The Lieutenant NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (61)
See it if You love discovering musical gems long forgotten which are very much relevant to our troubled times.
Don't see it if You prefer fluffier musicals and light entertainment. Read more
See it if You’re interested in rock operas/rock musicals. You want to see something that had 4 well deserved Tony nods in 1975 but is unknown
Don't see it if The only thing I can think is if the Vietnam war might be upsetting to you. Otherwise run and see it Read more
See it if you want an exciting rock opera that zings with energy and deals with political as well as moral issues. A forgotten treasure of 70s theater
Don't see it if don't mind missing one of the best musical performances of the season with expert singing and dynamic band accompaniment.
See it if You want to enjoy 10 fabulous voices backed by 5 excellent musicians in intelligently written lyrics all in a rock opera. Excellent
Don't see it if You want glitz or sets or eye candy.
See it if Chuck Strand, one of the creators of this show, told me that he thought that this version was better than the Broadway production!
Don't see it if You do not enjoy a rock musical with excellent singers and band which deal with Vietnam War. This show is a WOW. Read more
See it if A true gem from the era of rock opera/musicals. Thank you York Theatre Company. What a cast- WOW.
Don't see it if Just see it! Read more
See it if This is a dynamite show that somehow never received the recognition it deserves. Really good cast, great score and lyrics, really special
Don't see it if Don't like serious musicals that are sung through
See it if you would like to see a gem of a rock musical performed again after 48 years. Stellar singing with a meaningful, thought-provoking story!
Don't see it if you only want light entertainment or if you are triggered by a devastating story of the Vietnam War.
Critic Reviews (3)
“A taut, through-composed musical built on the Brechtian model, The Lieutenant is a blunt force instrument wielded with considerable skill in Bill Castellino's production… The lyrics are sometimes clumsier than one would like, with many false rhymes. And I rather doubt that, due to changing attitudes, a full production of this piece would reach a wide audience today…Nevertheless, The Lieutenant is a work of real quality that dares to wonder how a perfectly average man can be made to commit atrocities without a second's thought.”
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“...much of ‘The Lieutenant’ emerges as reportage. Events come and go, but they don't build. Some of this surely has to do with the lyrics, which rhyme inexactly when they even bother to try. But beyond that, in trying to cram the whole sorry story into 75 minutes, Strand, Curty, and McAuliffe relay more fact than feeling.”
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“The major problem with ’The Lieutenant’ is that the title character is a cipher, and trying to turn him into an unfortunate victim of the war machine is flawed...Under the confident direction and choreography (minimal) of Bill Castellino, it seemed inconceivable the show was put together in five days...There is no set, only slides that decorate the back wall—the work of Peter Brucker and Matthew Gurren—which are highly effective.”
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