COPPERFIELD! THE NEW MUSICAL Off-Broadway Reviews

Director and choreographer Gabriel Barre gives his ensemble a tall order, and it pays off. The cast transforms the stage from the Peggottys’ Yarmouth houseboat to Mr. Creakle’s joyless schoolroom to a grimy London warehouse, taking the audience a...

Director and choreographer Gabriel Barre gives his ensemble a tall order, and it pays off. The cast transforms the stage from the Peggottys’ Yarmouth houseboat to Mr. Creakle’s joyless schoolroom to a grimy London warehouse, taking the audience along at every stop.

In a sparse 2025-26 season for new musicals on Broadway, Off-Broadway got a particular moment to shine. Even now, while most of the 2026-27 Broadway season's musicals have yet to hit the stage, the playing field is wide open for Off-Broadway arrivals...

In a sparse 2025-26 season for new musicals on Broadway, Off-Broadway got a particular moment to shine. Even now, while most of the 2026-27 Broadway season's musicals have yet to hit the stage, the playing field is wide open for Off-Broadway arrivals like Copperfield!, book and songwriter Jeffrey Scharf's adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel. It's the 19th-century literature musical I didn't know I needed.

From time to time, David Copperfield’s future—like Oliver Twist, among Dickens’ others—looks frighteningly uncertain. The future of the Scharf-Barre Copperfield! looks anything but. Its eventually showing up on school stages alone must be cl...

From time to time, David Copperfield’s future—like Oliver Twist, among Dickens’ others—looks frighteningly uncertain. The future of the Scharf-Barre Copperfield! looks anything but. Its eventually showing up on school stages alone must be close to guaranteed. Just like London, where “Charles Dickens lived here” plaques are multitudinous, so should this joyful take should show up here there and everywhere in the years to come.