The Secret Life of Bees NYC Reviews and Tickets

84%

(181 Ratings)

Positive

97%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Great singing, Absorbing, Entertaining, Relevant, Great acting

About the Show

Based on the best-selling novel by Sue Monk Kidd, Atlantic's world premiere musical comes from the creative team that brought you "Sweat," "Spring Awakening," "Working," and "Fun Home."

South Carolina, 1964. Lily Owens, a restless white teenager, struggles with her merciless father and the haunting memory of her mother’s death. When Rosaleen, her black caregiver, is beaten and jailed for asserting her right to vote, Lily’s rebellious spirit is ignited. She and Rosaleen escape on an adventure where they are taken in by a trio of black beekeeping sisters. While Lily tries to unlock the secrets of her past, she and Rosaleen find solace in the mesmerizing world of bees and spirituality in this extraordinary tale of awakening, fellowship, and healing.

Show-Score Member Reviews (181)

Absorbing, Entertaining, Great singing, Great staging

See it if you want to hear some beautiful singers singing some beautiful songs and see the onstage musicians rocking up a storm.

Don't see it if you want a seamless experience. It's a choppy show -- the music and the book don't flow well together.

Decent, Resonant, Relevant, Entertaining, Absorbing

See it if Marvelous music, sung wonderfully with a story that holds your interest and has a reasonably happy ending.

Don't see it if Looking for a unique story. No big reveal here historically or otherwise. Maybe we expect too much from Nottage. It was interesting, but ...

Terrible story (blame the book!), Quirky, Thought-provoking, Great singing

See it if Excellent singing. The acting was good. I loved the costumes. Some of the dresses were made in such beautiful fabrics.

Don't see it if You don’t like barebones musicals. Story hard to follow if you hadn’t read the book. Or you could follow it, but you’d be missing a lot! Read more

Great singing, Resonant, Thought-provoking, Slow, Disappointing

See it if Ravishing score by Sheik & Birkenhead dominates this cult novel adapt Gold's simple direction & lush production values enhance gifted cast

Don't see it if It's Nottage's adapt that deflates the musical After a slow exposition, a fragmentation settles in w/drama bouncing in different directions

Maudlin, Resonant, Contrived, Great singing, Ambitious

See it if u want to see the powerhouse team of Sheik, Nottage, Gold & LaChanze turn Kidd's novel into a disarming, feel-good (!) Civil Rights musical.

Don't see it if you expect the heft, depth & gravitas that the subject matter would suggest; u don't fancy a sugar-coated, honey-sweet musical about racism. Read more

Relevant, Intelligent, Great singing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if you want to see a well-acted interpretation of a highly regarded piece of literature.

Don't see it if you want a more action-driven or elaborately staged musical. This is a fairly simply - yet beautifully - staged production.

Romantic, Cliched, Entertaining, Great singing

See it if you enjoy entertaining theater with a great cast and good songs.

Don't see it if you don't like feel good stories with predictable characters.

“you can’t keep running from things that scare you”

See it if for creatives Nottage, Sheik, Birkenhead and amazing cast including LaChanze and Saycon Sengbloh.

Don't see it if I’ve only seen the movie and love how they have shifted the focus of the story... Read more

Critic Reviews (27)

Trailer

Creative team

Atlantic Theater Company