"The musical 'Really Rosie' is so hard-candy cute you want to pull your teeth out. That isn’t true of the source material...Some 45 minutes of new songs and dialogue exacerbate the problem by trying to give everybody big moments; the result is more like a juvenile talent show than a story...All of the leading performers are delightful at something...But the show they perform is dispiriting...Nor is the staging, by Leigh Silverman, especially clarifying."
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"Sendak’s cheery and charming children’s musical...Its catchy songs serve as tutorials on the alphabet, numbers, months of the year and proper behavior, and its loose story line celebrates the power of the imagination to overcome loneliness. Silverman directs a terrific pack of young performers, who bring both vibrancy and vulnerability to their characters. Caldwell shines as Rosie. The cast also impresses with dance, effortlessly performing tap and hip-hop choreography by Casel."
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"Directed with the perfect anarchic feel by Leigh Silverman and performed by a talented group of teens and preteens who not only understand the dry sensibility of Sendak's text, but also know how to deliver it...Casel's dance numbers are impressive in their complexity, playing to the strengths of each individual cast member...In a world where that kind of innocence is harder and harder to come by with each passing day, it is lovely to see a reminder of those halcyon days of childhood."
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"Sendak penned the teleplay and wrote a fun batch of lyrics set to catchy pop music by Carole King...Directed with high-energy playfulness by Leigh Silverman, the Encores! Off-Center concert production of 'Really Rosie' is a sunny showcase for a talented cast of performers...Caldwell struts with lovable confidence throughout the 70-minute frolic, as do her terrific cohorts...Just try not being delighted watching 'Really Rosie's' dynamic company performing their hearts out."
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"A pleasant if uninspired Encores! Off-Center production...The show itself, which began life as an animated thirty-minute made-for-TV special and was later expanded to 70 minutes for the theater, is little more than a series of unconnected musical numbers...Director Leigh Silverman hasn't found much to spark the show into life, and the overall effect is that of a nice little children's theater production that has somehow found its way into the vast venue of City Center."
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"If your idea of fun entertainment is hanging around a band of super-precocious young Broadway kids, mugging and trying to hog the spotlight, this could be your thing...I found Caldwell lacked the acting chops to find anything beyond a one-note Rosie, and that one note was basically annoying...Poorly directed by Leigh Silverman to be loud and spotlight grabbing, they rarely managed to find much subtlety or character development within the text...The songs excite and entertain."
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"'Really Rosie' is strictly for kids, and, while sitting through its 70 minutes, I have never felt less 'young at heart' in my entire life...Lost on stage is Sendak’s complex tone, dark and full of dread, defiantly subversive, but at the same time beautiful and somehow gentle. Instead, we get cuteness and razzle-dazzle. It’s accomplished razzle-dazzle, helped along by King’s snappy melodies and Ayodele Casel’s choreography, sung and danced by a cast of first-rate diminutive performers."
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"A celebration of childhood curiosity and creativity...Caldwell’s Rosie is a high-octane, belting bundle of deliciousness with serious show-biz creds...Cabral brings down the house in 'Alligators All Around' with some impressive tapping...Silverman lets the kids be kids, not stressing over the occasional missed note, lack of projection, or rapid delivery of a line. Imperfection can occasionally be its own reward."
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