"A small, uneasily assembled production...The subject of 'Kid Victory' feels especially unpromising for any musical that doesn’t aspire to grim, grand (guignol) opera or creepy camp. And this definitely has other aspirations, toward a laudable but elusive psychology delicacy...Mr. Kander mines a number of musical veins, including the jaunty jazz and vaudeville pastiches for which he is best known, with results that are scattered, a bit bewilderingly, among the characters."
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"The show manages to navigate its subject’s minefield of potential mortification. Much credit for that belongs to Brandon Flynn, the sensitive but never maudlin young actor...Kudos also go to librettist Greg Pierce and composer John Kander, who nimbly thread a narrow needle...The songs often seem truncated or extraneous. If 'Kid Victory' doesn’t embarrass itself a musical, neither does it offer, in the end, compelling reasons for being one."
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"It’s a mess, and the disturbing subject is the least of the problems in this show...Kander’s music is beautiful and this amazing composer has been liberated, whether by change of partner or his own intellectual progression, into a more Sondheimian palette of tone and melody...Nothing else about 'Kid Victory' makes sense, unless one buys into the unsavory suggestion that sometimes Stockholm Syndrome is just another marker on the road to adulthood."
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"If that doesn’t sound like a story that naturally sings — and themes of religion and sexuality only add to that — the creators haven’t provided a persuasive case that it does. Despite a talented, hard-working cast, songs far too often stop the show dead in its tracks. 'Kid Victory' is a drama taken captive by pretty toe-tappers and romantic ballads that clash with the narrative."
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"A disjointed, tedious effort, which is hardly enhanced by Kander’s atypically underwhelming score...The storyline generally feels confusing, overly cluttered with incidents and minor characters that don’t add much to the overall impact...Under Liesl Tommy's direction, the acting is fine...But the performers’ efforts are undercut by a show that strains for emotional profundity and instead seems merely exploitative."
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"This new musical employs Kander's instantly recognizable Broadway sound to tell a story that is contemporary, relevant, and brave. The result is the most exciting new musical of the season...Through his consistently lovely music, Kander conveys the discord between what should be and what is...Director Tommy smartly augments the emotional whiplash of the score with her clear and efficient staging...Flynn leads the cast with an unforgettably angst-ridden performance."
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"As orchestrated by Starobin, much of his music offers a chamber quality that enhances the skin-crawling tone of director Tommy's sensitive and extremely well-acted production...Pierce shows himself to be a capable storyteller in his book and lyrics, but the musical suffers from being more about people's reactions to Luke rather than revealing more of Luke himself. Still, it's a daring subject choice for musicalization and there's enough good work to fascinate, if not completely satisfy."
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"Greg Pierce and John Kander have done a very daring thing, building a musical around a character who can't express himself in song...Under Liesl Tommy's sure-handed direction, aided by Christopher Windom's choreography, the action moves across time and in and out of Luke's mind with the fluidity of a dream; she has also pulled together a first-rate cast of newcomers and old Broadway hands...Unusual and extraordinarily powerful musical."
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