Twelfth Night (The Public Theater)

"A musical with enormous heart and smarts to match its considerable spectacle...Theater that truly looks like NYC...One of the tightest productions I've seen from Shakespeare in the Park...Thoroughly delightful and heartwarming musical...Taub's songs are not only catchy but dramatically efficient, slicing through exposition and serving up objectives with a dexterity few other contemporary musical-theater composers possess...A truly stunning production.” Full Review

"Shaina Taub's joyful and sunny updated musical version of Shakespeare's comedy, 'Twelfth Night,' is back in a full production courtesy of free Shakespeare in the Park and Public Works which premiered an earlier production for four performances during Labor Day Weekend 2016. This slightly trimmed and tightened version is even more entertaining and the witty contemporary lyrics make this fun for young and old, as well as Shakespeare veterans and novices." Full Review

"At least as good as any of the new musicals that have opened in the past decade, and better than all but a handful of them. Indeed, Ms. Taub’s tuneful pop-soul score is reminiscent of a big-budget Disney show, only without the soul-shriveling slickness of a cold-hearted commodity musical like 'Frozen'... I can do no more in this space than suggest its limitless pleasures, not the least of which is a fetching performance by Ms. Taub as Feste, who is an accordion-toting street singer." Full Review

“Seeing such a diverse group of people onstage was inspiring...The highlight was the fantastic original score by Shaina Taub...She chose just the right spots to musicalize and her lyrics smartly jumped off from Shakespeare's text...A terrific marriage of text and music...I found this delightful, heartfelt and tuneful incarnation to be just the thing to see on a summer night...The performers were all terrific." Full Review

"Taub has written music and lyrics for this adaptation, and the result is an absolute delight. Her work never meanders away from the play’s structure, but rather adds to the celebration, along with choreography by Latarro...The rest of the principal cast does their characters proud...'Twelfth Night,' among all of its flourish, evokes one word: joy. Every second is filled with it, from the silly machinations of the self-preserving Malvolio to Feste’s witty yet sincere commentary." Full Review

"If theatre be the food of love, the company played on, with the audience loudly cheering every quick reprise and dramatic exit through to the finale chorus, a heart-warming anthem of empathy extolling how much better the world would be if everyone just tried seeing it through the eyes of another...Despite the tremendous work by the theatre professionals, the highlight of any Public Works production is, of course, watching the community members of the ensemble." Full Review

“Illyria has never been so welcoming...This freewheeling version...proves a consistent delight. Purists may blanch, but everyone else will be thoroughly charmed....Despite the broad humor on display, the adaptation doesn't stint on the piece's emotional power...It's the amateur performers who truly make the evening shine, their energy and enthusiasm at being onstage entirely infectious...There have been other musical versions of the play before, but none as giddily pleasurable as this one." Full Review

"Taub’s score is Broadway-ready, and she is a smashingly good charmer of a performer...A veritable parade of delights...If the thought of a professional/amateur effort sounds worthy but somewhat academic, please obliterate that thought. Taub’s version can only be described as jubilant. By crowding 50 members of various community groups on stage, the entire place takes off. Amateurs, yes; but well-rehearsed, talented, and above all energetically engaged in every moment." Full Review

"Get thee to the Delacorte before it is too late...A magical, festive, and highly accessible evening of Shakespeare that lifted my spirits, kept me grinning from ear-to-ear, and sent me out of the park and back into the concrete jungle of Manhattan with a pep in my step and a flutter in my heart...Musicals have a paradoxical power to simultaneously simplify nuanced ideas and heighten emotional resonance. The sacrifice of the former, here, is equally made up for by the pleasure of the latter." Full Review

“The kind of outdoor summer theater that transcends bad weather...The co-creators take Shakespeare’s themes and wrap them in an ebullient package, making sure everything about this production says ‘welcome’. With a score of catchy tunes and ardent performances, it’s a happy marriage of a classic play with a contemporary execution...The co-directors create bursts of energy as they cram the stage with the colossal ensemble and draw gratifying performances from the cast." Full Review

"It is summer and time to give your fools a night off because Shaina Taub’s genius coupled with the creative mind of Kwame Kwei-Armah strike again...Get over there and stand in line for tickets...This show is a community effort, which brings to it the richness of collaboration of minds from all over our city...It was exhilarating to see this kind of inclusiveness in the piece...Alas, adaptations sometimes suffer a little loss of story line. But who cares too much when we are so entertained?” Full Review

“Vibrant, contemporary and very funny...This colorful, spirited production is a joy from start to finish...Taub’s lyrics cleverly convey the Bard’s tale with a decidedly contemporary edge...So generous in spirit is this production that even the vain Malvolio gets a big, Broadway-style number, not to mention some respect and compassion." Full Review

“Shakespeare's unruly romantic farce is expertly trimmed down to a fast, funny, touching ninety minutes...Taub's songs effortlessly condense the action, revealing complicated emotional states and knotty plot points with ease...The production is loaded with delightful bits of business...Everyone has been thoroughly drilled and they appear to be having a ball...This version of Illyria seems like an earthly paradise.” Full Review

"A sweet alternative reality...summoned by Kwei-Armah and Eustis, and Taub...What they and their team have conjured is a Platonic ideal of the crazy salad that is New York City in the silly season...Taub and Kwei-Armah have extended the original play’s consideration of the ambiguities of identity to address an age in which the divisions between sexes and classes paradoxically feel both more porous and unbridgeable than ever....It’s empathy that makes this production feel like such a blessing." Full Review

"I found the new version just as entertaining– but also improved as a work of theater....I saw the blue cast members, who were noticeably more streamlined and in sync than what I remembered from 2016, undoubtedly because of the extra time to practice. They felt more like townsfolk from Illyria rather than non-actors thrilled to be on a New York stage...Taub’s songs are all tuneful...Taub’s 'Twelfth Night' makes an effort to make a seamless whole out of verses written four centuries apart." Full Review

“Magnificently fun musical version of ‘Twelfth Night’...The brilliant and delicious Taub who not only wrote the intoxicatingly fun music and lyrical adaptation, but played the fool Feste with a perfect frivolity, the show perfectly encapsulates the charming treaty on love and attraction...The playfulness of the ensemble enliven every scene they participate in with energy and joy...Kwei-Armah and Taub get the balance just right, perfectly and enthusiastically bringing everyone together." Full Review

“Entertaining, poignant and vital community-oriented theater...Integrating a catchy, pop-style score...’Twelfth Night’ is a fast-paced and accessible musical comedy adaptation...The professional performances are terrific...but the jubilant chorus is what is most striking and refreshing...Of the many productions of ‘Twelfth Night’ I have seen in recent years, this is by far the most bright and upbeat.” Full Review

“The production, a restaged version of the show...thumbs its nose at the weather and delivers its own deluge of pure delight...The acting, dancing, and singing skills vary among the ensemble members...Even with all the running around, the very large cast, and the outsized production numbers, it is very easy to follow the plot, which has been boiled down to its essentials and configured into a joyful romantic comedy in which all ends happily." Full Review

"A downpour would begin anew, but the undeterred cast gallantly completed the show...There was so much fun being had that most of us could not be bothered to worry about being a bit soaked...The play lends itself to turning it into a romp in this free-wheeling, joyful conception...Hits the highlights of the play with the aim of providing sheer fun, thanks to the musical creativity, eager performances and an atmosphere that makes for delight in the park." Full Review

"Gives off vibes of inspired nuttiness and celebratory sexual ambiguity...This latest updating...obliterates any memory of predecessors...Shaina Taub leads the orchestra with aplomb, plays the fool Feste with zip, and wrote the splendid songs which explore themes of gender switching and perspective. This infectious and fizzy spectacle rushes by in 90 minutes, a delicious summer cooler. What a pity it will gone soon. But that makes it all the more special." Full Review

“A pared-back text and music and lyrics by the phenomenally talented Taub...The skill of Taub is to compose within and behind what already exists in the play. The makeover makes the characters more clearly understandable emotionally...Not only is every part of the stage used and splashed with color and activity, but, in the play’s final song, the evening’s overall theme is emphasized...Shakespeare at its most open-hearted and holistic." Full Review

"How refreshing...to arrive at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater and enjoy a production that celebrates inclusiveness without reserve—and without pandering or preaching to the choir...Kwei-Armah, Taub and Eustis not only make 'Twelfth Night' accessible to the breadth of audiences represented by their company—which includes kids—but emphasize the differences and contradictions that can exist within each one of us. And leave us laughing, and dancing, in the end." Full Review

"This is no ordinary production of Shakespeare’s much-loved romance, and not just because of Taub’s impressive contributions...Purists will likely quibble with some of the liberties taken. Everyone else will have a great time watching the antics as Viola dresses in grief as her brother, setting in motion a tangle of misguided relationships, but finding herself in the process...The whole production speaks to promise wherever you look, most especially in Taub’s direction.” Full Review

"Although somewhat overcast with rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, the mood onstage for 'Twelfth Night' in Central Park at The Delacorte Theater couldn’t have been sunnier!...Listen carefully to the words of Taub’s songs and you hear a 21st century sensibility, especially in terms of feminism and acceptance...The combination of amateur and professional in the cast provides unprecedented energy, enthusiasm and spirit on the Delacorte stage." Full Review

"A top-notch cast which blends the talents of both professional and community performers...Though there has been some tidy contemporary-edge adapting to tie the story up into a comfy 90 minutes, the spirit of the musical is admirably true to its source material and is only enhanced by the diverse and delightful songs...The integrated eclecticism in choreography, music and design reinforces once again the evening's message of inclusivity. 'Twelfth Night' is a joy from beginning to end." Full Review