Spoon River
Closed 1h 35m
Spoon River
82

Spoon River NYC Reviews and Tickets

82%
(89 Ratings)
Positive
89%
Mixed
11%
Negative
0%
Members say
Great singing, Entertaining, Clever, Great staging, Delightful

About the Show

Canada's Soulpepper Theatre Company presents a musical adaptation of Edgar Lee Masters' 'Spoon River Anthology.'

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Show-Score Member Reviews (89)

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262 Reviews | 57 Followers
86
Ambitious, Intense, Great singing, Resonant

See it if you enjoy bluegrass music, outstanding singers, and a complex, moving story about life and death.

Don't see it if you're looking for a big, showy musical. This show has heart but you need to look past the imperfections to truly appreciate it.

299 Reviews | 41 Followers
86
Great singing, Must see, Thought-provoking, Clever

See it if You like great singing, lively music, with good very short stories.

Don't see it if You don't appreciate good music.

105 Reviews | 26 Followers
86
Profound, Absorbing, Delightful, Riveting

See it if you need to be inspired again, it is life affirming and spiritually satisfying, uplifting and soulful.

Don't see it if you are just lost a loved one and feeling traumatized by the event.

414 Reviews | 70 Followers
85
Clever, Delightful, Entertaining, Great singing, Great staging

See it if a musical that takes place in a graveyard & is a series of vignettes where those buried there sing or talk about their previous lives

Don't see it if you need a narrative, don't want actors playing multiple roles including playing instruments, don't want a musical staged in a graveyard Read more

178 Reviews | 281 Followers
85
Absorbing, Enchanting, Great singing, Great staging, Profound

See it if You enjoy bluegrass-style musical interludes interspersed with stories, and enjoy being transported. It's a period piece, early 20th century

Don't see it if You prefer a linear storyline and full character arcs. This is anecdotal, and characters are introduced but not connected, vignette-style.

50 Reviews | 11 Followers
85
Great singing, Great staging, Resonant

See it if you enjoy language, individual stories, and stunningly beautiful vocals.

Don't see it if you have no soul.

580 Reviews | 736 Followers
83
Entertaining, Great singing, Great staging, Quirky, Delightful

See it if you enjoy a character-driven ensemble piece, and don't mind that there is no narrative (but there IS good music).

Don't see it if the lack of a narrative bothers you. Without one, I tended to tune in and out as different characters told their stories. Read more

101 Reviews | 11 Followers
82
Enchanting, Entertaining, Absorbing, Clever, Delightful

See it if if you like innovative shows

Don't see it if you don't like bluegrass

Critic Reviews (19)

National Post
November 7th, 2014
For a previous production

"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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N
November 10th, 2014
For a previous production

"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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Mooney On Theatre
April 6th, 2017
For a previous production

"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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