“The combination of cheerleaders, jump scares and songs makes for a tantalizing mix...Unfortunately, Allen’s meandering show is a textbook example of how to squander a promising concept. There is almost no cheering and not nearly enough slashing; on the other hand, there is an abundance of exposition...The show can never quite figure out what it wants to say, or how...The sluggish pace is hampered by Michael Bello’s slack direction."
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“While Allen's book fumbles, his music for the show soars...Most of the songs are catchy pop bops that pulsate with rhythm and pizzazz...In spite of the hiccups, ‘We are the Tigers’ is good. It's not great. It's not terrible. It's good. And it's good fun. It earns its laughs and its applause organically and on its merits...It's an entertaining romp, with some great music, and nine women slaying a stage...Don't take it or yourself too seriously, and you should have a blast.”
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“For its first 30 minutes...’We Are the Tigers’ is quite promising. We get an appealing cross section of archetypal characters, bouncy songs and vibrant staging...What might have made for a smart contained campy spoof is padded out to a jumbled drawn out...Making little impact...The characters are all cleverly fleshed out, the milieu is authentically rendered, but the rambling structure is a drag...Tangled up within ‘We Are the Tigers’ is a jocular entertainment.”
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"Isn't as sharp (or as funny) as it should be...Despite its substantial slices of pointed, tuneful material, plus a cleanly staged, energetic production, this new show keeps swerving from tone to tone...Each of the nine actors playing cheerleaders don their adolescent guises of immaturity, insecurity, and occasional inebriation with convincing gusto...If Allen’s willing to slash through some of the show’s excess and fluffy moralizing, there’s a pretty witty musical well worth rescuing in there."
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“’We Are The Tigers’ sparkles and shines, and also offers a glimpse into the ugly inner turmoil tantamount in high school...Yet the tropes applied to each character never go below the surface...’We Are The Tigers’ is ripe with teenage tropes: slut shaming, manipulation, peer pressure — as well as a healthy dose of Gen Z and millennial jokes, but only a few are compelling enough to stick. We never get to see the squad bond or affirm one another: instead, they bristle and spat. And stab.”
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"A catchy score by Preston Max Allen captures the angst-ridden and real-life problems of teen life...Michael Bello’s direction provides a light touch and helps move the story along...The choreography by Katherine Roarty nicely shows the tension between lust and restraint...As things get creepier and creepier for the girls, Josh Liebert’s sound and Jamie Roderick’s lighting contribute to a spookiness when events go awry. At times the characters are drawn a little too thinly."
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"Agatha Christie meets Tina Fey in this mildly amusing but derivative Off-Broadway 'killer new musical'…Darkly satirical, the show is spirited enough to appeal to teens or anyone involved in school team activities. Others, not so much…While entertaining, and containing some witty lyrics, the mostly upbeat score has a generic pop sound that sometimes can be monotonous…Standout work from Mimi Scardulla as the girl who transitions from mascot to split-performing cheerleader."
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