Just got back from it-- I'll try to keep it relatively vague, since I don't want to spoil too much and keep people from going into it fresh. I will disclaim that I've never seen the original film this is based on...
I do have to say that it has the strongest book of a musical I can think of since maybe Next to Normal, and I might even say it's stronger and more complicated than that. I was amazed at such a simple story mining such complicated issues like the barbarity of soldiers, PTSD, the heritary nature of war and the shifting cultural tone of the 60's pre and post war. Also, bless the book for not including anything on the Kennedy assassination, since that's become the #1 dreaded cliche of dramas of that era.
If I had to compare it to anything out there right now, I'd say it has whiffs of Newsies but exists in an intimacy of Once. Since it shares a choreographer with Newsies, a few of the soldier numbers really share that lineage, but not in an overbearing way. The characterization through the movements really are quite distinctive and clever.
Lindsay Mendez is really giving a major performance, and I can see a lot of critical praise coming her way. She has an incredible solo number in Act II that has to rank as one of the more beautiful songs I've heard in the past season. The score was very musical theatre-veined, but it was diverse enough with some a capella bits and a few folk influences that it didn't blend together into a bland dirge. And even though I don't have any background in vocal work, it did seem very difficult to sing, with some very high pitches for the guys at points.
Ultimately, I think I enjoyed it more than anything else musical-wise I've seen on Broadway in the past couple months. It was intimate, but also sweeping and adult in its deep themes. Joe Mantello's direction was really glowing, and even though the set used a turntable (which I loathe in the world along with jean shorts and public pools), there were some neat moments from it, like mirroring a walking conversation twice over between the two lead characters. My most goosebump-y moment of the show was (SPOILER SPOILER) the bedroom scene in Act II, which was probably the most intimate feeling love scene I can remember onstage. It felt so exploratory, and you really recognized the discovery the two were making in themselves. (END SPOILER)
The show has a few weak aspects, like the title song in Act I being very dissonant and harsh without any real memorability, but really there's nothing major that brings it down. I thought it was really incredible, and even though I'm all for the childhood simplicity of stuff like Newsies (if it's high quality), it was really refreshing to have a very adult-oriented and themed musical to discover.
"Are you sorry for civilization? I am sorry for it too." ~Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck
Updated On: 6/28/12 at 12:04 AM