The Lucky One NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (140)
See it if You want to see a show that has many layers to it. Though set in a time and class foreign to most still resonates. Superbly acted!
Don't see it if You don't like period pieces or shows that make you look at your own family relationships and re-examine them.
See it if you enjoy well staged, gorgeously costumed and elegantly performed theater.
Don't see it if British upperclass stiffness puts you to sleep.
See it if Mint is on a perpetual roll, Sets are always super even after the tough move. Cast is in tune. Surprised that Milne is the writer.
Don't see it if Act 1 may be a bit slow but Act 2 is the time for the climax, Do not miss it If you need singing and dancing this is not your cup of Earl G
See it if You like rarely seen revivals that respect their time period & are relevant to today. You like well-written plays & great acting.
Don't see it if You prefer contemporary plays. You have no familiarity w/early 20th century English play structure.
See it if you want to see a play by the author of "Winnie The Pooh." "Winnie" is definitely better than this play.
Don't see it if you like fast-moving plays. This one is as slow as molasses. Read more
See it if you're interested in dated British drawing room soaps. This is Upstairs without the jolly Downstairs.
Don't see it if old fashioned plays where the characters love to talk and talk and talk are not your thing.
See it if I didn't find this dated. I do think more subtlety might have filled out a rather thin play. It is mannered, but then it should be.
Don't see it if It was polarized. Milne's charm was really lost here. I felt the female lead was in a different play entirely. The tone never jelled. Read more
See it if an early-20th-century play about brothers who misunderstand one another, compounded by a love triangle, appeals. It is an intelligent play.
Don't see it if requiring glitz, snappy dialogue, and a ton of action. This is a thinker's play. While some moments feel empty, it made me ponder afterward. Read more
Critic Reviews (28)
"The play doesn’t have quite the punch of the Mint’s best rediscoveries, but it has enough to convey why Milne was a successful playwright before he became better known for those enduring children’s stories about Winnie-the-Pooh...The pay doesn’t translate particularly well to our era...Yet Mr. Grant and Mr. Brand, under the direction of Jesse Marchese, build their respective characters slowly but steadily, and each lands an effective moment after the intermission."
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"A playgoer wouldn't be blamed for anticipating a night of vintage bon mots and comedy of manners gracefulness. And while Marchese's swell, well-acted production is filled with pretty people...the play is more of a somber one...The story moves slowly until the brothers have a climatic confrontation...May not be a forgotten gem, but there's certainly a fascination to seeing social issues of the wealthier class addressed by a literary figure whose name has become synonymous with whimsy."
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"Milne's script creaks as often as it crackles...The expository conversation is so determinedly cheery and self-consciously witty that you might find your teeth aching, just a little...Marchese gets three incisive performances from his leads...The rest of the cast is more than capable at delivering their one-note characters...For fans of theatre history, it is a highly collectible experience...The playwright's sharp intelligence is on display, if inconsistently applied."
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"'The Lucky One' turns out to be so good a play that it's hard to understand why it's so rarely revived and isn't considered at least a minor classic...The casting could hardly be improved upon...But if I had to name only one actor here who deserves every possible award nomination for which she's eligible, that would be the sublime Paton Ashbrook...Director Jesse Marchese presides over all of the above with the utmost skill...A stellar presentation."
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“While the Mint's productions of Milne's ‘Mr. Pim Passes By’ and ‘The Truth About Blayds’ revealed that they were witty and clever, ‘The Lucky One,’ on the other hand, pales by comparison. Jesse Marchese's languid direction doesn't help matters. While the cast is not at fault due to the thinness of the material leaving too much unsaid, neither the production nor the play seem to be up to the Mint Theater Company's usually impeccable standards.”
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"A rich drama...Grant shades with pathos a role that could have come across as just glib...Brand is very affecting as the brooding, resentful brother...But the MVP is Cynthia Harris...Aunt Harriett has the best lines and Harris, clearly enjoying herself, uses lacerating wit to great effect...Jesse Marchese has paced the three acts well...Milne’s play is not without flaws...But the Mint Theater shores up their reputation with another solid production."
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"The turn taken in Act 2 is surprising and is the meat and potatoes of this production which, in Act I, may tend to lull you into wondering what’s going on here other than a lot of snooty chatter about golf, social status and poor old Bob!...Jesse Marchese directs this lovely cast of characters."
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"A play with a classic and easy to identify with central conflict but also a major flaw: too many underdeveloped and basically superfluous characters...The script's characterization problems unfortunately undermine the very fine final confrontation...Neither the direction nor set for 'The Lucky One' do much to downplay its weaknesses...The actors all do their best with the parts they've been given...If only 'The Lucky One' were as powerful throughout as during that final scene."
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