BroadwayGirl107 said: "Ensemble1750063487 said: "BroadwayGirl107 said: "I saw this this afternoon and at intermission thought it was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. The accent work is distractingly bad, the narration doesn’t for me work at all, varying from muddied and convolutedto almost comical when the ensemble would narrative literally what’s happening on stage like a children’s book, and does so with th sense that every. Thing. Is. The most. Important *dramatic pause*….THING! It genuinely felt like a two hour Mitch Wood Impression of the Ensemble Narrating bit to me.
The focus on the narration means it just takes a long time to ever get to seeing our main characters interact, and that’s why the second act is so much better—we actually get more moments with them and their story instead of nameless figures we know nothing about telling us about events they are not connected to. I’d rather just…watch the events play out.
The music is sonically nice but forgettable & largely feels unmotivated and melodramatic. The ensemble is musically very talented but in the scene work, I felt like I was watching a high school production with some of the acting. I don’t know how to kindly say it.I respect their musical talents but the acting was tough to watch at times.
On the positive side Andrew Durand is great and Kelsee Kimmel was goodin the first act but FANTASTIC in the second and they both are able to find some way to ground the show again, and admittedly I was moved in the end. Kimmel is who really moved me here: when it came to the emotional stuff she really brought much needed depth a gravitas to the material.
I can’t say I’ve experienced that often: that a show was just so brutal to sit through but ended up making me emotional, but my feeling is that even if I’m moved I’m not sure the journey we take for 2+ hours to get there is worth it."
I haven’t seen this yet but your review is so interesting. It’s so rare to find a production that’s brutal to sit though but somehow still makes you emotional at the end. Now that it’s sat with you, do you think that ending was actually earned by the writing, or was it just Kimmel and Durand completely carrying a weak script on their backs?"
I think it only made me emotional because the subject matter itself was emotional and something I think about a lot (how limited our time is and how we use it). I think Kimmel really sold the emotions toward the end so I was finally able to connect to something.
I don’t think the writing earned this at all. The first act is absolutely baffling to me. I literally felt like I was watching a parody that was asking me to take it seriously. There were several time where the narrators narrated what was happening and then the actors did it. I genuinely didn’t even know they were trying to do Irish accents until afterwards. It felt so amateurish to me and I am still just baffled by it. I don’t think I was alone—there were a few moments tbat were played for jokes that barely got a polite chuckle and the applause was tepid throughout.
What I found myself wondering afterwards is that if a show is able to make people emotional in the end, or visually and sonically present itself well enough,how much of a bad show are they willing to forgive because the ending was moving. I wonder if that’s what’s happening here? The show looks great: the set and lighting look beautiful. The music is forgettable but sounds great and the ensemble doubling as musicians feels impressive. But I’m not even trying to be a jerk about this, but I genuinely couldn’t believe how bad amateurish the writing and acting was in the first half especially that this was playing at The Public Theater. Like someone who never saw a musical was trying to write the idea of a musical.
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That point about what audiences are willing to forgive because of a moving ending is so spot on. A lot of shows get away with being under-written if the production looks gorgeous and the final 15 mins manipulate you into crying. It’s wild to hear that the first act felt that amateurish, especially for a high-profile premiere at the Public Theater since they usually have a high standard for new work. Thank you for the honest breakdown, it’s really fascinating look at how a show can completely miss the mark structurally but still stick the landing emotionally.
Updated On: 10/18/26 at 10:27 AM
