Curtains Reviews- Page 7

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 9:41pm

Is there a link to that?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 9:45pm

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/theatre/2007/04/02/070402crth_theatre_lahr

[courtnyj]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 9:51pm

Hehe.....the caricature with the article made me laugh!

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 9:51pm

And the Philadelphia Inquirer is a rave:

NEW YORK - It'll be a long time before they ring down the final curtain on Curtains. The new Broadway murder-mystery musical, which opened Thursday night with a front-line cast, is 21/2-hours of old-fashioned escape.
It boils over with polished songs by John Kander and the late Fred Ebb, the same team who wrote Chicago, and more than one is a showstopper. The gifted director, Scott Ellis, who could probably squeeze elegance from a Punch-and-Judy show, inspires Curtains with a big-time Broadway sensibility.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/entertainment/20070325_Kooky_show_of_a_cheesy_show.html

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 9:52pm

Thanks, guys!

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 10:08pm

Love the Robert Risko caricature!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 10:32pm

It's my new desktop!

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 9:12am

I just read the "New York" and the "New Yorker" reviews.

I sort of agree with both of them.

They both made points.

However, John Lahr's review was the better of the two, from a writer's standpoint.

He's a critic that can WRITE.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 2:13am

I know this is old news, but no one posted the NY1 review, I think it's mixed to negative.

March 23, 2007

One thing never goes out of style on Broadway: nostalgia. For most of its history, the musical looked at the past as a golden age of plucky optimism. These days, we have a more jaded view of the so-called good old days and thus tongue-in-cheek retro romps such as “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

Somewhat in that winking vein comes the new murder-mystery musical by the legendary team of Kander & Ebb – a love letter to the theater, slightly stained with blood.

Set in Boston during disastrous out-of-town tryouts for a Broadway-bound musical in 1959, “Curtains” goes from a parody of backstage comedies into whodunit territory when the leading lady is mysteriously poisoned.

Enter Lieutenant Frank Cioffi, played by the sweetly charming David Hyde Pierce, a greasepaint-loving gumshoe who splits his time between catching the killer, romancing the ingénue, and helping the creative team turn their turkey into a hit. It’s a clever premise that somehow never gets beyond cute puns and sketch-comedy routines.

All the showbiz stereotypes are here: the blustery director; the scheming producer; the bickering composer and lyricist team; even a nasty theater critic gets his lumps. The score is brassy and brisk, if not particularly memorable.

And the book, by Rupert Holmes, contains a fair number of one-liners worth a chuckle. Still, from the composer and lyricist who gave us the cynical exhilarations of “Chicago” and “Cabaret,” you might expect a darker look at show business than “Curtains” provides. And while Pierce and the rest of the company, including Karen Ziemba and Jason Danieley, are likeable, few of them have fully fleshed out characters. The only real showstopper is a raunchy anthem to commercial theater, “It’s a Business,” sung by the unstoppable diva Debra Monk. Finally, we get some of that jazz and razzle-dazzle.

In the end, “Curtains” is definitely your grandmother’s musical: sweet, harmless, a little bit naughty, but ultimately escapist fluff. If you’re anything like the character played by David Hyde Pierce, a star-struck fan who secretly longs for the spotlight, you may be enchanted. Otherwise, this sentimental exercise in light irony and old-school entertainment is no mystery.

– David Cote

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=238&aid=67979

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 9:31am

Peter Filichia finds some problems with the book and lyrics (and he makes excellent points) but he pretty much forgives them and ultimately likes CURTAINS very much - and LOVES the cast:

"David Hyde Pierce may not have the size of the conventional leading man, but he does have a wonderfully furrowed brow to match his totally successful Boston accent. Take it from this native Bostonian, there’s no fraud here. I’m in awe in how much time he must have put in in mastering it. I will grant you that he sounds more Endicott “Chub” Peabody, the WASP-y 1963-65 governor of Massachusetts, but even some working class Bostonians have been known to pick up some Boston Brahmin in their speech patterns.

And the rest of the cast? Really, doesn’t it contain the cream of our contemporary crop? Everybody knows how wonderful Monk and Ziemba can be, and they’re just as wonderful here. Danieley and Racey have headlined their own musicals, Sabella and McCormick have had bigger roles in their time, but here they are, while Hibbert gets his best role yet. Add in Jim Newman and Darcie Roberts, and I say you have, pound for pound, the best cast on Broadway. (Glad that excellent musical director David Loud get his moment to be part of the cast, too.)"

http://www.theatermania.com/peterfilichia/index.cfm?mode=viewEntry&id=99F023B1-F283-CAC0-3BED6DF2E9AFEE8E

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 12:10pm

Is he kidding me with that article? I'd like to see him do that for every show on Broadway. Why did he pick this one? How odd.