The New Group's "ALL OF ME" with Kyra Sedgwick

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/9/24 at 10:17pm

I had to reschedule my day so I was up at 3am to fly back to NY and the last thing I wanted to do tonight was use the tickets for "All of Me" that I had but I've waited my whole life to see Kyra Sedgwick so I dragged myself down the street to the theater tonight and hot damn, did I make the right decision to go. 

I figured that this play that centers around two disabled people (Madison Ferris & Danny J. Gomez) would be touching, which it absolutely was, but what I didn't expect was that this is genuinely one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. Like repeatedly lough out loud for almost two hours funny. And it works so well because Laura Winters' fabulous script is performed by this remarkably strong ensemble of actors led by Madison Ferris who I had forgotten was in that Sally Field "Glass Menagerie" a few years back. But here she gets to SHINE. 

Walking home it hit me that my favorite musical of the year (and I think it's fair to classify it as that) was "I Love You So Much I Could Die" and now this which will easily end up on my top 10 of the year list, but that's two shows relying on text to speech software. Yes, it's used for different reasons but it shows that in the right hands this kind of technology can be used to open up an entirely new world of voices for actors. 

This is something special and I hope people go and discover it for themselves. This gets the Jordan Catalano Blue Ribbon/5 Star prize.  

[DiscoCrows]

Posted: 5/10/24 at 2:59am

I went to this on a comp today and it was such a wildly entertaining and dramatic 2 1/2 hours. I absolutely adored it. In a much much less nuanced analysis than that of what Jordan can provide, it felt like if Joshua Harmon wrote Kimberly Akimbo.

Not sure when it even started performances but I rushed to the board to see who else had seen it/had thoughts as soon as I got out — was kind of shocked it was just Jordan’s thoughts above. Highly highly recommend this!

Updated On: 5/10/24 at 02:59 AM

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 5/11/24 at 8:50pm

Thanks for the reviews!  I had seen ads for this and while the subject matter seemed interesting, the ads honestly looked cheap and I didn't have much hope for the production so I'm glad to hear otherwise

[sm33]

Posted: 5/12/24 at 5:16pm

Coming into the city on Tuesday for a week and I didn't have anything booked for Sunday night, so I slotted this in based on these reviews! I'll be sure to report back.

[sm33]

Posted: 5/19/24 at 11:53pm

Absolutely loved this! It's super funny - like, much funnier than I was expecting it to be even after reading the comments here - and well acted, while also being incredibly touching. The audience, while not totally full, was really locked in, and I could hear laughter and tears in surround sound.

I appreciate folks highlighting this show here, and I would highly recommend it to others!

[kurtal]

Posted: 5/20/24 at 2:57pm

Agreed! I saw this last week on a comp and knew nothing about it going into it. And it's quite good.  The two leads are pitch perfect, and Moose (the brother-in-law) was excellent.  I laughed out loud quite a few times (tomato/tomato), and I was so grateful to see a show that centered people with disabilities in which their disabilities were a part of the story but were not the story.  Really pleasantly surprised by this overall.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/20/24 at 3:06pm

This is the "gentle theater" discussed in a previous post.

I found it to be a pretty thin play, and the text-to-speech element became grating after about 10 minutes. I don't think the tech is there yet to be used as a dramatic plot device (separate from its important uses in everyday life). Maybe would have been better as a one-act or a 10-minute play.

[DCDrama2]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 10:13pm

Saw this over the weekend and found it quite charming. It's a nice story and the disability elements are woven into a genuine human story. It's not 'about' being disabled which allows for it to be relatable to everyone while still illustrating the issues that the disabled characters and their families are facing. I loved this more than the majority of the things I've seen on Broadway this season.