The Portal

See it if you miss the Fillmore East, bubble fractals, incomprehensible singing with mystic overtones. There are also beautiful projections of scenery

Don't see it if you are expecting a play let alone an interactive experience instead of a music and dance performance. There is a weak suggestion of a plot

See it if new age sensibilities are your thing, want something 2 match tripping experiences, you need 2 arrive high on life or some other substance

Don't see it if you have no toleration for the new agey, need story markers to help you along

See it if You appreciate some pretty visuals and a good looking, hard working cast.

Don't see it if An acid trip is not your idea of entertainment. Pretentious & overly long even at 85 minutes.

See it if Can see beyond what is in front of you, like rock opera, can open your mind, understand Dante or want to trip in someone's else's mind.

Don't see it if Are close minded, never read or heard of Dante, don't like rock, need a linear show, if you listen to opinions of others w/o experimenting.

Also I for one waited as I saw the low numbers in ratings. I took the chance and I have to say I LOVED IT! The music, the singing, the imagery. No, not everyone will "get" it, but maybe they are not suppose to. You will get out of it what you need to get out of it. I found it to be beautiful and haunting...but then again " I GOT it"!!... Read more Read less

See it if you want something different.. thats about all I can say..

Don't see it if you don't want to waste 2 hours.. Luckily the show was cut short for technical difficulties, so we only got to see like 30 mins..

See it if you have taken rec drugs and want a visual and audio experience that goes well with that state (but let someone else drive you to the venue)

Don't see it if you would be bored by 90min of an utter lack of variety in sounds (music and percussion) and in choreography

See it if you can go with friends and not take this show seriously at all. Tear it apart later over drinks. Make it an inside joke.

Don't see it if you're expecting a really deep exploration of the Divine Comedy or religion/death/spirituality. You get offended at cultural appropriation.

Also When it started I instantly knew what I was in for. This production is a series of cheap screensavers and nonsense songs that barely have lyrics. But I was prepared to go with it. Then the film student BS on screen changed from the same lazy, cliched indictment of TV, consumerism, & psychiatric drugs to a spiritual journey of cultural appropriation that I was not here for. If you take this show at face value, it is hella racist. But I made a choice to treat it as a joke which is the only reason I'm rating it as highly as I am.

If this were a movie, it would be the garbage that gets torn apart on MST3K or HDTGM. I wish it could have been a more raucous Rocky Horror kind of experience.

If you want to have fun with it, go, and sit back far enough that you can see the whole stage at once. There's no acting you need to sit up front for. The dancers are alright doing uninspired writhing. The band (guitar/drums) is fine. The lead singer is good. But it's mostly screensavers and nonsense.... Read more Read less

See it if You like multimedia, noisy confusion

Don't see it if You want a story

See it if you like experimental multi- dimensional theater with good original music and dance in an intimate space.

Don't see it if you want fully developed story (i didn't know where it was going) or expecting recognizable songs to rock out to- expecting Pink Floyd-nope

See it if you like vaguely tribal music and cheesy videos taking you on a mystical journey of self-discovery or want to bore yourself into a coma

Don't see it if you have anything better to do with your time or you'd rather take a tap or stare off into space daydreaming or ANYTHING ELSE possible

See it if you have taken a lot of drugs before hand and want to look at the pretty lights.

Don't see it if bright lights or loud sounds bother you...or if you want something that makes sense.

Also About halfway into this show I realized that it wasn't going to get any better so I forced myself to fall asleep (which my friend really envied)... Read more Read less

See it if You like seeing non-linear shows that have a trippy vibe to them. The singing is phenomenal and the band is like Santana meets Grateful Dead

Don't see it if You are narrow-minded about multi-dimentional universes or you don't like seeing a show that is both a multimedia & musical event all-in-one

See it if Avoid. This show was so boring, slow and insipid. So many missed opportunities.

Don't see it if You have something else to do.

See it if very boring!!! bad singing and acting

Don't see it if you value your time and money

See it if you like rock music, psychedelic images and jazz dance.

Don't see it if you like character based theater with a plot, an arch and thought provoking content.

See it if You want to encounter what it would be like to live inside a Pink Floyd video but completely sober and sad

Don't see it if Don't even think about it

See it if you like chanting, vision quests, a good looking cast and live music

Don't see it if trip images bother you

See it if You like the Avant-Garde, and repetitive music. Dummer was talented, song in the middle was good. But not worth seeing the play for it.

Don't see it if A 90 min discombobulated odyessy involving video of a guy wandering around a strange landscape accompanied by tribalish music doesn't appeal

See it if See it if you are open to being mesmerized by breathtaking visual effects, a beguiling trip through the psyche, & powerfully great music.

Don't see it if Don't see it if you have no imagination, are unforgiving of minor flaws, and are locked into only accepting the banal and the mundane.

Also I saw The Portal in previews, and although I could see that certain elements were still needing (IMO) some conceptual and staging refinement, I "went with" the underlying and pulse-poundingly alive spirit of the show, and found the overall show -- the imaginative visual effects, the absolutely fantastic singing by the "guide", and the intriguing overall storyline (which, overall, was a trip in itself) -- to be mesmerizing and a thrill to experience.

PLUS, there was a valuable -- and life-enhancing -- MESSAGE suffusing the event, and perhaps that was the POINT. And that MESSAGE certainly came across, in an entertaining and yet powerful way.

Perhaps it can be said that The Portal IS the MESSAGE.

Well, I saw the show in previews. It wasn't perfect, it's probably been tweaked and re-tweaked since then, but I enjoyed it immensely and found it a thrill to experience. Maybe you will too. It's an imaginative, visually and musically pulse-pounding show -- I say give it a chance.... Read more Read less

See it if you're currently tripping on Ecstasy, or you're a friend of the cast.

Don't see it if you have literally any other use for your time or money.

Also For experimental theatre to actually work, to move its audience, it has to be strong enough to transcend the tropes of theatrical storytelling (plot, character development, book, choreography). This show, for all its ambitions, utterly fails to transcend. It's a bombastic, boring, ill-conceived, cacophanous waste of talented performers.... Read more Read less

See it if You want to embark on an amazing multimedia journey

Don't see it if You want to see a traditional musical

See it if You are interested in challenging the status quo & open to being immersed in an other-worldly experience. This is performance art.

Don't see it if You are impatient and want the usual theatrical entertainment.

See it if you like great head trip stuff. Very 420 friendly! I can't imagine seeing it any other way. Very sexy.

Don't see it if you don't like to Netflix and chill.

See it if Has potential for a strong experimental piece. But in the preview I saw, they had to stop the show 3 times in the first 30 min. Left then.

Don't see it if You have no interest in experimental works ones.

See it if you want to try to relive your experience at Burning Man within the confines of a Manhattan theatre; you are on psychoactive drugs.

Don't see it if you expect to make sense of this monotonous, specious, pointless, baffling (albeit earnest) exercise in multi-media drivel.