5 / 10
Don't get me started. I missed the upbeat show with the repugnant concept last summer when the Transport Group had a successful run with it downtown in a hip church gym. Transferred now to Broadway, the thing proves to be as trivializing and demeaning as it sounded. Worse -- in terms of entertainment, if not message -- this is also ludicrous, busy and unrelentingly dull.
6 / 10
Beane’s book is the standout creative element, allowing the cast, especially a big-mama Greek chorus figure called Hetaira, given good growl by Liz Mikel, to deliver laughs you don’t hate yourself for the next morning. Unfortunately, Beane’s book also tends to lose the basic plot thread, which unravels from helping the team win a game to a fairly generic message of uplift. Musically, the show keeps an audience percolating – vanilla rap, mild funk and power balladry are the presiding genres – but the audio design sounds tinny.
| 2011 | Off-Broadway |
Transport Group Production Off-Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Douglas Carter Beane |
| 2012 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Douglas Carter Beane |
