THE VISIT Reviews

Today is Thursday, April 23, marking the official OPENING NIGHT of Kander and Ebb's THE VISIT, starring Chita Rivera in her first original role in more than two decades, at the Lyceum Theatre.

Based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt's 1956 play, The Visit has a score by Tony Award-winning Cabaret, Chicago and Kiss of the Spider Woman collaborators John Kander (music) and the late Fred Ebb (lyrics), and features a book by Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Master Class, It's Only a Play).

Here's how the plot is billed: "In her juiciest role yet, Chita Rivera is Claire Zachannassian, the world's wealthiest woman, who returns home to Anton Schell (Roger Rees) who captured her heart then shattered her dreams. What she does next shocks the town and makes for the most thrilling and intriguing musical in years... This tale of romance, seduction and betrayal proves that revenge is the best revenge."

Post 'em here, kids!

Me, too!!

http://britishtheatre.com/review-the-visit-lyceum-theatre-5stars/

"And for 90 minutes of ecstatic storytelling, you are transported to a place where love, death and consequence are dancing together and where a victory for true love might just not be what you first think it will."

"This is John Doyle’s exceptional staging of the final musical from the illustrious team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, The Visit, now in previews at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway, and starring the indefatigable and quite inspirational Chita Rivera. With a book by Terrence McNally, this is one of the best of Kander & Ebb’s musicals. Certainly, it is the best, most important, musical currently playing on Broadway – and that is saying something, given the current competition."

"Chita Rivera is unforgettable as Claire; an incandescent star of the Broadway stage in undiminished glory, Rivera is faultless. She looks astonishing, every inch the unfathomably rich widow. Her poise and stature is hypnotic; when she is on stage or arriving on stage, you are compelled to watch her. As she slowly but surely reveals the truths and pains that have forged her nature and compelled her visit, Rivera is a study in exacting revenge and balancing scores that puts her Claire shoulder to shoulder with Medea or Elektra."

Wow! More reviews like that one please! I really hope this holds out for a bit. I really want to see it, but I won't get the chance until early August :/

Looking forward to your report ljay.

You know the audience is going to go wild. This could be Chita's last opening night on Broadway.

Conveniently leaving out

"...and that is saying something, given the current competition."

The same reviewer gave FUN HOME four stars.

CONGRATS ~ THE VISIT for 7 Drama Desk Nominations!

. Take, for instance, the two blind eunuchs who follow Clara around, wear clown makeup and speak in falsetto."

As opposed to eunuchs who speak in a bass voice?

And it wasn't clown makeup.

Updated On: 4/23/15 at 07:10 PM

Bravo!

I tried hard to like this show, but was sadly letdown. I'm expecting reviews across the board for this one.

Time Out NY is mixed (3 of 5 stars):

"Great acting wouldn’t turn the mismatch into a great musical, but it also wouldn’t hurt: Rivera, of course, is naturally commanding and regal, but a better dramatic actor would squeeze more mileage from Claire’s mix of sadism and self-pity. Rees does well playing Schell as a husk of a man, but his Rex Harrison school of speak-singing drains power from the songs. Too underused are the actors playing their younger selves (Michelle Veintimilla, John Riddle). At least the design is gorgeous: Scott Pask’s looming, decrepit train station choked in vines, swathed in Japhy Weideman’s nimble shadows."

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/the-visit-1

Deadline is mixed to positive:

"Rivera is an incomparable trouper but I must admit her vocal charms are lost on me. The greater disappointment, however, is Rees, whose singing is simply painful to endure. His Anton is a small, broken man. We would be happy to see just a glimmer of the magnetic boy Anton once was.

Kander’s music has never stopped evolving in its beauty, complexity and breadth, and the melodies here get under your skin even if the lyrics are not up to Ebb’s best. McNally’s compressed book does the job elegantly. I can’t imagine this show appealing to a Broadway audience seeking upbeat thrills, but I’m glad it finally made it here."

http://deadline.com/2015/04/the-visit-airline-highway-broadway-review-1201414889/