not your typical musical. But it is an overly earnest one. The songs by Collins and Julianne Wick Davis aren’t as numbingly didactic as 'I Am What I Am' from 'La Cage aux Folles,' but a few anthems come close, and none of the music is very memorable. What does impress is that the victims on stage are all survivors, and that includes the one who’s dying."
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"While the book is mostly faithful to the essentials of the film, it makes things a bit more schematic. As I am not a fan of country/bluegrass music, I did not really enjoy the score. To my ears, much of the music seemed monotonous and repetitive...Thomas Caruso’s direction is seamless. The entire cast, especially O’Toole and McCarthy, are excellent. Although, for me, the music did not really enhance the story, it is still a moving and timely tale that I am glad will be seen by new audiences."
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"The various cast members playing the assortment of characters in Robert’s life are excellent, and the theme of we are who we are and proud of it gets excellent treatment throughout...The production is seductive, drawing us into the transgender world and eliciting respect and sympathy for the characters living according to their deeply felt identities. 'Southern Comfort' is an important socially conscious statement as well as admirably creative."
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"The plot centers around several questions that transgender people have to confront...That's a lot to load onto a musical and 'Southern Comfort' has some trouble balancing all of it. Members of the transgender community have criticized the show for downplaying the way doctors failed to treat the real-life Eads and the production for failing to cast transgender actors in all the roles...Both O'Toole and McCarthy are cisgendered but they're also terrific in their roles."
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"An enjoyable middle-of-the-road bluegrass musical...If not for the subject matter, director Thomas Caruso’s production of this might seem like one of those jaunty, old-fashioned little countrified musicals...Annette O’Toole is terrific, and unrecognizable, as Robert, born Barbara…The sound is sometimes overly familiar; the resolutions are a bit pat. Even so, we keep realizing that the unpretentious breakthrough of a show expresses feelings and ideas never onstage before."
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"At first, you wonder if the show will flounder in an excess of sugar, with the characters all smiles and hugs and good will. But conflict arrives in several forms...The musical, which has been in development for years, could also use some pruning to lessen repetition and increase momentum. But even taken as it is, 'Southern Comfort' is a success — a warm-hearted, affecting portrait of people who, whatever barriers they face, have achieved the contentment of finding their essential selves."
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