With a Little Help...It's John Belushi

See it if The story of john Belushi. From second city to SNL. His life. Good acting okay plot. If you like Belushi and his comedy.

Don't see it if If you do not like biographical plays about a person's life.

See it if to see an anarchic (or is it just slipshod?) bio of the anarchistic (or was he just reckless?) 70s comedy legend.

Don't see it if you want to get a true sense of what made Belushi tick, what made him so funny & iconic, or what really led to his premature demise.

Also Major cheers for Jack Zullo's energetic, fearless performance as Belushi, Keith Saltojanes' convincing performance as Dan Ackroyd & the live blues band's wonderful accompaniment. But major jeers for the awkward, unfunny, dated, unconvincing recreations of Belushi's early sketch work. If one was not already familiar with Belushi & Co's groundbreaking work at Second City, on SNL & for National Lampoon, one would wonder why anyone ever thought he was funny or clever. And, although Zullo sniffs from a bottle a lot, it is hard to imagine from this play what killed Belushi or what led to his self-destruction unless you already know his story. There's a lot of potential here, but it is squandered on a sloppily crafted, clumsily directed production that needs a lot more refining.... Read more Read less

See it if you are willing to tolerate direction that does not meet the demands of this incredibly complex show/topic.

Don't see it if a great band, excellent singing, solid acting are not enough to hold your interests. Or you don't know comedy history(and don't want to)

Also The show does need to get more of its biographical facts correct and not make it appear that Belushi simply fell off the map after Saturday Night Live in 1978. In fact, his film career was just beginning to get going (Blues Brothers was not even released until 1980).

The biggest weakness though is too weak direction. That said this is an incredibly difficult show to direct and requires great, not solid, direction to be successful. The director, once deciding to make this a multimedia show, needs to make continuous great use of that tool.

This is a serious show about a man whose success was based on parody. You need to show what Belushi is making fun of (i.e. Joe Cocker's spastic movements while performing), then show Belushi, then Jack Zullo doing Belushi so those uninformed in the audience know what is actually happening on stage. That is only done once in 2 hours.

The band and cast treated the audience to a wonderful 1/2 concert after the show I saw.... Read more Read less

See it if you remember John Belushi, if you are a "Boomer", if you want to see how he became who he was.

Don't see it if You are a millennial or a Gen Z. You probably have no idea who he was and if you do, it is because you parents and (horrors) grandparents d

Also I loved this show. Yes, it is a little rough around the edges. Jack Zullo was amazing. He inhabited the spirit of John with his craziness and vocal ticks. Some scenes were a little too long, the woman who played Guilda didn't have her down great. it showed another side of John. A softer side, a romantic. He just did not handle the fame and success well.... Read more Read less

See it if To see Jack Zullo do an outstanding impersonation of Belushi, cast of 13 work very hard, nice blues band.

Don't see it if You’d be bored by a poor script strung out by poor & seemingly interminable film clips that in total fail to take on Belushi’s drug habit.

Also Jack Zullo does an amazing job and brings Belushi to life on stage.

Nevertheless, this was a very disappointing show, which despite the best efforts of the talented cast & musicians, dragged on too long, suffered from terrible timing & direction & made no use of what could have been a poignant message about substance abuse.

The jokes in the 1st half, depicting Belushi’s rise, were sorry high school grade humor that has not aged well. Many people walked out at intermission as a result. That's too bad, because the second act was much better. Still... not an overall success.

Conrad pegs this show perfectly. See his review for a great description of the successes & problems here.... Read more Read less

See it if you're a Belushi die-hard; you support indie theatre; biographical plays intrigue you; you enjoy a kick-ass blues band & 1st-rate musicians

Don't see it if you expect to laugh a lot; you're impatient with plays that don't dig deeply into a person's core; escalating drug abuse is a trigger

Also An energetic cast of 13 + a 1st-rate blues band can't rescue a weak script. There's lots of narration about Belushi's meteoric rise to fame, how he packs the house, how he "kills" out there -- however, the jokes are dated, tired, unexceptional.

Jack Zullo, in a bravura performance, does cartwheels in an absurd bumblebee get-up; parodies Joe Cocker's spastic stage movements; swaggers and snorts -- but a superficial script never lets Belushi come alive.

Belushi loved his high-school-sweetie Judy Jacklin & wed her. But the author fails to use Judy as a person who questions John about his downward spiral -- nor does she seem to notice it 'til John's on SNL and he goes missing on a 3-day bender. Judy's more concerned about his fidelity than his demons, taking the position of everyone else: "John is being unprofessional & hard to work with."

Meanwhile, the elephant in the room -- his drug abuse -- is ignored. No one suggests rehab.
The script TELLS -- but fails to show.... Read more Read less

See it if you are OK with improv-level performances in theater context; "Belushi" could have been better in a more focused vehicle. The band was cool

Don't see it if you want "theater"; seek to understand the genius that Belushi was and you have access to Wikipedia and Youtube.

See it if You like John Belushi, the 70s, origins of SNL, second city, blues brothers, a great band, good story good acting. So much going on!

Don't see it if If you don’t like the above

See it if You loved John Belushi the comedian who died too young. The show barely hints at the real man behind the outrageous behavior and drug abuse.

Don't see it if You expect a polished, thoroughly workshopped show. What's on display is still a very rough draft on what could become a good bio-pic film.

Also The Blues band that accompanied this show was so phenomenally good we desperately rooted for the show to be good. To start a show at the end, what follows must be compelling. But the writing is still in too rough a draft and we're still just as clueless as to what drove John Belushi to his too early death: his extreme compulsions.

We get frames of the main events of his rise to iconic fame. We learn that he was a compulsive disruptor of the status quo. He bulldozed his way in & shocked his audience with self-deprecating body-slamming & somersaulting humor. Improv was his natural medium par excellence and his steamrolling and scene stealing technique worked with Second City and National Lampoon but eventually proved fatal as he drew closer to the personal demons he courted via drugs. For this show to work it must get intimately acquainted with those same demons that drove him, or it's just a lifeless series of skits in desperate search of the real life that was just under the surface.... Read more Read less

See it if You are a fan of John Belushi and SNL. It's like reliving great memories and finding out the backstory you never knew.

Don't see it if You are looking to see a lavish Broadway musical.

See it if You like biographical shows. Liked John Belushi. Enjoy a small experimental show with a lead actor working his ass off! Live music.

Don't see it if Want a big show Hate small theaters. Don’t care for bio re-enactments

Also There something there in this show and story. Could use some tightening. The lead actor does a masterful job carrying the show with a surprising fine band backing him. The actor playing dan ackroyd also does a great job.... Read more Read less

See it if You seriously love all aspects of John Belushi, as this play takes far too much time detailing his early years. He was good, not spectacular

Don't see it if You dislike John Belushi's style of comedy and have no interest in the various casts and production of TV's Saturday Night Live show.

Also I really loved the band that plays on stage - they are super!

See it if You are a fan of John Belushi and Saturday live. Also if you like musicals based on a true story with a live band performing all the music.

Don't see it if If you are not a fan of John Belushi and if you don't like musical plays.

See it if You don’t mind sitting through painful skit after skit followed by outbursts of historical data delivered by a underwhelming cast.

Don't see it if You mind seeing bad theatre. An insult to the memory of a great comedian.

See it if You like a band on stage and you are fond of Belushi’s Killer Bee

Don't see it if You are expecting a script, or something funny and thought provoking. You Will learn nothing about Belushie

See it if You're a John Belushi fan, this covers his rise to fame and downfall with loving nostalgia. A great band on stage plays music throughout.

Don't see it if You don't care for John Belushi, SNL, or their type of humor.

See it if You love John Belushi and like sophomoric plays

Don't see it if Dont like John Belushi

See it if To learn about John Belushi

Don't see it if You like an easy to follow strait play

Also First act very slow and minor characters didn’t seem to be warmed up snd quick to respond
Lead was good actor and Dan character great voice and decent acting Second act was much better... Read more Read less

See it if If you are a dyed in the wool Belushi fan.

Don't see it if Does not flow. Too fragmented not well written. Some attempts at humor did not come off.

Also Many of the actors did fine work with their parts. The back up band was terrific.... Read more Read less

See it if If you’re a fan of great skit comedy and want to see John Belushi return from the dead! I found myself believing that Jack Zullo was John!

Don't see it if There’s no reason not to see it!

See it if You like plays that are historical, and ambitious, bio pics. Dreadful writing, lackluster performances.

Don't see it if You have standards, or any standards. This is a vanity project. It should have never been put on the stage.

See it if you want to learn more about John Belushi. The actors and the band are very talented.

Don't see it if you want a play that is connected and has an arc. This play is fragmented. It needs to be edited.

See it if If you grew up during the time or are interested in the roots of American contemporary comedy.

Don't see it if If you're looking for a large budgeted Off Broadway play.

See it if You want a Broadway show at Off Broadway prices! LEad character was phenomenal! Strong supporting cast. The band was sensational!

Don't see it if I was a little unclear in one scene in act one, why is why I didnt give it 100. I'm going back to see it again. Broadway bound?