"Buzz seems, unfortunately, like kind of a jerk. It’s not a small flaw in the show....There’s a lot to enjoy anyway: a consistently inventive score, a cast of six actor-musicians who bring huge charm to the material...It’s fun to watch a young, multicultural, mixed-gender cast portray the crew-cut white men of NASA...But '1969' feels like a song cycle rather than a fully integrated musical. Giles hasn’t found a structure to tell Buzz’s story with sufficient depth, definition and emotional punch."
Read more

"While impressive that each cast member plays their own instruments, this show is equally impressive in the casual manner in which the actors transition from personal story to historical fact...Filled with heart-felt, lively, and, at times, unbelievably stirring folk music...It will only continue to strengthen as more readings and concerts are put on to workshop the material that is at times weighed down by the wallowing of Aldrin."
Read more

“What ‘1969: The Second Man' could use is a song that acts as a mission statement, setting the tone and style for what's to come. But Giles' script is filled with lovely, striking passages and, in combination with Brandt's songs builds a strong case for Aldrin as tragic and absurd...Brandt's songs cast a moonstruck, melancholy mood...The cast of actors/musicians are personable and gifted...Bradley's production is sensibly proportioned and sensitively attuned to the script's pervasive sadness."
Read more

"The mellow sound of Brandt's score proves to be easy listening, but the individual musical numbers do not build to any dramatic climaxes so that the show seems tamer than material concerning depression and alcoholism suggests it should be. However, the ballad forms and guitar/violin instrumentation are pleasant to the ear. Some of Giles' dialogue which is not part of Aldrin's story seems extraneous and the show takes a while to get started."
Read more

“A score of pleasing folk-rock melodies...But ‘1969: The Second Man’ is not really a musical. It’s far closer to a concert...Brandt’s lyrics seldom advance the story; they more often establish the general atmosphere...Unfolds not in scenes with characters, but through folksy storytelling by cast members...But if “1969: The Second Man” won’t take its place along 'Hamilton' or 'Fiorello' or even 'Evita' in the pantheon of biographical musicals, its subject is more intriguing than one might have expected."
Read more