"The new production retains this informal, let’s-put-on-a-show air, with simple sets and a spirited cast that includes professional performers alongside former and current members of the military...The book scenes are stuffed with hoary or musty jokes. But they fill the space between songs with sufficient good humor, as performed with winking gusto by the likable young cast. Still, 'Blueprint Specials' is not likely to maintain a foothold in the repertoire...Much of it has naturally dated."
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"Although the broad, unsophisticated humor hasn’t aged particularly well, the show is nonetheless great fun, both for its time-capsule qualities and the catchy score...Unsurprisingly, veteran performers Osnes and Swenson are terrific...Watching the show aboard the massive aircraft carrier that was decommissioned in 1974 after serving from World War II through the Vietnam War is an uplifting and novel experience."
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"This is an impressively elaborate production, with a full-size jazz band and a 34-person cast that includes active and veteran members of the U.S. military...The songs and dialogue may not be especially noteworthy today, but it was based upon a rare pairing of musical theater talent and the armed forces that is unlikely to ever be repeated and deserves to be recognized in such a loving fashion."
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"An unmissable historical curiosity, if not a particularly great musical…An old-fashioned physical comedian, Mattfeld runs away with the show...Unfortunately, not every actor pops quite as much, and Ridgely's breezy direction leaves some performances blowing in the wind. Still, there is a DIY spirit that feels appropriate…The intent of the work doesn't always translate to a modern audience…Theatrical slack aside, 'Blueprint Specials' is mostly watchable and undoubtedly fascinating."
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"The artists behind the original works were uniquely gifted…The wispy, of-its-time plot is crazy but delightful…It is absolutely, gloriously priceless and irreplaceable. The songs are electrifying…And there's no fault to be found with the cast…For writing that was considered all but disposable and inconsequential in its time, it reminds us more than any show in recent memory just how stirring, important, and even transformative musical theatre can be at its most honest and most uplifting best."
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“While the topical material (mainly by Auerbach) and the 20 musical numbers (eight of which are by Loesser and two by famed Hollywood composer Alex North) are dated and relate to the army and army life, particularly the then recent addition of the WACs (Women's Army Corps, the first women other than nurses to serve within the ranks of the U.S. Army), the jokes still register and the unfamiliar melodic and syncopated songs are delightful.”
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"It’s 95 minutes of non-stop tunes, sketches and comedy skits, some that land well, others that definitely feel 70-years old, with a talented cast of singers and dancers…'Blueprint Specials' is a wonderful piece of American history that many would find exciting and especially heartwarming to see given that the ensemble is made up of a compendium of some retired and active military who morph seamlessly into a body of professionals."
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"Could not be more deftly staged, from the creation of a pop-up theater on the hangar of an actual World War II aircraft carrier (the Intrepid, now a museum) to the casting of both bona fide Broadway stars and active duty military officers and Armed Forces veterans...Are these Blueprint Specials replicable now beyond the few performances of the theater festival? It would not surprise me at all if this soldiers show were given a promotion to Off-Broadway."
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