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.
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.
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.
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
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.
See it if you enjoy language, individual stories, and stunningly beautiful vocals.
Don't see it if you have no soul.
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
See it if if you like innovative shows
Don't see it if you don't like bluegrass
"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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