Review Roundup: GIGI Opens on Broadway - All the Reviews!

Gigi, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's beloved Oscar and Tony Award-winning musical comedy, celebrates its opening tonight, April 8, at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 West 52nd Street).

Gigi stars Vanessa Hudgens, who makes her Broadway debut in the title role, Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza, Sister Act, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella) as Mamita, Corey Cott (Newsies) as Gaston Lachaille, three-time Tony Award-nominee Dee Hoty (The Will Rogers Follies, The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Footloose) as Aunt Alicia, two-time Tony Award-nominee Howard McGillin (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Anything Goes) as Honoré Lachaille and Steffanie Leigh (Mary Poppins) as Liane d'Exelmans.

Gigi, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, features a new book adaptation by Heidi Thomas (BBC/PBS's "Call the Midwife") and is choreographed by Emmy Award-winner Joshua Bergasse (On the Town, "Smash") and directed by Eric Schaeffer (Follies, Million Dollar Quartet).

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Charles Isherwood, The New York Times: What the production's creators cannot do, unfortunately, is plump up the thin story or elevate the quality of the score, which doesn't rank among Lerner and Loewe's greatest...There is plenty of scrumptious eye candy to feast on...And the cast, with one unfortunate exception, makes the most of the material. Ms. Clark...brings her customary warmth to Mamita...As Gaston, Mr. Cott nicely suggests the chronic restlessness of a rich and handsome young man bored beyond his years, and he sings with bright, clear tone. Making her Broadway debut, Ms. Hudgens dashes around the stage with perky impetuousness, looking smart in her schoolgirl uniforms and, later, as chic as a runway gazelle in sleek gowns. Her characterization comes to life when Gigi pours her heart into her throat...But in between songs, Ms. Hudgens's performance flattens into two dimensions, at most. Gigi's spunkiness is there to see, but her vulnerability and ardor are mostly missing in action. The actress has energy to spare, but the performance is emotionally vacant...For the musical to inspire excitement, or even affection, we need to feel that the romantic fate of a young woman of vibrant heart and spirit hangs in the balance.

Mark Kennedy, Associated Press: ...in order to save the score, the creators of a new "Gigi"...have done a gut renovation on the book by Colette. They've taken out the creepy factor, but they've taken out the zing, too. "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens does pretty well in her Broadway debut, handling her singing duties admirably...She's game for a cartwheel or sprinting across the stage, but she might want to lose the strange accent since no one else is doing it. She's surrounded by good actors, too, including a head-turning performance by Corey Cott, who proves a terrific actor and singer in a frothy show, as well as the always-wonderful Victoria Clark and a gloriously catty Dee Hoty. Direction by Eric Schaeffer is crisp...and choreography by Joshua Bergasse is excellent...Derek McLane's set of sweeping, iron-lattice stairs and lots of parasols is beautiful, and Catherine Zuber's gowns and foppish suits are very becoming. All the parts are good. They just, maddeningly, don't add for a stunning show.

Marilyn Stasio, Variety: There's nothing to offend their tender sensibilities in this antiseptic version of "Gigi"...Rather than empowering Gigi, putting more years on her makes this young adult seem dimwitted instead of innocently naive. In the same blundering way, drastically dropping the age of her jaded older suitor incongruously forces the boyish Corey Cott ("Newsies") into the unconvincing guise of that sophisticated boulevardier Gaston Lachaille. Now that the kids are perfectly matched, there's no longer any intergenerational sexual tension between the principals. Further distorting the characters' original relationship, Hudgens ("High School Musical") has the clarion voice and aggressive delivery of an unabashed Broadway belter, which gives Gigi vocal dominance over Gaston's delicately voiced tenor...Who hasn't lost their minds in this ill-conceived adaptation? The designers, for sure, have held their own...But if the physical look of the show suggests Paris...whenever someone opens his mouth, we're dragged back to America, where nice people don't do naughty things.

Robert Kahn, NBC New York: Vanessa Hudgens brings verve and vivacity to a reimagined version of the classic musical "Gigi"...There is, as you might anticipate, an element of Eliza Doolittle in Hudgens's endearing performance -- she makes these grand, oversized gestures while gamely learning how to pour coffee or even settle into a chair the proper way...Cott has a stunning voice, on display noticeably in solos and ensembles pieces such as the first act closer "The Night They Invented Champagne." He and Hudgens are sweet together, and seem to share a genuine rapport. Hudgens may have the drawing power, but Clark is crafting a performance that will linger after the curtain falls...Clark...hits every note perfectly...Clark imbues Mamita with a sweet sadness that keeps you rooting for her...As Honore Lachaille, McGillin does a fine job of being both good-natured and rakish..."Gigi" boasts classic orchestrations, Catherine Zuber's gorgeous costumes and appealing dance numbers. It's a delightful production.

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter: ...a lazy eye roll is about the most extreme reaction likely to be provoked by this pretty but charm-deficient revival of the Lerner and Loewe musical, which plants an all-American, too-contemporary Vanessa Hudgens in a wanly unatmospheric Belle Époque Paris...Thomas downplays the issue of Gigi being trained to continue the family tradition by becoming a high-class courtesan...However, by removing almost any doubt that Gigi's fate ultimately will rest in her own hands, Thomas dulls what's most distinctive about the story, turning it into a conventional romance between a bland couple of compatible age range, interrupted by an awkward contractual negotiation...the show soars only intermittently toward the end, notably when Cott (a mini-Hugh Jackman) sings a gorgeous version of the stirring title song, and when Hudgens finally shifts beyond one-note youthful perkiness to display some romantic feeling. Both actors are perfectly sweet and vocally very capable...But the characters never come alive with even half the passion that Clark invests in "Say a Prayer," in which Mamita expresses her love and concern for her granddaughter.

Adam Feldman, Time Out NY: ...Eric Schaeffer's revival, starring High School Musical's Vanessa Hudgens as the titular girl, rescues the show from the dustbin of history and moves it to a recycling bin of the present. Revised by Heidi Thomas to accommodate modern sensibilities, this Gigi is inoffensive to a fault. The heroine remains a courtesan-in-training, but she's been given more spunk...Gigi is the story of a girl being groomed to sell herself, and when the musical dances around that -- however attractively, thanks to Joshua Bergasse's swift choreography -- it feels evasive. More often, though, it merely feels generic. Hudgens's Gigi seems lovely but simple, her gee-whiz appeal hobbled by affected enunciation...Only Cott, especially in his big solo, seems committed to the reality of the story. The rest is mostly yesterday's bubbly, domestic and served lukewarm.

Linda Winer, Newsday: Starring the talented Vanessa Hudgens of "High School Musical" in her confident Broadway debut, the show, efficiently directed by Eric Schaeffer, has been sanitized, flattened and sentimentalized from stylish sophistication to what feels like a cornfed love story with beautifully ornamented Belle Epoque staircases (by Derek McLane) and gorgeous period costumes (by that wizard, Catherine Zuber)...In making Gaston so close to Gigi's age, however, Heidi Thomas' adaptation robs even a frisson of inappropriate tension from the courtship. Nor does it help to have cast Corey Cott, a drab, boyish actor with a good voice but little charisma, as the playboy whose exploits are legend to all of Paris...While [Hudgens] has the flair of a stage natural and soars through her few ballet sequences in Joshua Bergasse's busy and pedestrian choreography, her voice has the steely, engaging quality of a Disney heroine singing through helium.

Elysa Gardner, USA Today: The new Broadway production ofGigi (**½ out of four), starring an adorable Vanessa Hudgens, begins with a giddy orgy of pastels...The choreography...is exhilarating, the mood buoyant. If only the fun would last. Unfortunately, in her current incarnation, the heroine...is showing signs of age, and self-consciousness...Ironically, though, Gaston's courtship of Gigi comes across as creepier here than it did when a thirtysomething Louis Jourdan pursued a dewy Leslie Caron (then Hudgens' age) onscreen...Cott's Gaston, under Eric Schaeffer's direction, rather suggests a handsome but awkward college boy who turns into a stalker upon recognizing his female friend's newfound maturity. The wistful romantic ballad that is Gigi's title song is staged as a near-nervous breakdown, with the robust-voiced Cott breathing heavily and looking alarmingly unsettled...This Gigi fares much better when it emphasizes old-fashioned virtues. Bergasse and Schaeffer provide several exuberant production numbers, and Hudgens, despite over-enunciating her lines, does perky and elegant with equal poise. Little girls, clearly, still grow up in the most delightful way.

Matt Windman, AM New York: The stage version of the 1958 MGM movie musical "Gigi" is a good example of what the late composer Mary Rodgers called a "why musical" -- a tolerable but ultimately pointless adaptation that adds little to, and is inferior than, the source upon which it is based...Efforts to flesh out Gigi and her beau Gaston come off as labored...As directed by Eric Schaeffer ("Newsies"), the production has an elegant look and lively movement but nevertheless feels empty and stalled. Hudgens gives the sort of sincere but clumsy performance you'd expect to see in, well, a high school musical. But all things considered, she has been given a near-impossible task of injecting life and charm into what is essentially a two-and-a-half-hour slog.

Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Daily News: The Eiffel Tower looms in the distance in "Gigi," a reminder that we're in Paris. It's easy to forget that because Vanessa Hudgens plays the title role of a 1900 French could-be courtesan like an all-American Gidget. The perky but ooh-la-la-less Broadway debut by Hudgens, a sufficient singer and actress known for "High School Musical," is par for the course in a shrill revival directed by Eric Schaeffer...Under Schaeffer's guidance, performances are all over the place. As the rich "sugar prince" Gaston, who falls for Gigi, Corey Cott makes the most of the title song. But he's boyish and saccharine when he should be debonair and sexy. Howard McGillin's take on Honore is broader than the Champs-Elysees. Tony winner Victoria Clark adds grace notes as Gigi's compassionate Mamita. Dee Hoty is saucy and steely Aunt Alicia, who instructs Gigi to accept only the most special and sparkly jewels from men...As musical gems go, "Gigi" is not Tiffany -- it's Jared.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Post: Happily, the Broadway "revisal" that just opened -- headlined by "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens -- does a fine job retooling the plot so it's more in line with modern ideas about women and romance...Heidi Thomas' retooled book isn't quite a feminist call to girl power, but at least her Gigi's making deliberate choices considering the limited options available to women back then. And while her trebly voice has limited range, Hudgens is comfortable onstage and gives the character a playful assurance...she has a warm rapport with Clark and Hoty, and you want to see Gigi with them rather with puppyish Gaston and his suave uncle, Honoré (Howard McGillin). Director Eric Schaeffer ("Follies") has given the story an elegant casing...This honorable "Gigi" may be a good pick if you can't get into "Wicked" on Take Your Daughter to the Theater Day.

Robert Hofler, TheWrap: Refashioned for the "High School Musical" generation, "Gigi" has been scrubbed and polished so that its heroine is now sassy, headstrong, and spunkier than a barrel of Disney princesses. The one thing she's not is French, and, of course, there's nothing terribly risqué or even controversial about her situation anymore. As Gigi, Vanessa Hudgens sings and moves well and looks stunning, and if ever they get around to turning "Pretty Woman" into a Broadway musical, she won't have to change a thing...That Gigi holds out for marriage and the greater security it provides, well, that's the real story of a modern material girl. Despite presenting such a newly ambivalent character, Clark emerges as the only actor on stage who evokes turn-of-the-century Paris...While Cott has a great singing voice, his tenor turns squealy when he shows much emotion, and at times he comes off more petulant than Gigi herself. Since it involves such a small directorial touch...couldn't Hudgens's all-American rambunctiousness been dialed back a bit?

David Finkle, The Huffington Post: ...Thomas has gone about jiggling Colette's story of a young girl being trained as a courtesan and a rich family friend who grow over time into lovers. But the misguided Thomas only succeeds in denaturing Colette so that Gigi (Vanessa Hudgens), now older, and eventual swain Gaston Lachaille (Corey Cott), now younger, progress to a happy ending with any number of destructive changes to the story...The damage that politically correctness has done to the arts only worsens as time goes on...Clark shows off her clarion voice and otherwise does okay as Madame Alvarez, or Mamita...McGillin smiles well as the compering Honoré Lachaille. His duet with Clarke on "I Remember It Well" is the one musical highlight. Cott does passably as Gaston...Firstly, congratulations to [Hudgens] for taking on a role associated in the mind of many a Gigi fan with Audrey Hepburn and Leslie Caron. She sings perfectly well and dances nicely. She does everything competently, but as Gigi she doesn't have the essential ingredient: charm. If it comes to that, this whole Gigi is lacking in charm, if not nerve.

Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times: Director Eric Schaeffer...tries to distract us from the way political correctness has sanitized the story and made it soppier while lessening the stakes. The production's pacing is brisk, and the spirited choreography by Joshua Bergasse occasionally turns acrobatic. But a solution to "Gigi" has not been found...Hudgens, a dark-haired waif with a pretty if not particularly distinctive singing voice, makes a winning first impression...Unfortunately, the longer Hudgens is on stage, the more superficial her Gigi seems. She can deliver an image of adolescent abandon, but her emotions are dictated entirely by the plot. Her acting is all romantic pabulum -- dull sweetness, exaggerated gaiety, trumped-up anxiety leading directly to amorous ecstasy. Thomas' update doesn't give Hudgens much to work with...Making matters more vanilla, Corey Cott's young-looking Gaston seems almost as innocent as Gigi...Cott's blandness goes away when he sings, but his Gaston is yawningly on the up and up...in an attempt to bring the story up to 21st century standards, the new "Gigi" only seems more dated.

Jonathan Mandell, DC Theatre Scene: Heidi Thomas...has revised the book to align the story more with current sensibilities. Yet the new revival of Gigi too often feels akin to dirty linen that's been put through the wash too many times; it's clean now and has a sheen, but it's threadbare, intellectually and emotionally...Hudgens does a reasonably good job of growing from girlish to womanly before our eyes, although her initial childishness is more adorable than credible. But Cott cannot disguise his boyishness; he gives off the vibe of an energetic young American, and, while he is a strong tenor, he has a speaking voice in a high enough register to suggest it may yet change. The lack of disparity in their ages will turn the musical for most theatergoers into a conventional love story...This is not meant to disparage their talent or appeal. Vanessa Hudgens has the loveliest smile on Broadway. Corey Cott may have the second loveliest. They both are capable performers...But one leaves the theater with the overwhelming impression of an underwhelming entertainment, each element of which has been done better elsewhere...

Richard Seff, DC Metro Theater Arts: The current stage revival on Broadway of Lerner and Loewe's film Gigi is lovely to look at. It's filled with principal performers in supporting roles, who have played leads on Broadway, and for those of us who've admired them over the years, it's a pleasure to see three of them together, still in top form...[Hudgens and Cott] are both attractive, have fine robust voices and should find work again and again in future musicals if they choose to stick around...Hudgens has enormous charm, energy, a big voice, and Mr. Cott does manage to make the title song extremely moving as he suddenly realizes the woman of his dreams has been in his life all along, and he can only hope it's not to late to let her know that. Their performances are in keeping with Mr. Schaeffer's concept for the evening, but I found it a bit too much like those George Abbott directed musicals of the thirties where youth, energy, tempo were the keys. But here, these characters had little Gallic charm...In a Broadway season in which so many revivals are being brought in, one can feel audiences beginning to mumble "Producers, give us something original."

Ronni Reich, The Star-Ledger: The musical, based on a 1944 novel by Colette, is not Lerner and Loewe's best. But it's lovingly updated in a new Broadway incarnation directed by Eric Schaeffer, with magnificent visuals of Belle Époque Paris, arresting choreography and, yes, a charming performance by leading lady Vanessa Hudgens. Hudgens...makes a commendable Broadway debut as a young woman in the throes of adolescent gawkiness, long limbs flailing as she imitates poses of womanhood...Victoria Clark is in lovely voice and emanates warmth and kindness in the role...Hudgens...deserves credit for pulling off a role that must nearly carry the show...Hudgens gives a generous, if not always naturalistic, performance as she transitions from an irrepressible tomboy to an elegant woman in love. Although her acting occasionally suffers from over-enunciation, she sings well and impressively keeps pace with the show's dancers...She has a fitting match in Cott, who has a lovely light tenor and willingness to go all-out goofy in the song "Gigi," where his blinders finally come off.

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune: Hudgens has to come up with a Gigi in an era when it is generally thought best that little girls are allowed to grow up in a most delightful way, far away from the prying eyes of older suitors waiting for them to bloom...Heidi Thomas...clearly is aware of these issues. She amps up Gigi's moments of rebellion from her chosen path...That would all be well and good if Hudgens had got the memo. But for most of this show she comes up with the most girlie Gigi you could possibly imagine: it is as if she were told to be as chirpy and childlike as possible, skipping around the stage and, at times, bending at the waist like a rag doll...Hudgens is, for sure, sincere and working hard. But her safe-as-the-valley Gigi feels Californian all the way and, well, not even remotely French. Actually, nothing in this show (and I include both the earnest McGillin and the setting by Derek McLane, replete with a mini Eiffel Tower) feels even remotely French. And without that je ne sais quoi, well, you're left with a piece sans any viable identity.

Stephen Collins, BritishTheatre.com: Indeed, the most interesting thing about this reworking of the piece is that, while it may be called Gigi, and there is constant talk of, with and about her, the fact is that Gigi is but a supporting character...Victoria Clark and Dee Hoty are faultless as Mamite and Alicia respectively, both bringing gravitas and sterling skill to every part of their performances. Clark is the best vocalist on stage and the soul of the piece soars every time she sings...There is a devilish twinkle in Howard McGillan's eye as he saunters, somewhat majestically, in the shoes of Honoré...Casting [Hudgens} as Gigi, however, seems as mistaken as it would be to cast Patti Lu Pone as Eliza Dolittle or Liza Minelli as Julie Jordan. Her brash voice and style just does not suit the delicate framework of the character or the production. She needs to sing less like Eponine and more like Cosettte...But the true star of this Gigi is Corey Cott, who is in simply magnificent form as Gaston...Cott is the real deal, a manly lead with film star looks who can dance, act and sing with real expertise. Vocally, his high baritone voice is powerful and compellingly attractive...The reworkings of the score and book, together with Cott's powerfully persuasive and alluring performance, take most of the creaks out of Gigi and provide a convincing framework for its success.

Alesis Soloski, Guardian: This is a costly production and in terms of the design, that money has been very well spent. Derek McClane's set is a Belle Époque fantasia, Natasha Katz's lighting is sumptuous, and Catherine Zuber's gorgeous, sensual costuming should sew up the Tony win nicely. Joshua Bergasse's choreography is acrobatic and playful, if perhaps somewhat overblown in The Gossips and The Night They Invented Champagne. The orchestra sounds wonderful and some of the songs are a treat.

Robert Feldberg, Bergen Record: There is one performer who creates a small center of warmth and feeling, the wonderful Victoria Clark, as Gigi's loving grandmother. When she and Hoty join for a duet on "Little Girls," the two theater veterans give us a glimpse of the pleasure musical theater can provide. (The song belonged in the film to Honore, but having an elderly man sing a paean to pre-adolescent females obviously no longer seemed advisable.) Clark, who has a lovely voice, also created a special moment with her solo on "Say A Prayer." Otherwise, "Gigi" is the night the Champagne went flat.

Isabella Biedenharn, Entertainment Weekly: Thanks to a revised book by Call The Midwife's Heidi Thomas, this modernized Gigi comes bearing extra sass. Instead of feeling distressed when Gaston insults her new gown ("That collar is ridiculous! It makes you look like a giraffe with a goiter"), this Gigi snaps back at his every insult ("The door's over there. And don't forget your chocolates. I won't be able to swallow them because of this terrible goiter", she quips), and then bids him adieu with all but a kick in the head. Every moment Hudgens isn't onstage, you long for her return-not only for her dramatic talents, but also because she wears Catherine Zuber's beautiful costumes so breathtakingly well.

Jesse Green, Vulture: The production's desperation to appeal to tweens instead of their parents results in a disastrous if not deliberate misreading of the tale. Perhaps that wouldn't matter if the show worked on its own terms, but it did not in 1973 when Lerner brought Loewe out of retirement to expand the movie into a stage property, and it certainly doesn't now. There is still, mercifully, the score, which even if all jumbled about still contains five truly great songs and several good ones too. (Most of the newly interpolated ones are distinctly third-drawer, however.) And visually there is much to admire. Derek McLaine's Art Nouveau settings are an elegant solution to the problem of a story in which one of the stars is Paris itself; Catherine Zuber's costumes are a marvel of shapeliness, accuracy, and detail. (That's a good thing in a show that often fails to hold the attention; you can always count buttons.) But most of the other decisions made by the creative team - the director is Eric Schaeffer - reduce rather than enhance the story.

Photo Credit: Margot Schulman

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