Thursday, April 10, 2025
It’s hard to judge whose decisions are more misguided: those of the back-stabbing, wacky creators of “Bombshell,” the fictional musical comedy about Marilyn Monroe we see implode, or t…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:35PMIt’s not that the musical all goes wrong, exactly. With a cast as good as this one – Robyn Hurder, The Prom‘s Brooks Ashmanskas, Krysta Rodriguez, John Behlmann and the invaluable Kris…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:34PMThat quality of surprise, crucial to the best episodes of the TV show, is missing from the new live musical staging, which opened Thursday night at the Imperial Theatre. Especially given the…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:34PMTuesday, April 8, 2025
Celebrate the life and work of the great Stephen Sondheim, with an irresistible company headlined by none other than Tony Award® winners Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. Stephen Sondheim�…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:12PMThese gems had been waiting in the 12 tones of the Western scale and the million words of the English language, unobserved, until [Sondheim] came along with his flashlight and pickax. Any op…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:11PM“Old Friends” boasts a larger cast than previous Sondheim revues, filled with a mélange of theater stalwarts and newcomers, each finding pockets of comedy, passion and showmanship while…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:10PMBernadette Peters – of course! – and Lea Salonga lead a cast of talented singers and hoofers, who make the most of this opportunity to shine.
The post Good Times, Not Bum Times, Will Be …
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:09PMThis is no musical shiva for close friends and family. More than a tribute, it’s a feast — and one of the most heartfelt and joyous shows of the season.
The post Not Just a Broadway Trib…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:09PMOnce you accept the show’s limited ambitions, as I gradually did over the course of this pleasant and jauntily staged musical revue, you can let yourself to have a good time. Sure, Steve h…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:09PMOld Friends stretches to two and a half hours, counting an intermission, which is both way too long and woefully incomplete. You can’t take offense at the concept — it accomplishes exact…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:08PMIt’s a rare and special experience to watch performers of the calibre of Peters and co-stars like Lea Salonga backed by a sensational 14-piece orchestra in an intimate room that seats just…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:08PMTo those unfamiliar with Sondheim’s oeuvre, Old Friends offers a respectable and professional introduction to the late master’s voice, both as a peerlessly witty lyricist and as a unique…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:08PMUnlike what Salonga does with a song, other singers in “Old Friends” tend to overact every song. Beth Leavel sings “The Ladies Who Lunch” from what sounds like a cocktail shaker. The…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:08PMWhile [Bernadette Peters’] voice has lost some of its rich timbre, her rendition of “Send in the Clowns” is so deeply infused with soul-searching that any vocal imperfections are quick…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:08PMMonday, April 7, 2025
Betty Boop longs for an ordinary day off from fame in her black-and-white world. What she finds is an extraordinary adventure of color, music, and love in New York City!
The post BOOP! The M…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:36PMThe most disappointing subgenre of musical, at least in terms of opportunity cost, is the “why?” show: a well-crafted, charmingly performed, highly professional production that nobody as…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:36PMIn “Boop! The Musical,” the canonical cartoon recounts stints as a lion tamer, judge and hula dancer — professions lifted straight from her shorts. But evidently, Betty Boop missed a c…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:35PMThe alternating worlds are meant to be playful, but Toontown especially gets exhausting quickly, with characters mugging, clowning and amplifying every limp punchline. But the real world is …
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PMWith a zippy score, terrific tap numbers choreographed by director Jerry Mitchell, energetic performances from a top-notch cast, and a plot that doesn’t tax your brain, Boop! is one of the…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PMWe may not know Betty Boop deeply, but we can agree she has that certain “It” quality that has made her stick around for nearly a century, even if just on lunchboxes. I wish, after seein…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PMLike all the best early 20th century works tragically and systematically erased from our cultural memory, she’s bright, effervescent, relentlessly charming and sexy. Pretty much the same c…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PMIt’s difficult to say what’s more embarrassing: the people in Disney outfits out on the street or the chorus at the Broadhurst in costumes that look just as seedy and smelly. Pooph, anyo…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PMYet you will likely have more fun at Boop! than in many other theaters this spring; this is an old-fashioned stage-frolic filled show, with big songs and bigger dancing, including roof-raisi…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PM[Rogers] can do it all. As smiley, effervescent and, well, animated as t he actress is for most of the night, she finds power and emotional resonance in her 11 o’clock number “Somethin…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PMDirected and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, this is an old-fashioned candy shop of a show, where tasty confections are sold in bulk. When Boop! is corny, it’s candy corn. Gorge on the mu…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:33PMExperience the messy, euphoric, sexy, savage, fleeting rush of falling in and out of love in New York City at The Last Five Years, starring Grammy Award® and Golden Globe nominee Nick Jonas…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:21AMBut in the show’s first Broadway incarnation, starring the resplendent Adrienne Warren and an underpowered Nick Jonas, the structure (along with the balance) has been compromised. The prod…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:16AMEach song must bear the emotional fullness of a scene, because it’s an entire memory. Warren can do this. Jonas, simply, cannot. Or does not.
The post ‘The Last Five Years’ is a romanc…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:15AMBut for the most part, this is still The Last Five Years as devoted fans know it: a tuneful sketch of an ill-considered marriage between two young people who still hadn’t fully discovered …
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:15AMThey sing magnificently and there’s real chemistry between the two of them, but Whitney White’s direction is literal and unimaginative to the extreme. There’s no emotional payoff in th…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:15AMWhite has crafted an intriguing and intellectually ambitious revival, one that embraces the brutal emotional honesty of Brown’s source material.
The post An Ambitious LAST FIVE YEARS On Br…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:14AM 
