"The problem isn’t the added songs. The score, by Duncan Sheik and Susan Birkenhead, is in fact quite beautiful...What’s more, the songs are sung gorgeously by a cast that’s equally powerful in solo numbers and ensembles. The problem is what the songs are added to, and how much had to be cut to make room for them...The absence of context is not ameliorated by Mr. Gold’s staging, which seems to scrape away all novelistic trappings as if they were ostentatious."
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"'The Secret Life of Bees' turns out to be all buzz and no sting...It leaves some of the city’s best voices without much to sing about...Their vocals are glorious but the show doesn’t seem to know what story it is telling, or how to tell it...One gets the sense that everyone involved is trying to avoid the suggestion that comes through in the show’s final image."
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"Musical theater brings out all that’s effective about 'The Secret Life of Bees' while dexterously downplaying its less convincing elements...It’s always heartening to encounter a production that truly feels like a fruitful collaboration and whose various team members are all joyfully pulling their weight. Nottage and Birkenhead have shaped and sharpened Kidd’s story into a streamlined, sensitive play, and Sheik’s music is rich and rousing."
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"The feeling of empowerment, uplift and solidarity could come across in lesser hands as maudlin, naive or simplistic. But this creative team and ensemble of performers create characters that are fresh, a credible story that is transformative and a spiritual center — enriched by a glorious and haunting score by Duncan Sheik and Susan Birkenhead — that would make even a non-believer sing 'Hallelujah!'"
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"Some of the most gorgeous female-forward musical storytelling seen on a New York stage in some time...The show features a book by two-time Pulitzer winner Lynn Nottage, a warm, expansively melodic score by Duncan Sheik, descriptive lyrics by Broadway veteran Susan Birkenhead and sensitive direction by Sam Gold...To say that this richly expressive dramatic piece is a workshop or two away from realizing its full potential should not be misread as a dismissal."
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"While this handsomely produced and sensitively acted musical—with a book by Lynn Nottage, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, and a rich, soulful score by Duncan Sheik—has flashes of religious ecstasy, young love and forgiveness, mostly it produces too much treacle and too little sting...For all the musical pleasure in Sheik and Birkenhead’s songs, they don’t mesh closely enough with Nottage’s book to feel like they’re pushing the story or emotional terrain along."
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"A beautiful and captivating adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd’s 2001 coming-of-age novel...Unlike so many other musicals that are adapted without inspiration or invention, 'The Secret Life of Bees' is intently focused around having its characters open up and reveal themselves in songs and dialogue. Even if some of the plotting is choppy, the score and book demonstrate a superb level of craftsmanship, sensitivity to character and dramatic integration."
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"The bestselling novel is getting a powerful and heartfelt adaptation...Director Sam Gold has assembled a bravura multi-talented company — many of them doubling and tripling as musicians, actors, and singers...As much as I was moved by this production and Sheik’s music is his best since 'Spring Awakening,' the book still needs some work. One more draft and I predict it will have a long sweet life."
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