Broadway Blog - NEXT FALL Review Roundup

Geoffrey Nauffts' NEXT FALL takes a witty and provocative look at faith, commitment and unconditional love. While the play's central story focuses on the 5-year relationship between Adam and Luke, NEXT FALL goes beyond the typical love story. This timely and compelling new American play forces us all to examine what it means to "believe" and what it might cost us not to.

Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "One of the pleasures of "Next Fall" is Nauffts' evenhandedness in presenting both sides of an issue. The playwright doesn't preach or try to tell his compelling story only in black and white. He invests the play with a generosity that doesn't prejudge. Nauffts embraces both the virtues and foibles of his characters. And that inclusion makes "Next Fall" an even richer experience."

Ben Brantley, The New York Times: "A flourishing member of a precious and nearly extinct species has been sighted on Broadway, looking remarkably vital and sure of itself for a creature so often given up for dead. "Next Fall," which opened Thursday night at the Helen Hayes Theater, is that genuine RaRa Avis, a smart, sensitive and utterly contemporary New York comedy. The question now is whether theatergoers will recognize that "Next Fall" embodies something they've been sorely missing, perhaps without knowing it, for years."

Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "An off-Broadway run last year garnered rave reviews and was thrice extended, and Fall has since acquired the financial backing of Elton John and his partner, David Furnish. But many who see the new production - which retains the original director, Sheryl Kaller, and cast, and has been tightened only slightly - are bound to wonder how this heartfelt but pedestrian drama generated so much fuss."

Frank Scheck, Reuters/Hollywood Reporter: "In these recessionary times, it might take more than the imprimatur of celebrity presenters Elton John and David Furnish to make "Next Fall" viable for a Broadway run."

Michael Sommers, NJ Newsroom: "From the sniffles pervading the auditorium, apparently some people are moved deeply by this comedy-drama-weeper. Not me. At least not in the way the playwright intends. Frankly I could scarcely wait to move myself out of the theater and into a martini."

Linda Winer, Newsday: "'Next Fall" is a love story about belief. I'm afraid I am not a believer - not in the love story or in the play. Geoffrey Nauffts' drama, which has leaped to Broadway after a well-received run Off-Broadway last summer, has been embraced by its admirers as a thoughtful and sensitive exploration of a five-year relationship between two gay men of differing faiths in New York. "

David Sheward, Backstage: "Can such a small-scale, touching production make a go of it on a Broadway hungry for razzle-dazzle? In this economy and with no stars-except for Elton John as a producer-"Next Fall" will be lucky if it can. Here's hoping it does."

Stay tuned for more reviews in the AM...