CRITIC’S PICK: "Considering our current climate of reactive, out-loud politics, the melodramatic straightforwardness of Lawrence and Lee’s story doesn’t seem as far-out as it once did. Now, as then, Herman’s tuneful, yes-we-can score holds a steady beat for all to march to."
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“A downsized ‘Dear World,’ without the sweeping vocal arrangements and orchestrations, is far less thrilling. It is probably too late to seriously resuscitate ‘Dear World’.”
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“The flaws of Dear World are pretty apparent. It doesn't quite make sense, nor does it really work as a musical comedy. No, this production does not make a sudden case for ’Dear World ’as a neglected gem, but it does give this cuckoo crazy musical the best possible contemporary production it could want.”
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"Dear World," the not terribly successful 1969 Jerry Herman musical based on Jean Giraudoux’s "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1945), was basically a vehicle for the brilliant Angela Lansbury. It needs a star to pull off its quirky inconsistency and New York City Center Encores! has a gem, Donna Murphy, who, though under-rehearsed due to a Covid scare and carrying her script, gives a colorful and moving performance as its central character, Countess Aurelia.
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“This is how it should be done...It has it all: a lush orchestra playing a forgotten score, Broadway luminaries, laughs, romance, social commentary, and some minimal, but captivating design.”
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more than just a vehicle for Donna Murphy…. It’s also a vehicle for other terrific talent, especially two of Broadway’s funniest character actors, Christopher Fitzgerald and Anne Harada, as well as a wonderful dancer named Kody Jauron ….I certainly gave Herman’s songs a dutiful listen, but I think I understand what might have kept audiences half a century ago from fully appreciating them – because I don’t fully appreciate them now either.
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