The Lucky Ones NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (71)
See it if You love live music, incredibly connected performers, astonishing staging and dancing, moving theater that gets to the very core of life
Don't see it if You don't like folky, rock music, don't want to be surrounded by amazing performers, not interested in vital, moving theater Read more
See it if you enjoyed Hundred Days and/or like folk rock musical theatre.
Don't see it if you like very traditional narrative structure. Read more
See it if Indie musical (banjo, accordion, electric guitar, etc.) of a hippy family that encounters a tragedy. Slightly rough around the edges.
Don't see it if Indie / folk music isn't your thing. Mental health / death is triggering
See it if you love folksy story-telling with great music and voices. You enjoy powerful stories about family and appreciate less traditional musicals.
Don't see it if you don't like breaking the 4th wall, or would hate by a story of how mental illness tore a family apart, told on stage as therapy.
See it if You enjoy podcasts such as This American Life, Radiolab, Invisibilia, etc. It has a very similar feel, especially the last third.
Don't see it if You dislike folk/indie scores. You are looking for a "light" show. Read more
See it if You're interested in a soul-baring musical show accompanied by great choreography & a riveting story. This may be the most honest show ever.
Don't see it if You are looking for a traditional play - this is not that. But it would be hard not to be swept away by its emotion and intensity.
See it if you love a performer who gives her heart and soul to her work. Great ensemble, orginal storytelling, inventive, seemless staging.
Don't see it if don't want to go to the east village off the beaten path or if you are looking conventional theater.
See it if You love strong story-telling, near-immersive theatre, BEAUTIFUL music, deeply emotional stories.
Don't see it if You struggle with themes of family violence or descriptions of physical violence. You prefer straight plays/musicals, not a combination.
Critic Reviews (15)
"The songwriting, though feelingful, does not yet seem complex enough structurally to handle the size and depth of the action it must portray...The music has a pleasantly droning quality that forestalls harmonic development. The ruminative, repetitive lyrics similarly stunt the drama...Kauffman’s astute staging does what it can to jury-rig a feeling of depth...The storytelling is as yet too impulsive, and at times too self-indulgent, to be corralled...A gawky, powerful work in progress."
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"Scratch any family history, and you’re bound to draw some blood. Abigail Bengson's childhood experience has more than most...Harrowing...A teen bacchanal, thrillingly choreographed by Sonya Tayeh, culminates in a cozy romance-but not for long...Tragedy that ensues, but nothing in this story is that simple...'The lucky ones,' the show suggests, are those who, born into damage, can still 'open up.' Bengson, with her extraordinarily expressive musical and authorial voice, does so magnificently."
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"There's an intoxicating quality to the Bengsons' music...The entire cast gives passionate performances...It is possible to appreciate the virtuosity on display even if you don't really buy the Bengsons' consistently on-brand folksy fabulism (which I didn't)...Stripped of its soul-stirring music and mystical staging, 'The Lucky Ones' would look a lot like an after-school special...Yet the tale of a young man whose delusions of grandeur drive him to violence feels especially relevant in 2018."
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"The Bengsons have once again supplied a brace of distinctive indie-folk tunes matched with probing lyrics that illuminate the family's oddball, self-invented way of life...If 'Hundred Days' came across as an evasive, even self-indulgent work, 'The Lucky Ones' is an almost foolhardy act of bravery. We may not be getting the full story, but, nevertheless, she has put these deeply personal materials to work in asking probing questions about happiness, fidelity, and one's place in the world."
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"Adding to the confusion are Abigail's many family members, including her sisters--one of whom is named Emily (Ashley Pérez Flanagan), not to be confused with her new friend Emma--her parents, her aunt (the stalwart Maryann Plunkett) and her cousins. Another part of the problem is that there are simply too many people to be contained on the small stage of the Connelly Theater, which may be why the majority of them begin the show in the balcony in the rear of the auditorium."
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"Heartbreakingly human, semi-autobiographical tales...Anne Kauffman's direction and Sonya Tayeh's choreography work impeccably well with the music...A testament to Kauffman and Tayeh’s leadership, the show’s entire cast, tops to toes, gives an inspiring performance...It is viscerally evident that every facet has been considered in creating one united, yet nuanced, message. I laughed, I cried, I jammed. I witnessed storytelling of intense emotional depth, and ultimately, the joy of storytelling."
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"Sonya Tayeh’s choreography, paired with the spot-on costuming by Asta Bennie Hostetter, perfectly captured the spirit of freedom and abandon that exemplified the hippie, vibe that may not have been a parenting panacea. And Abigail Bengson is a captivating presence on stage. It’s nearly impossible to look anywhere else when she is singing...Unfortunately, 'The Lucky Ones' kind of fizzles out at the end."
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"The whole show is so beautifully crafted, it's less a musical and more a seamless experience that grabs you tight at the outset and never lets go until the final dimming of the lights. That's due in some part to a gorgeous script, but also in large measure to Tayeh's groundbreaking choreography, Bengson's warm stage presence, and a score that represents the best indie-folk/rock has to offer...Seamless, deep, and artistically inspiring, 'The Lucky Ones' is theatre at its very best."
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