Love Me Forever Billy H. Tender (FringeNYC) NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Show-Score Member Reviews (23)
See it if You like plays about fading pop stars and their lesser known siblings who suffer in silence.
Don't see it if You expect to understand what is going on at all times. You like a coherent story.
See it if you're looking for a refreshing, original piece of theatre unlike anything else you've seen!
Don't see it if raunchy material makes you uncomfortable, or if you hate audience participation.
See it if you are ready to sit with the live wire of genius.
Don't see it if you are scared of the sort of jungle gym play you did as a kid
See it if you love your phone.
Don't see it if you genuinely like Justin Bieber.
See it if You enjoy characters who are deeply human, who will surprise, disappoint, and intrigue you and who are a part of a rivetingly flawed family.
Don't see it if You are uncomfortable with the idea of a modern tragedy or feel uneasy around sexual content.
See it if You like clever shows for a technological age, and you like layers upon layers of irony.
Don't see it if You're offended by mild sexual content, I guess.
See it if you like pop music, futurism, and compelling characters.
Don't see it if you are easily offended by adult themes (e.g. sex, online sex, etc.)
See it if You enjoy being taken on a journey and you thrive on being an engaged audience member.
Don't see it if You don't like to think or be challenged as an audience member.
Critic Reviews (5)
"Jesse LaVercombe’s charming, bittersweet, oddball comedy about a pop star in crisis, his adoring little brother and their theater-theorist mother — all played by Mr. LaVercombe, though I bet a bunch of the crowd had no idea it was the mother who was engaging them in audience-participation sex-chat dialogue."
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“There’s a lot going on in this intense show, from a predictable mental-breakdown arc to a critique of social media and some awkward audience-participation phone-sex banter - as well as diverting folk songs that start out charming and then turn creepy. It doesn’t quite add up, but it’s enough to make your wonder where LaVercombe might be in five years.”
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"What LaVercombe lacks in musical technique, he more than compensates for with boyish charm, impeccable timing and aching vulnerability. Moreover, his writing is taut, funny, and shrewd...Ultimately, ‘Love Me Forever’s’ rocketing pace also proves its own worst enemy; minimal action and narrative progression make this solo show feel stretched even at an hour...Yet this does not detract from a show that is otherwise probing, sincere, and highly entertaining."
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"LaVercombe's visceral play is unique in the sense of approach. LaVercombe has versatility as a performer. Through his speech, musicality, and movement, he showcased his vast skills. Yet when it came to character, he didn't necessarily create distinct characters in the common sense of a solo play...Director Lazarus took LaVercombe's script and elevated the material in a manner some solo works never achieve...'Love Me Forever Billy H. Tender' is a play geared best for the millennial mind frame."
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"This mind-blowing, substantial, and manifold text is from an eagle-eyed public voyeur – Jesse LaVercombe. He has not only written the script and co-written the music, but also performs in this one-man labyrinthine, psychological, tragicomedy masterpiece. The mirror he holds up to the world is enormous and reflects all of the warped fun house, distorted aspects of ourselves, as well…I would like to write a thesis on LaVercombe’s acting abilities."
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