Review Roundup: BIGFOOT! A NEW MUSICAL Off-Broadway

BIGFOOT! A New Musical opened at New York City Center Stage 1 Off-Broadway, and critics are sharing their reactions.

The show is by Amber Ruffin, David A. Schmoll and Kevin Sciretta, with direction and choreography by Danny Mefford.

BIGFOOT! stars Grey Henson, Jade Jones, Crystal Lucas-Perry, Katerina McCrimmon, Alex Moffat and Jason Tam. Understudies are Jake Letts, Mike Millan and Kala Ross.

Naveen Kumar, The New York Times: Fortunately, he’s been sprung from the giddy minds of his creators, including the comedian Amber Ruffin, and, as played by a terrifically unhinged Grey Henson, barrels his way through the campy musical wielding a stealth charisma. Doused in B-movie vibes and maximum goofiness by the director and choreographer Danny Mefford, his story is one of a humble and misunderstood outcast targeted by ignorance and greed. (“Awww!” would be the desired response from audiences at New York City Center Stage I, where the musical opened on Sunday.)

Caroline Cao, New York Theatre Guide: The townsfolk are as doltish as Elmer Fudd and rendered so cartoonishly that they announce their personalities, motives, and gullibility as blaringly as Yosemite Sam. The book contains mile-a-minute jokes mixed in with meta-gags and screeds on environmental justice and corruption. But for every clever quip, there are groaners. If it’s not the preachiness that undermines them, it’s the overstuffing of jokes with little breathing room. While Bigfoot! drops zingers and sight gags like an SNL sketch, that sketch spirit fizzles out in a musical production that needs structure to sustain itself. Overtickling the funny bone stalls the heart.

Hayley Levitt, TheaterMania: Ruffin’s fingerprints are all over the musical’s barrage of punchy one-liners, but much like the mayor’s ploy, it’s not enough to distract from the overall flimsiness. Everything in the writing, and in Danny Mefford’s direction, is geared toward quick laughs, which only magnifies the unattended details: sloppy lyrics with lazy rhymes, music that ignores the aural gifts of the Reagan era, and unpunctuated beats of slapstick.

Michael Sommers, New York Stage Review: The satirical humor of the sketchy, often obvious script by Amber Ruffin and Kevin Sciretta scarcely arises above the collegiate level: “Our water system has more illegal substances in it than a bathroom at Studio 54.” Several running gags involve face-slapping, the portentous shrieking of a raptor and awkward medical terms. The message regarding the American public’s susceptibility to despicable leaders and crazy notions was sent long ago.

Matthew Wexler, 1 Minute Critic: While the score may not be particularly memorable, Schmoll’s orchestrations and arrangements maximize what’s there, further imbued with over-the-top zeal by the six-member cast. Tim Mackabee’s charming scenic design (Main Street USA gone awry) becomes their playground amid lighting-fast costume changes and plot twists.

Thom Geier, Culture Sauce: While Bigfoot! seems to borrow from other musicals featuring misunderstood outsiders and political subtexts — Bat Boy, Toxic Avenger, and Urinetown all spring to mind as influences — the story here seems almost an afterthought. There’s a Saturday-morning cartoon quality to the plot and most of the characters, especially under the broad, subtlety-free direction of Danny Melford (who also handles the simple choreography). Some of the references, while consistently amusing, have a throwback quality. When Tam’s physician slaps Bigfoot’s passed-out mom to rouse her, she jolts upright and responds, “Are you a doctor or Ike Turner?” (Perhaps Ruffin didn’t want to offend more recent slap-happy celebrities such as Will Smith.) At another point, the doc compares the potential dangers of the oversize Bigfoot to “a drunk moose or a Kennedy brother.”

Jonathan Mandell, New York Theater: It might baffle people to learn that Amber Ruffin, celebrated comedy talk show writer and host as well as Tony-nominated librettist for “Some Like It Hot,” spent a dozen years with two co-creators putting together “Bigfoot.’ I wondered whether it was the creative team’s reputation that drew in performers with such impressive track records – Henson, Tony nominee for Mean Girls, and the last Elf; Crystal Lucas-Perry, Tony nominee for Ain’t No Mo, and a revelation as John Adams in 1776; Jason Tam, six-time Broadway veteran, last seen as the Squip in Be More Chill. They do a fine job with parts that are just not as good as their best material. I remember when Alex Moffat, SNL alumnus, made his Broadway debut in “The Cottage” three years ago, how his aberrant acrobatics were among the highlights of that comedy. But in a scene in “Bigfoot” that sounds similar – the mayor keeps on shooting himself by accident all over his body – it was not so much a moment of low comedy, as just a low moment.

Average Rating: 44.3%