The Boy Who Danced On Air NYC Reviews and Tickets

"The incredible cast are all wonderful in the roles they have been given...The entire cast have phenomenal vocals and strong acting abilities...Tony Speciale directs with sensitivity and some very clever tricks to showcase the age gap...The music is infectious and theatrical with threads of pop and Arabic ties blending nicely...As wonderful as this show is, and it has some amazing moments, musicals are now justifying things in society that may not have a right to be seen in such a bright light."
Read more

"Most of Rosser’s songs are meandering, tuneless...Lyrics tend to be less specific and evocative without some structure. Well=researched and insightful phrases pepper even less successful efforts...Sohne’s book, however, is deft, illuminating, strong, and in the end carries one past musical weakness. Characters are credible and heady....Tony Speciale’s direction and Nejla Yatkin’s integrated choreography are inspired."
Read more

"Uneven. The book is overworked. In addition to the two love stories, there's a distracting subplot...But Rosser's score nicely incorporates Afghan rhythms through the use of percussion and the lute-like rubab. Some of the songs are hauntingly beautiful...The Abingdon's artistic director Tony Speciale has created a lovely showcase for their work...Speciale has also assembled a cast of engaging actors with strong singing voices."
Read more

“It has a good production design, some strong performances and songs sporting some good melodies…The book is both overly complicated and not specific enough…The corruption story should be cut, eliminating a good half hour from the current two and a half hour show and focusing it more tightly…Raviv is by far the best here, adding immeasurably to the sensitivity and nuance of the show…Admirably ambitious. It may stumble a little, but that’s what happens when you leap forward.”
Read more

"This might have worked had Sohne’s book had a little more poetry in it, a bit more subtlety. But the dialogue and the emotions therein feel as though rendered with a trowel versus a paint brush...Sohne and Rossner’s songs have an authentic, idiomatic sound to them, and yet are rendered in a cozily familiar musical theater style...Iwata seems to be a young performer worth watching...The rest of the cast feels oddly stilted...Wish Sohne and Rossner could take another crack at the show."
Read more

"Spirited and nuanced, but lacks the caution, finesse, and heterogeneity needed to avoid joining the ranks of American musicals that have tried to absorb non-Western cultures, only to abuse and debase them...The actors perform with a liveliness befitting a much larger stage, even though each has been directed as though in his own world...No Afghans were harmed in the making of this play (at least not physically), but it doesn’t appear that many were consulted, either."
Read more

"Directed by Tony Speciale with great sensitivity, the story is a heart-wrenching look a boy named Paiman, played beautifully by the ethereal Troy Iwata...If Shone’s book takes unnecessary tangents, the three men at the heart of the conflict, nonetheless, head an impressive cast, and the dancing as well as the singing is top-notch in Rosser and Sohne’s touching musical."
Read more

“Despite the violence and troubling subject matter, the show has moments that are quite beautiful…While not great theater, the story has potential—although a side plot involving a power plant built by Americans is distracting…Despite the setbacks, director Tony Speciale manages to keep your attention…Raviv turns in a strong and steady performance…Rosser and Sohne took a risk, and they deserve credit for that—even if their hard work does not add up to a hit.”
Read more