GIGI Reviews

Today is Wednesday, April 8, marking the official opening night of GIGI, starring Vanessa Hudgens in her Broadway debut, at the Neil Simon. Featuring a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Fredrick Loewe, this production of the Oscar and Tony Award-winning film and stage musical features a new book adaptation by Emmy-nominated screenwriter Heidi Thomas and is choreographed by Emmy Award winner Joshua Bergasse and directed by Eric Schaeffer. Hudgens, of course, is joined onstage by Vickie Clark, Corey Cot, Dee Hoty, Howard McGillin, and Steffanie Leigh, to name a few of this star-studded, sparkling company.

Best wishes to all involved!

PAN by Huffington Post

"...unhappy news that a woefully cheap travesty of the gloriously romantic film has now opened at the Neil Simon.

And what about Hudgens making a Broadway debut in her post-High School Musical days? Firstly, congratulations to her for taking on a role associated in the mind of many a Gigi fan with Audrey Hepburn and Leslie Caron. She sings perfectly well and dances nicely. She does everything competently, but as Gigi she doesn't have the essential ingredient: charm. If it comes to that, this whole Gigi is lacking in charm, if not nerve."

First Nighter: Little Girl "Gigi" Does Not Grow Up on Broadway in a Most Delightful Way

That Huffington review gives new dimension to the word PAN. Is that show that god-awful? I had no intention of seeing it, but who would go near it after reading this review?

AM New York is negative

"Gigi" is a good example of what the late composer Mary Rodgers called a "why musical" -- a tolerable but ultimately pointless adaptation that adds little to, and is inferior than, the source upon which it is based.

http://www.amny.com/entertainment/gigi-theater-review-2-stars-1.10224881

It looks like the Neil Simon streak will continue unabated.

Sad. I had such a good time at this show.

Here is Richard Seff's review on DCMetroTheaterArts:

"The current stage revival on Broadway of Lerner and Loewe’s film Gigi is lovely to look at. It’s filled with principal performers in supporting roles, who have played leads on Broadway, and for those of us who’ve admired them over the years, it’s a pleasure to see three of them together, still in top form...For now, one can only hope there will be a large enough audience eager to explore this excellent material, even though in my opinion, it tries too hard to reach them." Richard Seff, DCMetroTheaterArts.

Richard Seff Reviews Gigi on DCMetroTheaterArts

Updated On: 4/8/15 at 08:38 PM

Time Out is mixed to negative

"More often, though, it merely feels generic."

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/gigi-1

From Finkle's Huffington review:

"The moment is comparable to the recent, and so-called, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, when Cinderella, rather than inadvertently stepping out of her glass slipper as she flees the place at midnight, instead talks [sic] it off for the Prince to retrieve. The damage that politically correctness has done to the arts only worsens as time goes on."

He seems ignorant that the same "clue" was deliberately left by Cinderella in Into the Woods.

And you all attacked me when I talked about how much I disliked it in the Previews thread...jeez.

Variety is also a pan save for some design praise

Who hasn’t lost their minds in this ill-conceived adaptation?

http://variety.com/2015/legit/reviews/gigi-review-vanessa-hudgens-broadway-1201468459/

ok well, that's enough for me to cross this one off my trip to NYC

God even Honeymoon got better reviews and look how that ended up.

I find it interesting how we're so used to seeing shows like Wicked that don't receive instant acclaim, yet become hits while we see shows like Honeymoon in Vegas earn rave reviews, yet flop.