DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES Off-Broadway Reviews

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/theater/days-of-wine-and-roses-review.html

NYT Critics' Pick: In ‘Days of Wine and Roses,’ Two Souls Lost in an Ocean of Booze

In Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel’s jazzy, aching musical based on the teleplay and the film, Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James are an awfully glamorous Kirsten and Joe — O’Hara, in exquisite voice, singing 14 of the show’s 18 numbers, seven of them solos. Directed in its world premiere by Michael Greif for Atlantic Theater Company, this “Days of Wine and Roses” fills the old Gothic Revival parish house that is the Linda Gross Theater with glorious sound.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2023/06/05/wine-roses-ohara-james-guettel/

WP: Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James soar in ‘Days of Wine and Roses’

Through their superb leading players, composer Adam Guettel and book writer Craig Lucas revisit the classic “The Days of Wine and Roses,” a cautionary 1958 teleplay and 1962 film about the wages of booze. The new musical at Atlantic Theater Company — off-Broadway birthplace of “The Band’s Visit” and “Kimberly Akimbo” — sets the anguishing consequences of addiction to the rhythms of transgressive escapes and broken hearts.

https://observer.com/2023/06/the-days-of-wine-and-roses-review-love-on-the-rocks-with-an-iffy-musical-twist/

Observer: ‘The Days Of Wine and Roses’ Review: Love On The Rocks, With An Iffy Musical Twist

The classic tale remains grim, graphic, and demanding, and Brian d’Arcy James and Kelli O’Hara give it all they've got. But burdened with bluntly conversational songs, this musical fails to touch the heart in any significant way.

https://ca.style.yahoo.com/days-wine-roses-off-broadway-010000721.html

Yahoo: ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ Off Broadway Review: Kelli O’Hara, Brian d’Arcy James Lead One of the Century’s Few Great Musicals

The most wonderful thing about Adam Guettel’s new “Days of Wine and Roses” score is that no one will walk out of the theater humming it. His new musical sounds like nothing else in the theater — unless you go back to his previous shows, “Floyd Collins” (1996) and “The Light in the Piazza” (2003), which also features a book by Craig Lucas.

Again delivering a smart adaptation, Lucas here uses the 1958 teleplay and 1963 movie “Days of Wine and Roses” as his source material, where the original characters don’t exactly have any reason to sing. Through sheer dint of his enormous talent, Guettel makes those characters sing in the new stage production that had its world premiere Monday at the Atlantic Theater.

Unlike most musicals, the two lovers here don’t sing because they want to. They have to sing to release their demons.

https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/broadway/ny-broadway-days-of-wine-and-roses-review-20230606-y3ccfhoh55ci5nyfbf7zuvssfq-story.html

NY Daily News: Booze-fueled tragedy ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ is just as powerful as a musical

I’ve long been inescapably in the tank for Guettel; I listen to his score for “The Light in the Piazza,” on an almost weekly basis, finding something new every time. So the first staged performance at the Atlantic Theatre of his much anticipated score to the new stage adaptation of the stunningly artful 1962 Blake Edwards film, “Days of Wine and Roses,” as adapted from JP Taylor’s 1958 teleplay of the same name, would be an occasion for something chilled and celebratory were this not a story of the destructive powers of alcoholism and its unique capacity to first animate, then preserve and finally torpedo, an upper-middle-class marriage.

https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/reviews/days-of-wine-and-roses-off-broadway-review-brian-darcy-james-kelli-ohara

NY Theatre Guide: 'Days of Wine and Roses' review — cheers to Brian d'Arcy James and Kelli O'Hara's talent

The return of Adam Guettel with the new musical Days of Wine and Roses is a cheers-worthy event. All the more so since the composer/lyricist has reunited with The Light in the Piazza writer Craig Lucas and star Kelli O’Hara.

Based on a 1958 play and 1962 film adaption that share the same name, the Atlantic Theater Companyproduction traces two married alcoholics who drink themselves into oblivion. Only one of them manages to put down the bottle. Six decades later, that outcome still stings.

But on stage, Days of Wine and Roses ends up easier to respect for its ambition, and O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James's stellar work, than to wholeheartedly recommend. The show fails to convince this is a story that sings.

Updated On: 6/5/23 at 09:06 PM

I see a lot of constructive criticism in these reviews. I think some of the show's issues could be fixed if it were to transfer. Great to see a Critic's Pick from the Times.

Exactly, Green confirmed on Charles Kirsch’s Backstage Babble podcast (a great listen by the way, I had no idea he had worked on the production side for so long, and that he is effectively a “recent” critic) that he would not be reviewing DAYS due to that very conflict of interest.

Super happy to see this was well received - it's a lovely gem of a show. I think with some slight tweaking it could be ever better than it already is. I would love to see one of the Broadway nonprofits pick this up for a limited run - I think that would be the best bet for the show. It would be great at the Friedman or Hayes.

I can tell you that transfer talks have been in the works for a while, now. Whether it’ll happen is beyond anything I know right now but discussions have been well underway.

Would be interesting to have two different Kevin McCollum/Michael Greif musicals in one season (NOTEBOOK and this).

Kevin McCollum is the commercial producer behind it and would have raised enhancement money for this production (& may now be trying to raise money for a transfer). What you are describing is common even for shows that never make it to Bway.

RippedMan said: "To ME, this would be in keeping with the trend of the Tonys going to a the more smaller, artistic show, so I could see it doing well. If a lesbian musical about a closeted father and a funeral home can turn a profit, who knows!"

I agree with this. It’s not like it’s uncommon for dark and challenging adult musicals to get produced on Broadway.

These reviews are certainly more positive than I was expecting. I am not shocked by the praise for BDJ and Kelli O’Hara (especially the latter, because her singing was MAGNIFICENT), but they are generally more forgiving of the score and book than I was. Both had their moments for me, but I thought this show was going to be reviewed as a mixed bag.

I still doubt the commercial viability in a Broadway house. Sometimes it’s okay to have Off-Broadway be the final stop.

The Longacre? The James Earl Jones?

Hm. Yeah I would think that would put a big blimp in the transfer since that's likely a whole month they'd lose Tony Voters, etc, and then they'd have to wait a whole other season.

Has anyone done the standing room for this? Would you share your experience? Is there a wall behind the last row of seats to lean on? Thanks!!