“Whatever its contrivances, ‘Cornelia Street’ is ultimately a work of naturalism, whereas the dreamy, gloomy musical interludes suggest something more abstract and symbolic. Instead of swelling during the musical numbers, the show seems to shrink, embarrassed.”
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“The overall result is a show that simply happens, with songs that do nothing to deepen or further any of its plot points. ‘Cornelia Street’ needs some work — starting with becoming a straight play — if it has hopes of moving further uptown.”
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“The various difficulties of making a musical—joining songs to action, exploring character and motivation, knocking our socks off musically—those things they haven’t managed.”
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“ ‘Cornelia Street’ is the sort of sappy fable the charitable describe as a love letter to New York but feels as depressing as a breakup text.”
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“ ‘Cornelia Street’ is trying (I think) to make some grand statements about New York City, but doesn't have much to say at all...It feels deeply out of touch, bitter, and unaware of the current cultural landscape of New York City – a massive issue for a musical that is supposed to be about that very thing.”
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“The plot itself is rather negligible, and the whole thing seems to be set up to serve as a way for us to spend time with the café's quirky clientele...the best suggestion I can come up with is that you find another place to hang out on ‘Cornelia Street.’ There are several nice restaurants there, and maybe Taylor Swift's song of the same name as the show's title will be playing in the background.”
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“There isn’t a plot, really, merely a succession of scenes, some dramatic, some comic, with the occasional melodramatic flourish thrown in...it might be advisable to wait until the creators of ‘Cornelia Street’ have had time to further develop their deeply flawed but nevertheless promising musical.”
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“It’s also full of grim, virtually indistinguishable songs, predictable lyrics, and off-putting, vaguely drawn characters.”
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