Mister Matt, as I recall you have only seen the show in London. Have you seen it on Broadway recently? The book was entirely re-written before it opened on Broadway. Not a line or two here and there, entirely re-written.
Ah yes, I was thinking of the London production. But I would love to know what changes were made. Did they get rid of the erroneous love interest or was it not abandoned by the end of the show? Was the idea of seducing nuns leading into Lady in the Long Black Dress get dropped (as well as the song)? Was any sense of tension or suspense added to the climax?
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
IMHO, one of the reasons why critics are becoming harsher is because Broadway has become a very expensive business — a date night can set you back some pretty serious coin, and I think the critics are keeping that in mind when assessing a show. I mean, let's face it: is CLEAR DAY worth over a hundred bucks per seat? Is BONNIE AND CLYDE? Or, for that matter, SPIDERMAN? I'm kinda thinking no, sorry, they're not. And now with producers scamming tickets for as high as 450 for "premium seating", I know that were I a critic, I'd certainly be looking at that in tandem with what I'm getting for that kind of money.