Side Show - 2014 - Broadway

Review: Conjoined Twins Take Center Stage in “Side Show” - NBC New York

Those who saw the original 1997 Broadway production might see Condon's "Side Show" as more of a reworking than a revival...Many of the changes work, especially new numbers like "Ready to Play" and "Stuck With You," which present Violet and Daisy at their vaudeville-best...But there are problems...What remains constant in both productions of "Side Show," though, are the near flawless performances by its two leading ladies. Davie and Padgett, like Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley before them, are masterful here. Each colors her twin with a distinguishable personality, yet gracefully moves together as a single unit...They sound great, too, with bright, bold vibratos on display in perfect harmony...There's not a weak link among our ensemble...They do an excellent job at establishing the community among society's outcasts...Still, there's something amiss in this new "Side Show." It could be the polish of Condon's direction, which can leave you feeling empty. Or the production design itself, which appears far more grand and cinematic than the story can support. The danger never feels dangerous enough. The challenges, never that hard to overcome.

United by Life, Divided by Dreams - New York Times

This beautiful and wrenching musical, lovingly directed by Bill Condon, asks us to step inside their skins and feel what it's like to be celebrated one moment, rejected the next, and to have the strange consolation of a companion who shares it all: the pain, the joy, the hope, the frustration...As portrayed with layered complexity -- and pin-you-to-your-seat vocal chops -- by Erin Davie and Emily Padgett, the Hilton twins embody an essential truth about the human condition: On some level we are forever divided in our desires and, life being what it is, thwarted in at least some of them. Also: It's just a wonderful musical. Imperfect, yes, but most shows are. And in this engrossing showbiz saga, story and song are knit together with liquid finesse, particularly as newly revised by its authors, with the help of Mr. Condon (the films "Gods and Monsters" and "Dreamgirls"), whose direction mixes the goth and the glam to flavorful effect...The rich, melodic score and a passionate cast bring alive the tumultuous yearnings in the characters' hearts.