Songs About Trains NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Production Covid-19 Safety ProtocolsShow-Score Member Reviews (36)
See it if you like folk music
Don't see it if you dont like great singing
See it if you love folk music, black box shows, or stories that focus on imparting a powerful message more than featuring an event-driven plotline.
Don't see it if you don't like intimate venues or only enjoy shows with a linear plot. This show features famous songs interspersed with letter readings.
See it if A Stage Manager's nightmare (and that's a good thing). Great direction, singing, playing, sound design, choreography.
Don't see it if You hate folk music and/or love those those in power. One directorial choice that fails (but you know why it was made Read more
See it if You enjoy an intimate night of storytelling mixed with wonderful eclectic songs, dancing, and subject matter around the railroad
Don't see it if You don’t enjoy folk music, immigrant stories.
See it if A fast-moving mix of styles using diverse, musically gifted performers reflecting the peoples who were exploited to build the railroad.
Don't see it if You aren’t sympathetic to tales of oppressed peoples’ troubles and pain. Read more
See it if You like to hear great songs and like a story told through letters from the past. Oh, and there’s also a great tap routine.
Don't see it if You’re hoping the title might be misleading- it’s not!
See it if A lively concert celebrates several cultural groups that built the US railroad thru 21 brilliant songs & stories on immigration, labor,*
Don't see it if You are not particularly eager for Folk, Bluegrass, or R&B & Soul Music. Read more
See it if Wonderful music with great voices. An enjoyable night out for all.
Don't see it if If you prefer a play, then skip this one.
Critic Reviews (3)
As a piece of theater, Songs About Trains is earnest and unique. Lead author (and performer) Beto O’Byrne along with contributing authors Eugenie Chan, Reginald Edmund, Jay B Muskett and Rebecca Martínez (who also co-directs) have constructed a work that’s not definitely a musical and not quite a play, but more of a performance piece which sews stories together with music, dance and songs.
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"Comprised of actor/musicians who have performed on Broadway and elsewhere, Songs About Trains is exciting both musically and narratively, and boasts powerhouse vocals. I was one of the few brave enough to opt for the 'onstage' seating, and it was an exciting, intimate experience. No fear of audience participation (though you may occasionally make eye contact with a performer), it's simply a way to be closer to the action and more 'in' the music."
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"In the telling, the audience is treated to an exhaustive mini-history of labor relations, Manifest Destiny, and rare moments in the American adventure where diverse groups, whatever their background, worked together and got along—because, dammit, the railroads needed building, and however cruel the taskmasters or backbreaking the labor, it beat out enduring the Irish potato famine or the wholesale eradication of Native American tribes."
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