'Romy & Michele' - Off-Bway Previews

MERCH

This was truly one of the worst things I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through. They don’t even have all of their instruments in their pit, according to the director before the show started. Show ran 2 hrs and 45 minutes.

I went in really wanting to enjoy this — truly. But despite my best hopes, the whole thing just didn’t come together.



The pre-show announcement about technical issues felt like a warning sign, and while they blamed it on sound and “80s/90s vibes,” I’m not sure any amount of synth or retro production could have solved the bigger problems here.



There are a few bright spots: the set is visually appealing and does a nice job pulling you into the world. Some of the quick changes were clever, and there were scattered moments of humor pulled straight from the film that still land. Jordan Kai Burnett’s voice is a real standout, and Kara Lindsay manages to bring a fun energy to her character.



But overall, the show just doesn’t work. The score is forgettable — too many songs that sound alike and few that make any real impact. The pacing drags, especially in Act I, which feels bloated and directionless, and even though Act II is a bit tighter, it never quite redeems the experience.



I left feeling more disappointed than anything else. It all has the energy of a spirited student production rather than something worthy of a New York stage. At current ticket prices, I honestly couldn’t recommend it unless there are some major creative overhauls — especially with the music, which is where this really falls flat.

NOWaWarning said: "It’s just so frustrating because this film could make such a great musical. I hope they start from scratch in a few years with a new creative team."

Why in the world would they do that? This isn’t The Great Gatsby, The Wild Party, or Phantom. Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion isn’t some rich text to draw musical inspiration from. It’s a feather light 90s comedy, and it works best in its original form because it cuts to the chase. Once this production closes, it will be the only adaptation of this movie and that’s just fine.

This theatre is cursed !!! It will prob close right after it opens it’s not selling. Much love to the cast

NOWaWarning said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "Why in the world would they do that? This isn’t The Great Gatsby, The Wild Party, or Phantom. Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion isn’t some rich text to draw musical inspiration from. It’s a feather light 90s comedy, and it works best in its original form because it cuts to the chase. Once this production closes, it will be the only adaptation of this movie and that’s just fine."

Very true. It’s just disappointing to see a property with the potential to be a great musical blow its chance.

*Waves at the imperial and smash, RIP*

Well, it seems like they’re trimming. Tonight ran close to 2 hours and 20 minutes - but lots more still needs to be cut.

There’s no point in me beating a dead horse, but…yeeeesh. Laura Bell Bundy and Kara Lindsay are certainly working hard, but they’ve got their work cut out for them. They couldn't even get the rights to “Time After Time”?! I mean, what are we doing?!

Updated On: 10/18/25 at 10:35 PM

Although the LAST thing we need is another jukebox musical, I TOTALLY thought that was the route they were gonna go when they announced this.

My mother wants to see it (the movie is one of her top favorites), but I’m having reservations. Maybe I’ll just find something cheap. (She also wants to see Mamma Mia and…you couldn’t pay me to sit through that again.)

7 PM show canceled at last minute. Right at 7pm they came out and said show was canceled due to circumstances beyond their control… Hope everyone’s OK, but also bummed it’s too late to pick another show for the evening. Selfish I know. 🫤

Updated On: 10/26/25 at 07:07 PM

Wow - I wonder what happened? I attended the matinee today and everything seemed fine. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I expected after reading all the commentary during previews. Hope all is well for them.

I went to the opening last night and while this wasn’t one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my life, it definitely is one of the most disappointing. Now I’ve said here, so people know, this film is one of my all-time favorite films, if not my favorite. I had a friend involved with the original run in 2017 and he stopped me from flying out to see it because he knew it wasn’t worth my doing that. But I had been hoping in the almost 10 years since that, that the material could be worked on and improved. Again, I never saw it in Seattle so I don’t know what it was like there, but I can’t imagine it being “worse” than this.

The show itself has the right look, at least. It’s big and bright - they obviously spent money on this one. But some of the changes to the already perfect story were bizarre to me. Off the top of my head, the building up and changing of the Toby character was awful. Toby is a fun side character, nobody needs to see more of him (now) than we originally did. The show is about Romy and Michele. If they felt the need to build up a character it needed to be Heather. Speaking of those two, changing the line from “F*ck Off” to “Piss Off”, for me, is unforgivable. It’s one of the best and most quoted lines from the film. I have a huge poster hanging on my wall that Garofalo signed to me saying that in huge letters. Its iconic.

But that’s just a couple of the changes that didn’t make sense to me. Add to all that a truly mediocre and forgettable score - if you paid me, I couldn’t think of a single line of a song from last night - and you have a musical that just leaves you wondering what the point is.

But also, watching Pascal Pastrana‘s entrance as Billy Christianson, I immediately thought “THAT MAN NEEDS TO PLAY ROCKY”. His body is A)incredible B)The exact type Rocky should be in TRHS.

But yeah, just some thoughts. Now let’s fold scarves.