"The Streets of New York, a musical revival adapted from Dion Boucicault’s 1857 play The Poor of New York, is a festive production full of melodramatic storytelling and poppy tunes delivered with merriment by an unforgettable cast."
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"The Streets of New York’s opening number sets the wrong tone, and it takes a while for the show to properly settle its tongue into cheek. But it clicks in with “Oh How I Love Being Rich,” a spoiled-brat aria sung by Bloodgood’s daughter, Alida (the marvelous Amanda Jane Cooper), who is wickedly bent on marrying Mark. It’s mostly good, silly fun from then on, buoyed by a talented cast of 12—they're an entertaining lot—and a six-piece band that includes a harp; Linda Fisher’s splendid costumes and Hugh Landwehr’s witty set add to the charm."
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Cue the Irish Rep and its remounting of artistic director Charlotte Moore's musical The Streets of New York, which the theatre first premiered twenty years ago in the aftermath of September 11. An affectionate adaptation of Dion Boucicault's 1857 melodrama The Poor of New York, it returns in the wake of a different tragedy--a global pandemic that has claimed nearly 800,000 American lives and more than five million human beings worldwide--sharing the same social conscience as the Dickens classic but also encouraging the audience to do something more fun and cathartic: hiss at the greedy old man. Perhaps it's the Christmas story we actually need this year.
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"It is a shout-out to the city of New York and its residents who occupy those spaces of poverty and greed. It is two hours of pure entertainment. It is resilience, human want and need, kindness, and caring, it is having so much fun, laughing, and tapping feet and hands to this wonderful WONDERFUL musical that you bounce out of the theater and down 22nd street smiling at all you meet. And it is what we cherish most, family and friends."
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"The songs are, in fact, the very best part of The Streets of New York...When's the last time you left a new musical humming the score? If you've seen The Streets of New York at the Irish Repertory Theatre, you're probably humming to beat the band--and praying for the original cast album to come out. Actually, one of these two critics isn't just humming the music to this Off-Broadway show, he's obsessed with it. He can't get it out of his head! No matter that many of these tunes are reminiscent of other, familiar musical theater songs; the point is that the melodies are catchy and the lyrics oftentimes lilt toward the lovely and careen toward the comic."
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"The script is suitably adorned with asides, irony, tongue-in-cheek satire and even pointed understatement. A simple line, "You will find her cheek paler than it used to be", is uproarious in its context, as are so many magical moments, including stylized chases and faints, a vivid tenement fire supported by musician Mark Hartman's adrenaline-charged arrangement (it would fit a silent movie climax sublimely), and a rousing upbeat finale. The artful welding of style and entertainment warrant many weeks, no, months of deserved bows for Ms. Moore and her tremendous troupe."
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