"What is that exotic,
pleasure-making activity taking place at City Center? It
is officially described as a musical, but surely that's
not the right word for this suave and zephyr-like
concoction that makes you want to dance all the way down
Seventh Avenue. Anyone who has spent time on Broadway
this season knows that musicals just aren't this much
fun. Once again, the Encores! series of American
Musicals in Concert is demonstrating exactly what's
lacking in most song-and-dance shows in New York... [Babes
in Arms] is almost too enjoyable for a theatergoer's
good."
– Ben Brantley, The New
York Times – February 1999
"The primary mission of the Encores!
concert series at City Center may be to give us a fresh
look at forgotten musicals of yore. But by now, Encores! clearly fulfills another, equally important function:
introducing us to the best undiscovered talent and
tomorrow's stars–as well as today's. All one can say
in response to the crop on display in Babes in Arms
is, Wow!"
– David Kaufman, The Daily
News – February 1999
"It was a swell idea by Encores! to bring
back the Ziegfeld Follies. Despite a dearth of the
intoxicating highs one has come to expect from this
exquisitely produced concert series... [Ziegfeld
Follies of 1936] represents a fascinating evening of
time travel. ... What [this] faithful production reminds
us of is the exalted stage Broadway once represented as
the premiere, star-studded pedestal for American show
business..."
– Peter Marks, The New York
Times – March 1999
"The beloved Encores! series... Ziegfeld
Follies of 1936 – a museum piece of witty songs
and groaner sketches that originally showcased such stars
as Bob Hope, Eve Arden, Josephine Baker and Fanny Brice
– is decked out in more finery than the subtitle
'concert' suggests."
– Aileen Jacobson, Newsday – March 1999
"Moments before the curtain went up on the second
act of Do Re Mi, Kurt Vonnegut leaned over to tell
Adolph Green, the 1960 musical's co-lyricist, 'This is
the happiest I've been in my entire life.' To judge from
the audible reactions of both Liza Minelli and Michael
Feinstein, they too were having a blast. But then, so was
everyone else at City Center, where the Encores!
series has been providing the best musical theater in New
York during the past decade."
– David Kaufman, The Daily
News – May 1999
"This series has become a vital event in New York
theater and in New York life. ...The American musical is,
beyond question, a key part of our cultural heritage. The
Encores! performances, in the spacious ease of
City Center, are exciting; they're events, abuzz with
keen patrons; they're hot Rialto happenings as one
imagines they used to be."
– Donald Lyons, New York
Post – May 1999
"Again, this is an Encores! show with an
embarrassment of riches..."
– Aileen Jacobson, Newsday – May 1999
"Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert remains
the most tuneful ticket in town, and, most certainly, the
toughest one to get."
– Robert L. Daniels,
"Daily Variety" – May 1999
"What a nice thing is Encores! Great to
look forward to thrice a year and almost as good to look
at each time. It means that three deserving musicals will
be revived, with several big-time performers and some new
or newish talents whom it is a joy to welcome at the
start of their careers... well worth a smile and a
salute."
– John Simon, "New York
Magazine" – May 1999
"For genuine, up-to-date, classic Broadway, true
believers flock each Spring to City Center for... Encores!"
– Richard Corliss,
"Time" – May 1998
"Encores! evenings bring back not just
old shows but something of the communal magic of
Broadway's golden age. Encores! continues
to surprise."
– Donald Lyons, The Wall
Street Journal – May 1998 |
