The Robber Bridegroom

"Timbers has managed to bring visual flair, superb storytelling ability, and first-rate acting work to the stage consistently so that any piece can sparkle in its brightest light. And now he’s done it again with 'The Robber Bridegroom' turning this lesser-known 1975 folk-musical into what I suspect will be one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of 2016...It will steal your heart." Full Review

"It is a thigh-slapping, buckdancing hoedown. This is one 'lying, two-faced musical' shindig you just have to see...It’s like injecting pure undiluted joy right into your veins...Basically every moment is so perfectly crafted you feel alive on a cellular level...This cast exemplifies the definition of ensemble. A tight, frolicsome, physical team of impact players." Full Review

"Set to a wonderfully catchy country-bluegrass score this 'Mississippi fairy tale' is the kind of show where a talking head is kept in a box...[Director] Timbers goes to town, piling up the gags, and setting a breakneck pace — while giving the slower, more serious songs space to breathe...The cast rises to the challenge, including Pasquale. But even he’s eclipsed by Leslie Kritzer’s gold-tooth-flashing wicked stepmother. She gleefully goes over the top, and then over the top of the top." Full Review

"Director Alex Timbers and a cast of top-notch gleeful talents put a bright and especially frolicsome shine on 'The Robber Bridegroom'...Waldman’s tunes pair seamlessly with Uhry’s adroit lyrics that mix the literate with the colloquial...The cast wonderfully carries through Timbers’ intentions, keeping things bubbling at every turn...Sound and sight gags abound, sometimes shamelessly, but never tiresomely. It all manages to retain that mysterious essence called charm." Full Review

"I fell head-over-heels for this show...This revival, in the hands of Alex Timbers — the most inventive theater director working today — comes across as a barrel of fun. And I’d pay good money to hear lead actor Steven Pasquale sing his face off any day. The fact that the entire ensemble is so strong (special shout-out to Leslie Kritzer for doing incredible work) is icing on the cake...I hope to get back again before it closes." Full Review

"This hilarious musical adventure takes fans into the heart of a good old-fashion folk tale and it’s an adventure you don’t want to miss…'The Robber Bridegroom' delivers high comedy and beautiful music in a short period of time...Pasquale gives an astounding performance as he brings a modern flair to a classic character. His beautiful voice breathes new life into Waldman’s incredible music…Kritzer shines in the role of Salome." Full Review

"There’s nary a lull in Alex Timbers’s exuberant revival of 'The Robber Bridegroom', a raucous hootenanny set in a fanciful version of 18th-century Mississippi...It is a delightfully inventive reimagining of Alfred Uhry and Robert Waldman’s 1975 musical...Like many of Timbers’s previous projects, including 'Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson' and 'Peter and the Starcatcher', 'The Robber Bridegroom' loves putting on a show." Full Review

"For ninety minutes of banjo-twangin', thigh-slappin', gut-bustin', down-home fun, head over to 'The Robber Bridegroom'...The score is pleasantly tuneful with a country twang, with some true beauties mixed in with an assortment of delights. And the cast does them full justice...The production offers a continuous stream of laughs and sight gags, some of which threaten to knock you out of your seat...'Bridegroom' is an inventive, unconventional, corn-full delight." Full Review

"The pure joy and toe-tappin' excitement over at the Laura Pels Theatre at Roundabout Theater Company is absolutely not to be missed...And tap your toes you certainly will...This production is triumphantly successful at having fun and entertaining its audience. When the actors themselves all appear to be having fun, you know the show is going to be a delight." Full Review

"For this Alfred Uhry–Robert Waldman musical, Timbers returns to the scrappy, ensemble-reliant style he so expertly used with 'Peter and the Starcatcher' and 'Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.' In doing so, he gets to the core of what theatre is about—a group of people working in concert to tell a story. It's full of glee and giddiness, and you'll have a blast for the too-brief 90 minutes you're in Timbers's care...Make your way to this delightful romp of a musical while you can." Full Review

"An excellent revival...The truth is that this is a beautifully performed, fun-filled ninety intermissionless minutes that sparklingly showcases this neglected musical...All of the songs in 'The Robber Bridegroom,' enhanced by Justine Levine and Martin Lowe’s washboard and tub- thumpin’ orchestrations, are worth hearing. One of the best is Rosamund’s insistence that there’s 'Nothin’ Up.' She’s wrong; there’s plenty up right now at the Laura Pels." Full Review

"'The Robber Bridegroom' is 90 effervescent minutes of unabashed fun...Timbers proves himself the go-to director for wildly creative, highly energetic theatre. Sight and sound gags abound, and although their execution is entertaining in its own right, all of the effects are there to serve and propel the story...This is clearly Timbers’ show...The racy content and devilish pace make 'The Robber Bridegroom' an all too rare adult treat." Full Review

"With director Alex Timbers' rollicking and sexy new Off-Broadway production, this underappreciated gem should prove popular with audiences looking for a swell time...An ensemble of present-day players and musicians gather to tell the story of their Mississippi ancestors along the Trace, using broad-stroke comedy, inventively basic stage craft and the occasional accents of slapstick...'The Robber Bridegroom' will steal your heart, and definitely do it with style." Full Review

"'The Robber Bridegroom' is refreshingly frisky. Robert Waldman’s twangy, jangly music lends itself to sprightly dance and slapstick comedy...Alex Timbers’ giddy staging makes use of a tireless ensemble and onstage band for maximum foot-stomping, skirt-twirling joy...Who knows if 'Robber Bridegroom' will enter the canon of great American musicals, but it’s a rip-snorting hoedown, one guaranteed to steal your heart." Full Review

"The South...certainly still seems like a place where miracles can happen regularly. And the two biggest of those, amid a production that otherwise has no shortage, go by the names of Alex Timbers and Leslie Kritzer....Kritzer is the heart, soul, and fullest embodiment of the aesthetic that Timbers's ' Bridegroom' celebrates, and the main reason it seems like a musical-comedy curative than a quaint, antiquated curiosity." Full Review

"The rollicking new production of the 1975 Broadway musical offers numerous delights. One of them is the bluegrassy score. The bouncy music, performed by an onstage band, is just right for a frisky backwoods Mississippi fairy tale. Director Alex Timbers and the design team fashion a cheeky theatrical world...Leslie Kritzer’s antics as Rosamund’s scheming step-mother, Salome, is another blast...The rest of the cast playing ne’er-do-wells and knuckleheads are all terrific." Full Review

"The Roundabout’s exceptionally charming revival of 'The Robber Bridegroom' is exactly the kind of intimate extravaganza you would expect from Alex Timbers, among the most inventive young directors working today...'The Robber Bridegroom' is a highlight of a season that’s fast becoming a landmark for musicals...The score is fun if not exactly memorable. The show rests on committed performances and an atmosphere that inches up to cute without diving into it whole hog." Full Review

"'The Robber Bridegroom,' which bills itself as 'a Mississippi fairy tale,' is not so much a standard musical as it is a rollicking barroom jamboree where a bunch of storytellers and musicians come together to fool around and have a good time...The chaotic storytelling offers unexpected insight into the freedoms found in role-playing and the cultural identity of the South. The production is directed with atmospheric flair and nonstop playfulness by Alex Timbers." Full Review

"Steven Pasquale, as Jamie, brings the heat. He is every woman’s bad boy—at once hot and funny…While the plot is predictable, the action is salted with some raucous characters…Alex Timbers’s slick directorial hand polishes up this 'Robber Bridegroom' with humor and precision. When the lights come up, you realize you are exhausted and wondering how the performers are still on their feet." Full Review

"Alex Timbers’s exceedingly high-spirited revival of this 1975 musical will not be to everyone’s liking. But even those allergic to Southern-fried shtick are unlikely to go away feeling entirely empty. Mr. Timbers uses visual wit and gleefully macabre gags to provide awakening jolts during this sustained singing hayride...'The Robber Bridegroom' is not asking you to think deep. Mostly, it just clomps, two-steps and square dances along its relentlessly exuberant way." Full Review

"The actors and musicians occasionally seem to be having more fun performing than some of us do watching...Despite the director’s missteps, and the show’s occasionally cringe-worthy attitudes towards women, Timbers deserves credit for turning 'The Robber Bridegroom' revival into a trim 90 minutes of country music heaven, featuring a jaunty five-piece band that sounds contemporary enough so that you can tap your toe without feeling like a hayseed." Full Review

"A bit of a hokey side show of a show, but I took it as if it was a traveling actor troop rolling into a small town to entertain us with this funny tall tale...like a wild and raunchy jamboree party is just beginning and a wild ride of a story is about to be told in a big hilarious way...Condensed into a fast and furious 90-min honky-tonk musical and my guess is that this length suits this show perfectly. It’s just the right amount of silliness and fun, without wearing us down." Full Review

"The score is an enchanting mix of Broadway style with folk and country idioms, and the cast handle the songs with gusto...Despite all of these successful elements, 'The Robber Bridegroom' has some jarring problems, including its gender politics...Without the uncomfortable misogyny factor, 'Bridegroom' would be all pleasure and no pain. Timbers and his solid cast are having a ball, and when the show stays away from nasty stereotypes and sexual assault jokes, it’s irresistible." Full Review

"Roundabout has produced a 'Robber Bridegroom' that is totally stylish, deeply entertaining, and almost vanishingly slight. That’s not a criticism, entirely...Timbers has made this musical a rollicking good time, a goofy, high-spirited hootenanny. It’s a mighty Mississippi of fun...But Timbers has also stripped out whatever darkness and complexity Uhry’s script once contained...It doesn’t make much of a case for why 'The Robber Bridegroom,' a forgotten musical, deserves to be remembered." Full Review

"Despite an enjoyable production from director Alex Timbers, we can understand why this Mississippi fairy tale isn't often rehashed...While levity reigns, it is difficult to ignore some of the more questionable passages...Timbers wisely mitigates this ick factor by keeping everything light and irreverent...The result is a snappy, concertlike revival...Even if 'Bridegroom' causes you to cringe at certain moments, it's saved by a cast of talented musicians and the incomparable Kritzer." Full Review