"This is a painfully dated, aimlessly episodic and interminable affair best left to dramatic literature scholars and McNally completists to read...Mr. Gow perhaps saw this showy role as a vehicle for him to shine in and he does up to a point. Gow is an appealing, very talented young man who gives an admirable performance in such problematic material...Ms. Braza has done her best to make something so unwieldy stageworthy."
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“The play is both dated and flawed. The production is enigmatic. For example, Tommy was given an honorable discharge from the military, but where and when he served, remain mysteries...Gaps like these make ‘Tommy Flowers’ unsatisfying, and unfortunately, Braza's staging isn't really able to fill them in. Although the fast-paced repartee between characters is laced with humor and pithy one-liners, by the end of the night I had no idea where Tommy Flowers had gone. Worse, I didn’t care."
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“A cheeky little time capsule from 1971 provides glimpses of the loose, inventive spirit of the youthful Terrence McNally...The play is, in some ways, a long monologue interspersed with dramatic scenes. There are also a few fantasy sequences...Through all of this, Gow is great fun to watch. It’s a flashy and challenging role, and the actor explores effectively all the nooks and crannies of Tommy’s jumbled psyche.”
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"Especially timely now, in our present climate of disunity and unrest...Directed by Braza with the requisite combination of outrageous humor, biting observation, and harrowing poignancy...Despite the show’s occasionally stilted delivery and slow pacing, Starting 5’s production presents a welcome opportunity to see one of McNally’s seminal works...Recognizes its relevance for a new audience, addressing many of the important historic issues that have resurfaced in our own time."
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"There are some dated elements to McNally’s script, but much of it remains surprisingly relevant in part because the playwright did not construct a realistic work...It is in ambiguity that the plays finds its resonance, particularly a year into the Trump Era...The ensemble moves seamlessly from the ridiculous to the realistic...Throughout, Gow finds the humanity that underscores all the character’s actions, and thus finds the tragic in the play’s final moments."
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"The auspicious opening immediately pins Tommy Flowers onto a historical timeline, back in the pre-electronic era. It’s wonderfully nostalgic...A series of skits and vignettes, under the guidance of Braza, take us through Tommy’s Big Apple roller coaster of highs and lows...Will he ultimately follow the steps of the dangerous manual? It is here when McNally’s decades old play suddenly leaps from the amusing past into an unsettling present."
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