Two of the harshest reviews so far are from Peter Marks (now of the Washington Post, formerly the #2 at The Times) and Clives Barnes (now of the New York Post, formerly the #1 at The Times). There's also a favorable one from someone I've never heard of, Peter Santilli of the AP (where's Michael Kuchwara?).
Marks (
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53028-2004Oct21.html):
"Second-worst, fifth-worst, eighth-worst? When a musical is this awful, you pore over your personal Book of the Lame: Was "Taboo" this bad? Surely the jaw dropped further during Robert Cuccioli's famous hair-flinging aria in "Jekyll and Hyde." Then again, there was that once-in-a-lifetime musical salute to garlic in "Dance of the Vampires." But wait: What about the galling dullness of "Urban Cowboy," the chafing dryness of "Dracula," the decrepitude of "Dream"?
So many painful memories to relive and prioritize! The theater's ability to induce something akin to post-traumatic stress disorder is fully realized with a show like "Brooklyn, the Musical," which opened last night at the Plymouth Theatre. Not to be confused with the gritty borough it's named for, "Brooklyn, the Musical" is a plastic bit of amateurishness. The feelings it expresses are about as authentic as a holiday dreamed up by a greeting card company.
The show is presented without a break, a shrewd move on the producers' part. It's far more difficult to leave at intermission if there isn't one.
"Brooklyn, the Musical" is introduced to us by the characters as an urban "fairy tale," a tactic that prepares an audience for the possibility that what it is about to see will not make any sense at all....."
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Barnes (
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/30824.htm) gave the show One-and-a-half Stars and said:
" WHEN you walk out of a musical hum ming the costumes, you know that show's in trouble.
For though "Brooklyn the Musical" is a modest little show, it has, as Winston Churchill remarked about something else, an awful lot to be modest about.
Admittedly, the show, which opened last night at the Plymouth Theatre, has its heart in the right place. The correct placement of its other organs is more disputable.
The story is a story within a story — which here becomes a folly surrounded by a falsehood, wrapped up in a bad idea.
The falsehood suggests that the entertainment is provided by a band of homeless street performers, the City Weeds, on its hopeful way to the top.
The folly is simply the unbelievable and uninvolving narrative — here termed 'a sidewalk fairy-tale'....
The bad idea here was trying to combine the mood, look and feel of "Rent" with that of "The Fantasticks" to make a hit.
But "Rent" and "The Fantasticks" had great stories, great music and great lyrics. Here, the book, music and lyrics by Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson are not great — though the music, which uneasily straggles between soul and Andrew Lloyd Webberesque anthem — is better than the banal lyrics.......
Valiant performers, parading the cutest costumes, in a soon-to-be-forgotten show."
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And for a little good news for the Brooklyn fans, here's a nice review from Santilli (
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=821&e=2&u=/ap/20041022/ap_en_re/theater_brooklyn):
"With its only new musical of the fall season, Broadway is giving an affectionate nod to Manhattan's slightly less glamorous but storied neighbor across the East River.
"Brooklyn The Musical," which opened Thursday at the Plymouth Theatre, should charm audiences with a strong collection of original songs and an outstanding cast.............
The superlative voices of Espinosa, Keller and Cleavant Derricks, who plays the likable narrator, power a diverse score packed with raw funk, hard rock and sizzling gospel numbers. Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson teamed to write the book, music and lyrics.
"Brooklyn" plays out in a sort of urban wonderland created by designer Ray Klausen's dreamlike set and Tobin Ost's futuristic costumes woven from street-junk accessories much in the spirit of "The Wiz" and "Cats." The book isn't quite developed to the point of eliciting much emotional attachment to its characters or reflection on its themes.
But the quality of the music and the skillful, unobtrusive direction of Jeff Calhoun (whose Broadway credits include "The Will Rogers Follies" and revivals of "Annie Get Your Gun," "Big River" and "Grease") are more than enough to make the show entertaining."
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
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