8 / 10
“Lysistrata Jones” has been dressed up (and scaled up) real pretty for Broadway, bringing a heightened touch of summer sun and silliness to what has been an exceptionally gray season for musicals...Lysistrata may at first seem deeply superficial. But it turns out there’s tasty substance beneath the froth, just enough to keep you hooked. The same may be said of the endearingly escapist show in which she appears.
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 |
