"A deep sense of anxiety is established from the very beginning of this hybrid of concert and theater...Zola’s passion provides welcome fire to a show that otherwise hews to a calm, even-keeled tone, exemplified by Mr. von Essen’s sober performance. Much of the emotion is supplied by the musical selections, which both illustrate and comment on the story, and are not necessarily from the actual Dreyfus era—a conceptual gambit that can be just as distracting as illuminating."
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"Many individual elements of this production are very strong, especially the talent of the musicians and actors...The show’s overarching direction seems to err on the side of style over immediacy…The play does much to stylize and theatricalize the events of ‘The Dreyfus Affair,’ but very little to dramatize them…Though the production is not without its particular lapses in storytelling, it is a fine example of historic, intellectual drama, capable of provoking thought."
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'The Dreyfus Affair' attempts to tell the entire story through expository speeches, dramatic scenes, multimedia projections, operatic song and often excessively long orchestral pieces. It’s no easy feat, and the attempt is probably ill-advised. For while there are gorgeous moments from a supremely talented cast and musicians, the lulls in the story are too frequent and too disengaging...The parts simply didn’t add up to a whole."
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"The performances are restrained, which is a wise choice given the inherent melodrama of the story. The music, however, is powerfully emotive, and performed with intense vitality…Other than the two main characters of Dreyfus and his defender, Zola, there is little depth or nuance to any of the characterizations…Overall the production could use some serious nip and tuck…Everything seems to go on just a bit too long. But the music, the singing, and the lead performances are marvelous.”
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