Shakespeare in the Park’s latest show Love’s Labour Lost remains a very hot ticket, as evidenced by the line stretching almost to the Reservoir this morning at 9 a.m. The play is a musical that modernizes Shakespeare’s play about four men who swear off romance.
The reviews we’ve seen were mostly tepid, like this one from Ben Brantley at the Times.
In this production, there is seldom a real connection between the singers and their songs. It’s as if the musical numbers, which cover a gamut of pastiche styles, had been assigned at random from a mixtape playlist.
Disconnectedness pervades this “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” which is a surprise, given the triumphant and audacious cohesiveness of Mr. Timbers and Mr. Friedman’s “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” which improbably used emo music to explore 19th-century populism.
Not everyone found the show wanting. Hilton Als at the New Yorker fell in love:
Love’s Labour’s Lost (at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park) is so good on so many levels that it makes you excited about not only what the American musical can do but how well it reflects on those producers who support the new, full-out.
If you want to check it out, act fast. There are just three performances left!
Why are people flocking to see this play. It’s one of those bucket lists things. Also, it the summer and it is outdoors in Central Park.
Also a big plus –it’s FREE!!!