Spoon River NYC Reviews and Tickets

"A kind of all-souls hootenanny...'Spoon River' is a feel-good show, a memento mori only in that it encourages its audiences to gather their rosebuds while they may. What’s most impressive here is the diversity of Mr. Ross’s songs and Mr. Schultz’s staging, and the ingenuity with which they match character to melody and stance...The production is a shade overstuffed and repetitive...Still, there’s a winning generosity in having these alternatives."
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"Composer Mike Ross has set several of Masters’s poems to rollicking, foot-stomping tunes...Adapters Albert Schultz (who also directs) and Ross have selected a sweet bouquet from the anthology’s 244 poems...In a universally strong cast, a few performers match their material so perfectly it’s nearly painful...Still, the most powerful moments are the massed ones, when the company fills the stage. The volume alone of so many people in so small a space is thrilling."
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"A mash-up of tone poem and folk opera...Although there’s almost no interaction among the singing corpses, a portrait – complex, rich and varied as life – does emerge. Credit for this goes not only to the ingenious staging but to an exceptionally talented roster of actors, at once united and varied. That’s perhaps the most salient element on display in this Soulpepper bonanza: a unity of purpose and commitment from artists who have grown together."
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"All of the stories are set to Ross's mostly foot-stomping, toe-tapping lively score, filled with the sounds of American folk music, Appalachian bluegrass, New Orleans funeral parades, and gospel. The uniformly strong cast not only sing and tell their stories but also perform splendidly on fiddles, banjos, mandolins, guitars, bass, and rhythm instruments. All in all 'Spoon River' is a joyful and fitting production."
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1"While each segment is engaging and the individual stories never fail to fascinate, the abundance of characters becomes overwhelming...It doesn’t introduce a traceable plotline, As a result, while satisfying as a visual and auditory experience, it doesn’t make a lasting impression...The musical arrangements are masterfully crafted...It’s a feast for the ears...The genius set and lighting design also add dimension to the piece. I was hoping for focus, or a point of view."
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"In this version of 'Spoon River Anthology,' those souls are brought back to life in a sizzling thrill ride that packs quite a punch...It’s a brilliant piece of theater–the kind you might one day look back on and remember as one of the best things you ever saw. Soulpepper’s production is the perfect storm of elements yielding a theatrical ne plus ultra...The cast is a wonderment. All (or nearly so) are multi-instrumentalists who sing well, move well, emote brilliantly and make astounding music."
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"This exhilarating, 95-minute musical features 19 top-flight actor-musicians, including the versatile Ross...Much of the score of 'Spoon River' has a classic country sound...All of it is appealing and much of it beautiful...Ross, Schultz, and the Spoon River company have transformed Masters' morose masterpiece into a gift of joy for New York. Let's hope the Soulpepper crew will plant their maple leaf flag in the Big Apple on a frequent basis."
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"A stellar and talented group of actors are there singing and saying what they need to say...It’s a show about death and dying, but you’d never know by the liveliness and exuberance the music and the cast give off. There are too many wonderful moments and songs to even try to categorize...The whole piece just has such tremendous fun with death, that one can’t help but celebrate along with them the great gift of life...A joyous ninety minutes."
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"This adaptation is top-notch, honoring the original poems of Edgar Lee Masters yet giving them a freshness and vitality that reverberates with authenticity and reflects the mid-World War I fears of mortality and survival. Albert Schultz’s staging is strong and exceptional and Mike Ross’s music is emotionally rich, passionate, and often mesmerizing. The ensemble cast seems to welcome the music into the depth of their sinews and delivers the songs with riveting and polished performances."
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"A lively, joyful musical adaptation...Much of what Ross has composed is what used to be called hillbilly music, but that doesn’t do justice to the range of genres and the depth of talent that put them over...There is humor lurking in the grim tales and sad regrets voiced by individual characters...If the pile-on of graveyard observers starts to feel too rich, and the songs too repetitive, what will surely remain a fond memory after theatergoers depart are the rompin’, stompin’ hootenannies."
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"One of the most memorable and transformative theatrical moments I have experienced in live theater. Indeed, from start to glorious finish this production is truly what the best of live theater is about...This incredible production holds many beautiful truths. They begin and end in artistic genius; with the unified elements of brilliant music, the sterling voices of the talented, superb actors, the musicianship of cast members, the enlightened adaptation by Schultz of Edgar Lee Masters’ work."
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"An inclusive, but lavish display of what theatre is about; both reflecting and inspiring humanity...'The Graves,' 'Couples,' and 'Soul Alive' are just a few of the gorgeous, roaring tracks that ignite audience’s imaginations...The cast of 'Spoon River' is absolutely exceptional. Each person shines in voice and talent...I cannot describe the sentimentality of this musical, and how it has become one of the best shows to see in New York."
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"I detest most musicals, but this one I loved. The music was genuine and of high quality...Clearly the composer is fully at home in setting Masters’ irregular free verse...The various members of the cast showed what splendid, resourceful, gutsy actors and singers they are, as they led us to some very dark places...This was a richly entertaining, deeply moving celebration of life...One cannot sufficiently praise the consistently brilliant and committed cast and all participants."
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"Schultz has marshalled a number of memorable images with a few versatile set pieces...While it’s wonderful to have such a large cast on stage, Schultz is better at showing us the trees than the forest—and the larger numbers sometimes feel like poetry in commotion...My consistent quibble with Ross’s overall project is that poems are not lyrics—and no matter how sensitive his settings, the words sometimes jar with the music...‘Spoon River’ works, nevertheless; it’s even magical."
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"A celebration of the power of theatre, the joy of performing and the sublime art of collaboration...The way that Mike Ross’s music reaches inside our spirits and takes us to a dozen different places is an act of sheer theatrical legerdemain...Every last member of the company is brilliant...You will be hard-pressed not to levitate from your seat with sheer emotion....'Spoon River' is a once-in-a-lifetime show. See it, hear it, celebrate it."
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"Vocally thrilling, this current production captivates our hearts and emotions and soars through the rafters with impeccably controlled precision and timing...I do have a slight quibble with the text, nevertheless, as these numerous glimpses and brief looks into the backstories become a jumble in trying to make connections to the characters. It is only a minute quibble as the musical score paints an emotional landscape through song...There is a state of grace in each performance."
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"Masters’ poems are substantial enough to work dramatically, yet simple enough to be understood when sung or spoken rather than read. It’s a further strength that many of them are spoken; Ross’s musical settings are brilliant, and stylistically varied, but they’re all the more effective for not being continuous...If one of the functions of an adaptation is to send you back to the original — well, this one did that for me, and what I found was richer than I’d remembered."
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"While not every number succeeds, you’ll lose count of the many magical moments...Ross’s music—a blend of reels, slow waltzes, honky-tonk numbers and ebullient toe-tapping dance songs, played and sung by the large company—is a treat, too. The design is wonderfully atmospheric, Ken MacKenzie’s moonlit space of trees and rounded steps allowing the characters, in Erika Connor’s period costumes, to flow smoothly in and out of the action."
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"By and large, I really enjoyed the music for this show...The actors sing with a bit of a rasp and a country twang. The music is much grittier than what you’re used to hearing in the theatre and it feels all the more earnest for it...I do feel that ‘Spoon River’ loses out a bit by not having much of an arc. The show went by very quickly...I liked watching it and would recommend it. But it’s a shame that to me this was a great show that falls short of being truly exceptional."
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