"You can tell he goes bad because he switches from a blue toga to an eggplant-colored velvet suit that makes him look like a sommelier at Caesar’s — the one in Vegas, not Rome."
"The director — whose “Jersey Boys” plays right across the street — throws a lot of stuff at the wall. Some of it hits the target, but without a strong underlying theme, the show feels like a busy patchwork of styles and references."
"Next time, McAnuff may even get the story right."
Though he's not stingy with praise, these observations seem strongly critical to me.
To determine the pop culture response as a whole, I'm thinking it would be best to wait for more internet reviews from the average Play-going Joe. The big-wig reviews are from a show that was in previews, where everyone's favorite part of the show was Jeremy Kushnier playing Judas. That is unfortunate because as of tonight's opening night Judas is Josh Young again. I liked the show okay, but I heard voices say this evening that they really would have loved Jeremy Kushnier instead.
I can see the NYT pull quote now... flashy revival
The critical reception of this was definitely pretty tepid to say the least. I am a big fan of Jesus Christ Superstar, but this show is not on my list for my trip this summer. It looks like every other traditional production I have seen of Jesus Christ Superstar. It will be interesting to see how/if this will hold up.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
I'm glad the New York Times singled out Josh Young as a standout calling him vocally lustrous and charismatic. In my opinion he deserves the praise. I would hope that they use that as a pull quote.
again..how did this get the greatest reviews out of town, and milk toast ones here..how can reviewers outside of NYC be so glaringly different? So can any show trust out of town reviews any more? And if not whats the point of going out of town anymore for a show. Just save the money and open right on broadway seeing as the litmus test is no more.
So just skimming through the reviews mentioned here, what do you define as "milquetoast reviews?" From a glance, there are 18 reviews referenced in this thread and 11 of those are "positive" or "mixed-positive." Meh, but what do it know, right? I'm from out of town.
CatsNYrevival I with I saw the same Josh Young that you did. The first time I saw it he left mid act one. The second time he sounded like Adam Pascal in his 8th year at Rent. I was very disappointed. His casting was a bit out of the box, and I for one was very excited about. Alas he has been a let down. Kushner, however, was stunning.
<< Gavin Creel and Kate Baldwin making vocal love... I adore these two.