FLYING OVER SUNSET Reviews

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 7:01pm

Tony nominees Tony Yazbeck, Harry Hadden-Paton, and Carmen Cusak finally take a long-awaited trip over Sunset Boulevard in the new musical Flying Over Sunset at Lincoln Center Theater. The world premiere production began preview performances November 11 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. It had originally been part of LCT's 2019–2020 season with performances scheduled to begin on March 12, 2020—the day all theatres shuttered due to the pandemic.

An official opening is set for December 13.

The musical, with a book by director James Lapine, music by Tom Kitt, and lyrics by Michael Korie, is inspired by the lives of writer Aldous Huxley (Hadden-Paton), playwright, diplomat, and congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce (Cusack), and film star Cary Grant (Yazbeck)—each of whom experimented with the drug LSD.

Also featured in the cast are Kanisha Marie Feliciano, Nehal Joshi, Emily Pynenburg, Michele Ragusa, Robert Sella, Laura Shoop, and Atticus Ware. Aria Braswell, Danny Gardner, Kate Marilley, Patrick Scott McDermott, Tony Roach, and Michael Winther serve as understudies.

Flying Over Sunset features choreography by Michelle Dorrance, sets by Beowulf Boritt, costumes by Toni-Leslie James, lighting by Bradley King, sound by Dan Moses Schreier, projections by 59 Productions, and casting by The Telsey Office, with orchestrations by Michael Starobin and music direction by Kimberly Grigsby.

The musical is produced in association with Jack Shear. Rick Steiger is the production stage manager.

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 9:48pm

The time has come! It will be interesting…..

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 9:51pm

Raves for the three stars will be well deserved. Score too. Show itself... we'll see.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 12:04pm

I'm guessing mixed reviews, like the members on this board have been, with praise for the cast and score but more critical of the book and general conceit. Should be interesting to see who likes it and who doesn't. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 12:15pm

I'm expecting the most polarizing reviews for any individual show this Broadway season tonight. 

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 12:20pm

Jordan Levinson said: "I'm expecting the most polarizing reviews for any individual show this Broadway season tonight."

For sure. I just hope that in the reviews they recognize the effort of it being an original piece in the midst of jukebox musicals and blockbuster movie adaptations (saying that to not get flack from anyone since I know most classic or golden age musicals were adaptations).

[binau]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 2:28pm

I hope Carmen Cusack gets some great notices, I can still hear that layered and textured voice ringing in my ears. Sometimes I wonder if we have lost that unique timbre all the divas of the past have had but Carmen Cusack has it! 

[Jimbo2]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 7:35pm

https://newyorktheater.me/2021/12/13/flying-over-sunset-review-cary-grant-clare-boothe-luce-and-aldous-huxley-take-lsd-not-a-hippie-in-sight/

[CoercedBull]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 7:44pm

Jimbo2 said: "https://newyorktheater.me/2021/12/13/flying-over-sunset-review-cary-grant-clare-boothe-luce-and-aldous-huxley-take-lsd-not-a-hippie-in-sight/"

This is about what I expected based on all the preliminary reports. I'm still very excited to see this show in a couple weeks.

[JGPR2]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 7:51pm

I would say the NY Theater review was mixed "positive", called the cast first rate and said the highlight was Yazbeck's dancing accompanied by 14 year old Atticus Ware. Seemed to enjoy the music and mentioned song "OM" as the favorite.  The problems mentioned all deal with the book and the premise of the show. Have a feeling most reviews will be similar.

Updated On: 12/13/21 at 07:51 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 8:57pm

 

This isn't unkind:

"If nothing else, their high jinks together on the beach seem to free up both the songwriters (especially the lyricist) and the designers (especially the projection designers) to let loose and get creative. My favorite song is “OM,” a meditative chant that is tuneful, and gorgeously sung, but also quite funny, with each of the character singing their inner monologue (Cary: What am I doing here. Clare: I wish he’d take his shirt off. Aldous: She has such interesting feet. Gerald: “In movies he’s amazing…/Don’t let him catch me gazing&rdquo

Aldous tells an interviewer at one point that doses of Lysergic acid diethylamide 25 “take an individual inward and foster a contemplative manner of self-exploration” — which is manifested for these four characters by conjuring up people from their past. Thus (conveniently for the production) the acid trips produce some juicy biographical moments. So, for example, we see the adult Cary Grant dancing with, and wooing Sophia Loren (portrayed by Emily Pynenburg), while there’s a fun-house mirror projection of an actual movie in which they co-starred. (Cary Grant and Sophia Loren did in fact have an affair.) We also see Archie, Cary Grant as a youth, in a dress because that’s how his mother dressed him.

 How far this celebrity psychoanalyzing goes is reflected in the song “My Mother and I,” in which each character takes his or her turn until Aldous stops the music: “My God, we didn’t take LSD so we could sit around and tell sad stories about our mothers.” It’s hard to conclude that the creative team feels the same way, but at least they do have a sense of humor about what they’re doing."

Updated On: 12/13/21 at 08:57 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 8:58pm

I enjoyed it but I don't see it extending unless something huge happens. 

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 9:47pm

Anticipation is killing me.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 9:50pm

Review | 'Flying Over Sunset' is an artistic misfire | amNewYork (amny.com)

Review: Flying Over Sunset is an odd Broadway musical about LSD (timeout.com)

Review: Flying Over Sunset; or, Why I'd Rather Take an Edible and Watch North by Northwest | TheaterMania

Updated On: 12/13/21 at 09:50 PM

[Robbie2]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 9:58pm

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/flying-over-sunset-broadway-review-lsd-musical

Fifties celebs drop acid in an odd new Broadway musical.

The Lincoln Center production has real pleasures: Yazbeck shares a thrilling musical-hall duet, choreographed by Michelle Dorrance, with his younger self (Atticus Ware), who is dressed as a girl; Cusack sings as beautifully as always, as does Laura Shoop as Huxley’s wife. And the staging is very handsome indeed: Beowulf Boritt’s expansive set, Toni Leslie-James’s costumes and Bradley King’s lighting are all first-class. But these elements can only distract so much from a show that would probably make more sense as a one-act in a smaller space. What a long, strange trip it is. 

*** 3 STARS

Updated On: 12/13/21 at 09:58 PM

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 10:00pm

Jimbo2 said: "https://newyorktheater.me/2021/12/13/flying-over-sunset-review-cary-grant-clare-boothe-luce-and-aldous-huxley-take-lsd-not-a-hippie-in-sight/"

I made it clickable:

https://newyorktheater.me/2021/12/13/flying-over-sunset-review-cary-grant-clare-boothe-luce-and-aldous-huxley-take-lsd-not-a-hippie-in-sight/

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 10:04pm

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/13/theater/flying-over-sunset-review.html

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 10:06pm

Review: In ‘Flying Over Sunset,’ Getting High With the Stars - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

"Though sometimes mesmerizing, 'Flying Over Sunset,' the new musical about LSD that opened there on Monday, is mostly bewildering, and further proof that transcendence can’t be shared."

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 10:07pm

‘Flying Over Sunset’ Broadway Review: A Muddy Musical About Cary Grant’s All-Star Acid Trip (thewrap.com)

'Flying Over Sunset' review: LSD musical is a bore on drugs (nypost.com)

REVIEW: Bizarre 'Flying Over Sunset' has celebs tripping on LSD - New York Daily News (nydailynews.com)

Updated On: 12/13/21 at 10:07 PM

[Robbie2]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 10:08pm

‘Flying Over Sunset’ Broadway review: LSD musical is a bore on drugs 

https://nypost.com/2021/12/13/flying-over-sunset-review-lsd-musical-is-a-bore-on-drugs/

Updated On: 12/13/21 at 10:08 PM

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 10:12pm

‘Flying Over Sunset’ Broadway Review: Day Tripping With Cary Grant – Deadline

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 10:15pm

It is not very flattering that everyone seems to comment on the the tap dance number as a highlight. Even though it was well done, it set itself apart from the rest of the material and illuminated its failures.

The NY Times review is as long winded as the 3 hour musical.

Updated On: 12/13/21 at 10:15 PM

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 10:19pm

DidTheyLikeIt? Aggregate of Reviews

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 10:22pm

FLYING OVER SUNSET On a Smoothed-Out Trip — Review

I simply think a musical about iconic trade Cary Grant doing acid should be more fun… but FLYING OVER SUNSET is not without its charms!

https://www.theatrely.com/post/flying-over-sunset-on-a-smoothed-out-trip-review

[ArtMan]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 10:51pm

These reviews are far worse than I thought they would be.  It is good that young Atticus is getting quite alot of favorable mention.  I thought he was a standout when I saw it.