THE VISIT Reviews

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 1:57am

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!

[Fantod]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 2:08am

I have no doubt reviews will be all over the place, but I really want at least one review to be almost over-the-top positive, just so I can read it over and over.

[bunnie3]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 3:08am

Me, too!!

[rcwr]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 3:10am

Lin-Manuel Miranda was absolutely kvelling about it on twitter. That's not a review but it sure was fun to read.

[AAO26]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 4:32am

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."

[tazber]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 6:49am

I'm hoping for raves. It's such a strong show.

And regardless of whether the critics love it as a whole, there is no denying that the score, book, set, lights, and lead actress are deserving of praise.

[gleek4114]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 6:49am

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 :/

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 7:04am

I'll be at the opening. Very excited. I am pretty optimistic about the reviews.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 7:11am

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.

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 7:14am

"Certainly, it is the best, most important, musical currently playing on Broadway."

 

Love this!

 

Updated On: 5/2/15 at 07:14 AM

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 7:43am

 

Conveniently leaving out

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

The same reviewer gave FUN HOME four stars.

[indytallguy]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 8:43am

"shoulder to shoulder with Medea or Elektra"

One might say that is a tad hyperbolic.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 9:41am

Why is BritishTheatre.com even shared on this site?

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 1:35pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay.php?colid=986165#.VTkqByFViko

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 2:34pm

CONGRATS ~ THE VISIT for 7 Drama Desk Nominations!

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 7:01pm

amNY is mixed to negative (2.5 stars):

"Although it makes for a provocative thriller, the score is weak, dreary and derivative of Kander and Ebb's earlier work. Considering how Rivera and Rees are limited vocally, it may sound better with stronger singers.

Doyle's streamlined and ultra-stylized production, which runs just 95 minutes, is visually striking, but perhaps too ghoulish for its own good -- to the point of being excessively creepy and gloomy. Take, for instance, the two blind eunuchs who follow Clara around, wear clown makeup and speak in falsetto."

http://www.amny.com/entertainment/the-visit-theater-review-2-5-stars-1.10323585

[tazber]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 7:10pm

. 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

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 7:35pm

Here is Richard Seff's review on DCMetroTheaterArts:

"It’s difficult material, but Terrence McNally’s book and the Kander and Ebb score have turned what could have been murky and painful to watch, into a melodic and adult story of true love gone wrong and it is mesmerizing...Rivera’s stillness, her ability to convey all the heartbreak she’s known, retaining just enough wit and humor to make her totally accessible to us, are remarkable, the fulfilled promise she showed in her early outings on Broadway. I wish her, and her company, the great success that their superb work deserves, giving all of us, late in the season, a memorable evening of musical theatre." 

Richard Seff on The Visit on DCMetroTheaterArts

Updated On: 4/23/15 at 07:35 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 7:36pm

Bravo!

[jv92]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 7:39pm

It should be noted that Richard Seff was Kander and Ebb's former agent, and Chita's as well, and remains friendly with Kander. I doubt he'd write anything less than glowing. 

 

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 7:55pm

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

[jv92]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 7:58pm

I liked THE VISIT very much, and was very moved by the last twenty minutes. I hope the reviews that "count" are good, but I'm expecting them to be divisive. 

PS: Matt Windman doesn't count. For real. 

 

 

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 8:03pm

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

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 8:05pm

JV2:

If Richard didn't feel it was good he would have said so. He and I have had several talks about shows and we have disagreed on many shows including shows by Kander and Ebb, which I liked better than he did. He is an honest man with an impeccable reputation. Let's see what the other reviewers have to say.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 8:08pm

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/