Written by Harvey Fierstein
(Book) John Bucchino (Score)
Directed by John Doyle
Synopsis:
A Catered Affair is set in The Bronx, 1953. Funny, heartbreaking and oh so human, the musical reveals relationships strained to their limits when a couple must decide whether to spend their life savings on a family business or to launch their only daughter's marriage with a lavish catered affair. Harvey Fierstein's book and John Bucchino's score seize the opportunity to explore the meaning of family and the need for love, both new and reawakened.
NEW YORK TIMES:
"“Resigning oneself to small is sad,” Winston says when he hears of Janey and Ralph’s original plan to have a modest wedding. “Requesting it is tragic.” Small can be beautiful on Broadway, though. Witness Mr. Doyle’s no-frills “Sweeney Todd” and “Company.” But in musicals there has to be some largesse — of spirit, of style, of originality — to make an audience care about those singing strangers onstage. In “A Catered Affair” people are seldom big enough to pin your feelings on."
Read the whole review HERE.
NEW YORK POST:
"This is no run-of-the-mill Broadway musical - there's no chorus, no dancing. Just evocative music (perfectly orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick) interwoven with spoken dialogue, an authentically devised set by David Gallo and Ann Hould-Ward's brilliantly drab costumes.
It's simply a musical with an honest heart, and that's enough. "
Read the whole review HERE.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:
"The show, which opened last night, seems well-intentioned but doesn't deliver enough story, substance or satisfaction. It's about poor people, yes, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't have meat on the bone and icing on the cake. "
Read the whole review HERE.
THEATERMANIA:
"Moreover, with a score that too rarely feels as if it rises from random recitative to heighten-the-moment song, many spectators may easily conclude the whole enterprise would be less flat as a straight play. Modesty and minimalism in musicals aren't necessarily virtues. "
Read the whole review HERE.
VARIETY:
" A bittersweet reflection on the complexities of marriage and relationships, this small but satisfying drama forgoes big emotional impact for poignant understatement."
Read the whole review HERE.
NEWSDAY:
"How bold to make a Broadway musical on such restrained material as "A Catered Affair." How sad that the results are so glum. Despite the dedication of a fine cast, including Faith Prince, Tom Wopat and author Harvey Fierstein, this is a colorless little piece of '50s social realism about a Bronx family that isn't so much emotionally repressed as emotionally deficient.
"
Read the whole review HERE.
NEW YORK SUN:
"Restraint? Nuanced? Silent? What kind of Broadway musical is this? One that’s unafraid to confront the idea of disappointment and dashed hopes — and, unfortunately but perhaps fittingly, one that ultimately snuffs out its own promise."
Read the whole review HERE.
TIME OUT NY:
"“Resigning oneself to small is sad,” says Harvey Fierstein in A Catered Affair. “Requesting it is tragic.” But why, in that case, should anyone seek tickets to the drab, crabby new musical that Fierstein has created with songwriter John Bucchino? "
Read the whole review HERE.
AM NY:
"It is an elegant production that shines with authentic emotions, but also a snooze fest that may leave you facing a 90-minute nap. It's so studied and contemplative that it turns dull and labored, chilling its sentimental plot below the freezing point. Couldn't its creative team have given us just a spoonful of sugar to help the gritty naturalism and stark minimalism go down?"
Read the whole review HERE.
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