These Paper Bullets!
Closed 2h 35m
These Paper Bullets!
75

These Paper Bullets! NYC Reviews and Tickets

75%
(73 Ratings)
Positive
79%
Mixed
11%
Negative
10%
Members say
Entertaining, Clever, Funny, Delightful, Hilarious

About the Show

The Atlantic presents a musical, modish ripoff of William Shakespeare’s 'Much Ado About Nothing' about a rock group from Liverpool that returns to swinging ’60s London after conquering the U.S.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (73)

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1006 Reviews | 948 Followers
80
Funny, Entertaining, Delightful, Fun

See it if you like to have fun & listen to fun beatles-like music.Loosely based on Much Ado About Nothing. Some lines taken verbatim from the original

Don't see it if you are a Shakespeare purist.

178 Reviews | 281 Followers
80
Funny, Swingin' sixties, Entertaining, Clever, Good "not a musical" music

See it if You like innovative takes on Shakespeare (this is Inspired by Much Ado), want a fun night at the theater (great date show)

Don't see it if You are turned off by Shakespearean language, zaniness, or impious takes on the Beatles

263 Reviews | 62 Followers
79
Witty, Entertaining, Funny, Great costumes, Fluffy

See it if You love Much Ado About Nothing (which I do) Looking for some just plain fun

Don't see it if You are looking for something serious or tight

66 Reviews | 36 Followers
79
Confusing, Clever, Original, Slow

See it if you are a fan of any of the stars, or if you want to see a new treatment of "Much Ado about Nothing," or if you like "Beatles" type music.

Don't see it if you aren't overly familiar with "Much Ado," and don't have a lot of patience for narrative confusion and pacing issues.

187 Reviews | 41 Followers
78
Original, Well-acted, Funny, Entertaining, Clever

See it if you like plays based on Shakespeare's. I had a great time, but if you don't know the premise you might not stay for 2nd act -- but DO.

Don't see it if you're not that keen on Shakespeare. This clever updated version of "Much Ado About Nothing" is fun, but some familiarity is helpful.

54 Reviews | 29 Followers
78
Absorbing, Clever, Funny, Great acting, Entertaining

See it if If you want to see something fun, lively and colorful. The cast looked like they were having a great time. Very well staged.

Don't see it if You are expecting the punky music that normally comes from BJ Armstrong. This ain't Green Day. The songs are very Beatle-esque.

114 Reviews | 86 Followers
76
Entertaining, Great staging

See it if you like the beatles and enjoy a light off broadway musical

Don't see it if you dont like the beatles and dont like silly light hearted shows

175 Reviews | 20 Followers
75
Clever, Entertaining, Funny, Quirky

See it if You love the Beatles and the Bard, in that order. I do wish they had fully committed language-wise to one style though.

Don't see it if You don't like mixing britpop with Shakespeare.

Critic Reviews (40)

Theatermania
December 15th, 2015

"It's a heady mixture of individually powerful elements (Shakespeare, the Beatles, Armstrong) that occasionally tastes like chocolate cake washed down with Riesling — it's just too much of a sugar rush. When it gets the balance right, however, 'These Paper Bullets!' is genuinely delightful and very funny...The play may be trying way too hard to please, but that doesn't ruin the charming and timeless comedy at its core."
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BroadwayWorld
December 16th, 2015

"The parallels work and Jones' script has clever moments, but the overwritten text is full of soggy dialogue and extended bits that aren't especially funny...The frothy direction is built on fun splashes of the mod era and the capable cast dives right in, but the indisputable highlights of the piece come any time the boys dig into Armstrong's jaunty lyrics and bouncy melodies."
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Lighting & Sound America
December 21st, 2015

"Stripped of the author's stunning language and character insights that remain relevant four centuries later, 'Much Ado About Nothing' is a silly, mechanical thing, constructed of two narrative lines that are tonally at odds... Mostly, what he has brought to 'These Paper Bullets!' are vulgar, unfunny gags about massage parlors, drugs, gonorrhea, and pubic hair. It's Shakespeare, coarsened and pitched at an audience of 21st-century groundlings. I want my Bard back."
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Talkin' Broadway
December 15th, 2015

"They have taken an ironclad work and, through their stewardship, made it so iffy, so unsteady, and so just-plain annoying, that, even at a running time of two and a half hours (shorter than your typical uncut 'Much Ado'), it feels overlong by at least an hour, and maybe much more than that."
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CurtainUp
December 16th, 2015

"'These Paper Bullets' delightfully and successfully brings together the unlikely mix of Liverpoolian and Shakespearean dialogue. Given a cast that besides being comfortable in classic as modern roles can sing and dance, this play with music has been a hit in its previous stops...The Atlantic Theater run is again a sure-fire crowd pleaser. What would keep this from being a 10 is the failure to edit out some of over-the-top comic shtick."
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TheaterScene.net
December 27th, 2015

"The director, might have made the Act One complications more comprehensible by slowing things down, but she has gotten brilliant work from the entire cast... 'These Paper Bullets!' is lots of fun for those with a bit of patience to wade through the modern gloss to get to the Shakespearean soul of the story. Patience is rewarded with a different take on the original and a stage-full of fine performers who deliver the story with unflagging energy and panache."
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Theatre is Easy
December 18th, 2015

"When this mod show rocks, it really rocks, but the musical numbers are so strong that there should be more...Though Rolin Jones does an admirable job, nothing beats the original. The dialogue is so on the surface that Bea and Ben's courtship isn't as satisfying. Jackson Gay's direction works especially well, but all this running around sometimes drags. That could easily be fixed with more songs. One can't help but wonder why this play with music can't just be a musical."
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Theater Pizzazz
December 20th, 2015

"It takes a while for it to find its footing – it’s a little awkward and sluggish at first – but it gains confidence and humor as it progresses and ends on a high note. Surprisingly, the weakest link is the music…Luckily, 'These Paper Bullets' is more a play with music than an actual musical, so its melodic flaws are not fatal. The storyline, however, fueled by what is arguably Shakespeare’s most accessible comedy, exudes vivacity."
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