Liberty: A Monumental New Musical
Closed 1h 20m
Liberty: A Monumental New Musical
66

Liberty: A Monumental New Musical NYC Reviews and Tickets

66%
(87 Ratings)
Positive
57%
Mixed
29%
Negative
14%
Members say
Great singing, Entertaining, Relevant, Slow, Original

About the Show

Inspired by historical events, this family musical chronicles how the Statue of Liberty became an immigration icon and symbol of freedom.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (87)

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75 Reviews | 9 Followers
85
Relevant, Thought-provoking, Enchanting, Clever, Charming

See it if You like a charming, historical story; you have kids into theatre and history

Don't see it if You want something more adult

360 Reviews | 76 Followers
85
Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Resonant, Relevant, Entertaining

See it if You need to entertain a child...many elements of the story are brought forth, leaving paths for profitable conversation.

Don't see it if You don't have a child with you.

Nic
561 Reviews | 99 Followers
82
Relevant, Charming, Delightful, Fluffy, Cliched

See it if you'd enjoy a blatantly unsubtle yet surprisingly moving story of the value of immigration to America.

Don't see it if you're lactose intolerant. There's a fair amount of cheese for one show. But the actors are talented and earnest, and perfectly cast.

68 Reviews | 16 Followers
77
Entertaining, Original, Patriotic, Family-friendly, Great singing

See it if you like-great singing, a take on a historical event that resonates today, a piece where actors/singers juggle multiple roles & do it well

Don't see it if you-want live music,are looking for character development,(this is about ideals,competing patriotic narratives),want an elaborate set design

228 Reviews | 88 Followers
75
Original

See it if you want to enjoy a show that is educational ,entertaining,original,and fun for the whole family.Great cast,especially Tina Stafford.

Don't see it if just see it!

87 Reviews | 13 Followers
75
Clever, Delightful, Entertaining, Original

See it if The music and songs were creative and entertaining.

Don't see it if If you aren't interested in the history of the Statue of Liberty and the time period involved around immigration

297 Reviews | 78 Followers
70
Entertaining, Ambitious, Educational, Absorbing, Relevant

See it if you're cool with little-known US history facts & anecdotes. Enjoyable, & if you pay attention you'll learn a lot. Young A Shapiro's amazing.

Don't see it if you don't want to see another history-lesson musical. Fun & fact-filled afternoon (NO INTERMISSION), with good singing. Perfect family show.

84 Reviews | 47 Followers
70
Relevant, Clever, Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Entertaining

See it if You enjoy history and like original musical. It is a a nice paced musical with a talented young lady to play the Statue of liberty

Don't see it if You like live orchestra musicals, need elaborate sets...its done well paired down.

Critic Reviews (21)

The New York Times
July 8th, 2016

"Earnest, sentimental and intermittently charming, this family production offers a slice of American history that here tastes mostly like apple pie. Whether the show engages you will partly depend on how easily you accept a walking, talking statue...The strengths of 'Liberty' include its songs..It also has a winning star in the teenage Ms. Shapiro, who brings pure conviction to her peculiar role. Under Evan Pappas’s direction, the rest of the cast is largely impressive."
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Lighting & Sound America
July 8th, 2016

“Designed to spoon-feed a young audience the idea that immigrants are good and those opposed to them are bad...The idea of a girl statue offering little homilies gets old pretty fast, and the show's creators have little more to offer in the way of drama. The songs favor an '80s-'90s middle-of-the-road pop sound that isn't too appropriate given the subject matter and isn't terribly compelling on its own terms...Personally, I'd wait for a revival of ‘Ragtime’, and take the kids.”
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Talkin' Broadway
July 4th, 2016

"Because Liberty isn't really a character—and certainly isn't a person—her quest is as meaningless as it is preachy, which is to say quite a lot. And given the stiff posture, unyielding facial expressions, and stilted singing voice Shapiro brings to the part, she's not even especially likable. (She is, however, utterly convincing as a statue.) There's no point to any of this except for Liberty to teach and for us to listen, which is made harder still by the lessons being not that much fun."
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TheaterScene.net
July 13th, 2016

“The question is: who is the intended audience? It is too simplistic for adults and has too little action for children. With a bouncy score and easily accessible lyrics, ‘Liberty’ is pleasant without being exceptional. It does prove timely with lines like ‘America, America for the real Americans,’ ‘Isn’t it time we closed the golden door?’ and ‘You can’t put up a wall’ which suggests nothing much has changed in the last 132 years.”
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CurtainUp
July 4th, 2016

"Family-friendly, it surely beats an old history text for teaching you about that legendary Lady…The 17 musical numbers range from the sassy to the sublime…Goldstein adumbrates the key events of its journey with symbolism rather than retelling its history in a strict sense. And, as helmed by Pappas, it works. Abigail Shapiro turns in a solid performance as the protagonist Liberty. She pulls off her lead role with surprising confidence and has the pipes to belt out her various songs."
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Theater Pizzazz
July 4th, 2016

"A perfectly timed, unfortunately relevant and utterly thrilling musical…The entire cast is excellent…While the performance of Regina Schuyler veers into caricature, the direction by Evan Pappas is otherwise admirable…It’s a family-friendly show and even very little children were engrossed. It addresses our aspirations, the America of our hopes and dreams and, yes, this reviewer wept!"
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Stage Buddy
July 6th, 2016

"The show’s pop-oriented songs are serviceable but not innovative or particularly tuneful. Some numbers are sung with ringing fervor...Doing the score no big favors is the fact that it is presented as a recorded soundtrack…The libretto is probably the show’s strongest aspect. Although 'Liberty' seems a little heavy-handed at times in the heart-on-sleeve way it wears its pro-immigrant sentiments, the story clearly drew in most of the adults and kids who saw it with me."
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Broadway Blog
July 4th, 2016

"Misleading as its history may be, and middling as are much of its book and score (little of which attempts to suggest the music of the day), 'Liberty' nonetheless serves as a moderately effective work of historical propaganda on the importance of immigration in making America great...It really doesn’t get your red, white, and blues unfurled until its final moments when the company sings Lazarus’s words while striking images (I wish there were more) of the statue’s construction are shown."
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