Dead Man Walking NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (29)
See it if you are curious about opera conventions: characters talking to themselves, highly dramatic moments, broad themes, big chorus, violence, etc
Don't see it if you’re not open to seeing an opera: lots of vibrato, reading along, characters alone on stage thinking about an unfair/messed up world Read more
See it if you're looking for a top-notch gut punching performance of a stunning contemporary opera, with great voices and outstanding use of video.
Don't see it if you don't care for a show dealing with the topic of capital punishment, graphic depiction of brutal violence and rape, or lengthy operas.
See it if you want to see a contemporary opera well done.
Don't see it if you do not like serious social dramas, parts are quite rough.
See it if New Met production. Joyce DiDanto.
Don't see it if Lack emotional punch and fear.
See it if you like intellectually challenging theatre. I watched this opera through tears and was mesmerized by the text, music and performances.
Don't see it if you do not want to confront difficult moral issues.
See it if You enjoy modern American opera in English with great staging and direction.
Don't see it if You prefer tradition, foreign language operas.
See it if Heggie's haunting meditation on death & redemption gets a graphic stylized production by van Hove & is poignantly sung by DiDonato & McKinny
Don't see it if Its a "van Hove" production giving us the roving cameras, fierce close-ups & multiple projections Yet they enhance rather than intrude
See it if Modern stark monochromatic opera with Ivo van Hove's trademark use of multimedia video cameras & screens which mostly worked except for the
Don't see it if Themes of extreme violence, religion, and capital punishment may be triggering for some. Read more
Critic Reviews (5)
“In two acts and at two-and-a-half hours, it is also too long. Scenes almost inevitably outstay their welcomes...And, despite the powerful feelings ceaselessly on display, the opera never quite finds its way to riveting drama or tight conflict”
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“The production supplied some of the weight and interiority that the opera itself lacks. The libretto carries the story; Mr. Heggie’s music doesn’t create or develop characters, relying instead on a noisy, propulsive orchestra and multiple climaxes.”
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“Despite my issues with this production, Heggie and McNally’s piece has a lot of the right ingredients for sticking around: clear musical ideas, with a score that references popular styles without losing its own identity and strong vocal writing, a balanced and well-paced story and a timely set of ethical questions that deal deftly in ambivalence.”
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“Something about it felt, well, unjust — as though the lurid precision of De Rocher’s execution compromised the carefully constructed and gracefully composed world of Heggie’s music. And perhaps this was the point: to paint the justice meted out by the American prison system as no less violent or gratuitous than the crime itself. Despite how correct that may be, it still felt utterly wrong — though if life were fair, we would have no need for faith.”
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“While the production leaves a lot to be desired, it’s impossible not to appreciate the big swings it takes. More importantly, it’s the vessel through which a work like ‘Dead Man Walking’ and its amazing cast are allowed to take the Met stage.”
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