The Total Bent NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (102)
See it if You enjoy gospel music with a dose of cynicism. Enjoy watching and listening a cute, talented singer.
Don't see it if Need an understandable plot line.
See it if a roaring r & b, blues-gospel, rock n roll score sung with intensity, passion, flair and precision.
Don't see it if you find father-son as musical rivals story-lines problematic
See it if If you like Stew's music with very good singers.
Don't see it if You don't like loud moving music.
See it if You appreciate ambitious musical works and strong pergormances
Don't see it if You need a clear, linear plot
See it if you are a fan of gospel style music done in an up-to-date and exciting rendition; you appreciate high energy, wonderful costuming, hi volume
Don't see it if you have tender ears - the volume builds to near deafening by the end; you hate gospel music; you are looking for a coherent story line
See it if you loved Passing Strange and really want some excellent Stew & Heidi Rodewald music in your life
Don't see it if you want a fully developed story - the music is beautiful but the plot is severely lacking
See it if you like Stu & Hedi's shows/music and Stu's song styles; you like an energetic cast with strong voices especially the lead & excellent band
Don't see it if the story/social message can be confusing and you don't like shows with race relations/religious themes
See it if you enjoy Stew - his imprint is very present even though he has a minor on stage role. You enjoy incredible performances and fabulous music
Don't see it if A coherent book is important to you. The story seems secondary to the music here- which is satisfying but we all left confused
Critic Reviews (28)
“An uneven production...The new rock musical from Stew and Heidi Rodewald of ‘Passing Strange’ fame, starts out with a potentially strong premise...Vondie Curtis-Hall and Ato Blankson-Wood give thrilling vocal and dramatic limning of the combatants and the score is sizzling. But the plot becomes repetitious and feels drawn out at less than two hours.”
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"I didn’t understand the ending, or else the creators and director Joanna Settle didn’t know where they wanted us to end up. Still, even without a clear destination, the intoxicating music with the sly lyrics, the take-no-prisoners performances and the laid-back hipster unpredictability make a heady journey...The new piece is part indie concert, part performance-art cabaret and a big part coming-of-age black-identity musical...Stew is a gifted, funny, sardonic lyricist."
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"Blankson-Wood and Hall are dynamic performers, and they’re particularly powerful in the intimate performance space. But the generational conflict is only fitfully involving, in a production, directed by Joanna Settle, that tends to meander, and slows at the end despite the decibel level being ratcheted up. Ultimately, 'The Total Bent' impresses with its cleverness while never quite becoming satisfying."
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"What fatally undermines the show is Stew’s meandering and frequently baffling book...The story unfolds via such leaden pieces of exposition as 'It’s back-story time' while, under Joanna Settle’s ponderous direction, the dialogue invariably sounds stilted. There are also numerous allusions to the supposedly ongoing Montgomery bus boycott, which happened in the mid-1950s, yet everything else suggests the action is happening 10 or more years later. It’s a frustrating hodgepodge."
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"It's a show with ambition and talent to spare, but also a frustratingly muddled story…The musical numbers by Stew and Rodewald move fluidly from gospel to James Brown-flavored funk to Prince-ified pop, and Blankson-Wood is a wonder…But the text by Stew lacks focus and refinement. The central conflict between Joe Roy and Marty is undercooked…There's a great musical buried somewhere inside 'The Total Bent,' but it will take some further excavating to draw it out."
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“A fascinating piece of work, ‘The Total Bent’ unfortunately falls somewhat apart toward the end. Characters drop in and out of the narrative abruptly, without the chance to give the audience the sense of closure the situation calls for...The score, on the other hand, is simply amazing. The various tunes and styles—ranging from gospel to hard driving rock—perfectly capture the spirit of the show’s era, as well as the temperaments of the characters."
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"Much of this show is about the music and the band - it seems the plot is secondary - with Stew leaving much up to your imagination to connect dots. It seems that it is really about ideas and themes rather than linear story...The concert-stage ready actors never fail to dazzle and blow the roof off the joint. I don't think this one is destined for Broadway given the holes in the storyline. But an enjoyable evening at the Public Theater is nothing to rattle your tambourine at."
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"These themes resonate with me. The show, however, didn't quite work...The last 20 minutes of the show is mostly a concert. A ridiculously good concert, but a concert nonetheless…It's exhilarating to watch. But the father–son storyline is still largely unresolved…Had 'The Total Bent' been presented as a song-cycle in Joe's Pub, Stew's comments would have felt appropriate. In the context of a theatrical production, they seemed out of place and aggressive."
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