Broadway Blog - Review Roundup: THE PITMEN PAINTERS

Direct from a sold-out engagement at London's National Theatre, this new play by Tony Award winner Lee Hall (writer of Broadway's mega-hit Billy Elliot) comes to Broadway with its entire original London cast intact.

The Pitmen Painters is based on the triumphant true story of a group of British miners who discover a new way to express themselves and unexpectedly become art-world sensations! An arresting and hilarious salute to the power of individual expression and the collective spirit, The Pitmen Painters takes you on an unforgettable journey from the depths of the mine to the heights of fame.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: Still, Hall gets enough right, and by the end, it's practically impossible not to root for "The Pitmen Painters" -- both the show and the characters.

Ben Brantley, The New York Times: "Oliver's scenes with Lyon and Helen tremble with a yearning and awkwardness, infused with a crippling class consciousness and a subliminal eroticism that dare not identify itself. In those moments "The Pitmen Painters" stops being an "on the one hand/ on the other hand" lecture; it becomes excitingly ambiguous, in-the-moment theater, as rich and intriguing as Art (as we are told here) is meant to be."

Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News: "There are uniformly stellar performances from the terrific cast, who reprise roles for Manhattan Theatre Club that they played in 2007 in Newcastle and a subsequent run at London's National Theatre. Director Max Roberts' assured staging is crisp and clean, with noisy blackouts that are reminders of the men's dangerous, backbreaking jobs. Large projections of their paintings used throughout the 2¼-hour production smartly underscore the transformative and expansive nature of art in any life.

Erik Haagensen, Backstage: Lee Hall's "The Pitmen Painters" is a bit like the art made by its characters: Whatever it lacks in technique it more than makes up for in expression. If the characters are sometimes too predictable and the sentiment a bit thick, that doesn't prevent the two-and-a-half-hour play from being thoroughly entertaining.

Marilyn Stasio, Variety: "Here it is, only the beginning of a new theater season, and Broadway already has a feel-good -- make that a feel-great -- hit in "The Pitmen Painters." Scribe Lee Hall draws on the same inspirational themes that served him so well in "Billy Elliot the Musical" with this heartbreakingly funny play about a group of Northumberland coal miners who in 1934 sign up for a union-sponsored art appreciation course and become the darlings of the U.K. art set. Max Roberts' helming is flawless, and bully for Equity for preserving the extraordinary ensemble of character actors from the original British production."

Associated Press: "The Pitmen Painters" comes to New York after a rapturous reception in England and high expectations here because of its playwright. It may not be "Billy Elliot," but, in it's own way, it dances.