The New York Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Some things were never meant to be shouted through megaphones. On the basis of Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical, the occasionally funny but mostly just loud new show that would include the wit of Woody Allen while the movie was a helium-light charmer, this all-talking, all-singing, all-dancing reincarnation is also all but charm-free. The experience of watching the film was like being tickled, gently but steadily, into a state of mounting hysteria. From the get-go, the musical version feels more like being head-butted by linebackers. Make that linebackers in blinding sequins. What registered as wistfully absurd on screen has been pushed into grotesqueness. Sex talk that came across with a shrug and a glint resurfaces as a broad neon leer. And the moral ambivalence of its central character feels inappropriately queasy in this heightened, brightened context. Characters who were deftly drawn cartoons on screen have been turned into gargoyles by a desperately hard-working cast. Character is defined mostly by single notes, loud ones."
NY Daily News - Somewhat Recommended
"...Showgirls dressed like frisky tigers shake their moneymakers near the beginning of Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway and they're a symbol, for this musical certainly works its tail off to tickle and delight. It's too bad that the comedy about a playwriting hit man is a bit of a miss. On the plus side, director and choreographer Susan Stroman's dance numbers pack sure-footed pizzazz. And the good-looking production depicts 1929 New York with wit and grace notes. But working in tandem with Allen Stroman doesn't match the zany, out-of-this-world wow factor of her collaboration with Mel Brooks on The Producers Beyond mediocre acting is the poor choice at the center of this jukebox musical: Instead of coming up with new tunes, Allen shoehorned period into the existing plot. But all this does is throw the show into neutral whenever the orchestra swells. Even well-performed, the oldies simply underline what's going on. For all the singing about sitting on top of the world, Bullets Over Broadway doesn't take you to such heights but to the Equator, or the middle of the road."
Associated Press - Highly Recommended
"... at the helm of this thrilling Woody Allen 1994 film adaptation, Stroman has created musical theater bliss, fittingly at the St. James Theatre, the venue where her last megahit, "The Producers," was staged. Everything works here: The dances are inspired, the costumes rock, the sets are sharp and the use of slightly tweaked existing classic jazz and blues standards as the soundtrack is inspired. Even the casting, which initially seemed odd, ends up pretty spot-on, with a mixture of newbies and veterans. But it's Stroman's vision that will keep this cute, brashy ode to Broadway on Broadway for long to come. When the critical reviews of the fictional play come out at the end of the show, the consensus must be the same about this fun, beautiful musical: "A work of art of the highest caliber.""
Hollywood Reporter - Somewhat Recommended
"...There's a ton of talent onstage in Bullets Over Broadway, evident in the leggy chorines who ignite into explosive dance routines, the gifted cast, the sparkling design elements and the wraparound razzle-dazzle of director-choreographer Susan Stroman's lavish production. So why does this musical wind up shooting blanks? Flat where it should be frothy, the show is a watered-down champagne cocktail that too seldom gets beyond its recycled jokes and second-hand characterizations to assert an exciting new identity. One handicap "though not necessarily the fatal flaw "is the absence of an original score...most of the songs are inorganic to the plot and characters. The show never makes a compelling case for why this story is being retold as a musical, but nor does it work as blithely silly 1920s-style fluff. Stroman's staging provides entertainment value...But watching this effortful show provides constant reminders that a lot of money has been thrown at mediocre material."
Vulture - Somewhat Recommended
"...Whatever musical comedy is, there hasn't been much of it this season. That leaves only Bullets Over Broadway Unfortunately, as musical comedy goes, it's neither dumping music and comedy into the same pot does not in itself make musical comedy; what matters is how you cook the ingredients. [Stroman] delivers, at least at the start; with her customary focus she gets the story moving (and dancing) in seconds. Stroman's staging trademarks precision, seamlessness, attention to detail are all visible here. But then, once that first transition is over crash, so is the fun. Bizarrely, Bullets Over Broadway never recovers from this pedantry; Allen's book, obsessed with underlining plot points, stops caring if they actually make sense. Characters who seemed lovably eccentric in the movie just seem clammy and mystifying here Worse, the one-liners go dull All of which leaves you wondering: How could what was so charming on screen become so deadly onstage?"
NY1 - Somewhat Recommended
"...The talent pool is huge for this film-to-stage-adaptation certainly raise the bar of expectations. And maybe it's too high because "Bullets Over Broadway The Musical" misses more than it hits. Susan Stroman's fine skills are in overdrive with this project and though there's much to applaud, the overall take is that it's disjointed and, I hate to say it, rather pointless. She choreographs some lively dance numbers but the songs stop the momentum and the characters don't rise above stock. Bullets does have its moments, but too much talent is squandered in a show that should have been a killer hit itself."
Variety - Somewhat Recommended
"...Everyone hoped Bullets Over Broadway would be the show to get those flickering Broadway lights blazing again. In certain wonderful ways Susan Stroman's happy-tappy dance rhythms, the dazzling design work on everything from proscenium curtain to wigs, and a fabulous chorus line of dancing dolls, molls and gangsters Woody Allen's showbiz musical is the answer to a Broadway tinhorn's prayer. Surprisingly, though, the book (from Allen's own screenplay for his 1994 film) is feeble on laughs, and certain key performers don't seem comfortable navigating the earthy comic idiom of burlesque. So, let's call it close but no cigar."
USA Today - Highly Recommended
"...Though director/choreographer Susan Stroman has helmed a number of buoyant revivals and exhilarating original works, she's probably best known for 2001's The Producers. So it's fitting that the show that may well prove her biggest hit since then was also adapted from a beloved film comedy: Bullets Over Broadway Unlike Producers' Mel Brooks, Allen did not feel compelled to write an original score; instead, Bullets...incorporates the kind of traditional pop tunes that lend so much flavor to his movies with occasional, clever twists provided in additional lyrics by Glen Kelly. But it's Stroman who makes this baby sing and dance, not just literally but spiritually. The playful wit and exuberance are in full force here, and are supported by performers and designers...who seem to never run out of steam. In fact, while things may not end happily for a few of its characters, Bullets offers as much sheer, shameless fun as any show you'll see this season."
Entertainment Weekly - Highly Recommended
"...During the opening moments of Bullets Over Broadway, a pinstripe-suited gangster fires a tommy gun into a flat drop curtain and spells out the title in bright lights. From that rat-a-tat start to the utterly bananas finale, director-choreographer Susan Stroman produces one of the sprightliest and most effervescent new musicals in years. There's a fluidity to the scene changes that is almost cinematic This is not your usual jukebox musical. The songs, all '20s-era gems that predate the word jukebox, are cleverly deployed (and lyrically updated by Glen Kelly) to advance the plot Yes, it's a tad loopy. But Bullets captures the screwball spirit of the time period while remaining entirely fresh and new."
Newsday - Recommended
"... with "Bullets Over Broadway," his first Broadway musical, Allen has created an old-fashioned, madcap lark of a show that seems precisely where it belongs. Director-choreographer Susan Stroman is back in idea-crazy form in Allen's adaptation of his 1994 backstage-Broadway The show takes a while to hit its stride, feeling competent but mechanical at first, as if the job could only get done if everyone bellows and hard-sells the lamest jokes. But once inspiration strikes -- and it eventually does -- the smartly cast, good-looking production relaxes into the confidence of its own gleeful, high-gloss ridiculousness. Period songs have been cleverly arranged and folded into the action with some new lyrics, by Glen Kelly. Santo Loquasto's gorgeous sets are both cinematic and subtly comic."
amNY - Somewhat Recommended
"...In an ideal universe, the new musical Bullets Over Broadway, would shut down for a few months so that a talented songwriter could pen an original score for it. To its credit, Bullets Over Broadway is mildly entertaining. But given that it has been directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman (The Producers ) and has a script by Allen himself, everyone was expecting it to be a knock em dead musical comedy blockbuster. Although the show contains flashy design elements, amusing one-liners and generally decent performances, the decision to use jazz standards from the 1920s and 1930s instead of an original, well-integrated score proves to be absolutely fatal."
Wall Street Journal - Recommended
"...How good can a jukebox musical be? As good as "Bullets Over Broadway,"...The book is funny, the staging inventive, the cast outstanding, the sets and costumes satisfyingly slick. All that's missing is a purpose-written score, in place of which we get period-true arrangements of pop songs of the 1920s and '30s. Does that matter? It did to me a lot but I doubt that many other people will boggle over the absence of original songs...Except for a flabby finale, it has the sweet scent of a box-office smash. Ms. Stroman...remains peerless when it comes to comic choreography, and "Bullets" overflows with clever dances What about the score? Glen Kelly has written additional lyrics whose purpose is to integrate the musical sequences more smoothly into the plot, but the dramatic fit is never tight...[thus] the momentum falters whenever the actors start to sing, though Ms. Stroman usually manages to get things moving again in reasonably short order. Still, "Bullets Over Broadway" is solidly entertaining in its unoriginal, unchallenging way."
NorthJersey - Highly Recommended
"...Thirteen years ago, director-choreographer Susan Stroman had the triumph of her career with a musical comedy at the St. James Theater. With her new show, she's demonstrating that lightning can strike at the same theater twice. "Bullets Over Broadway," isn't quite at the level of "The Producers," But it's an extremely funny, devilishly entertaining show from start to finish. Adapted by Woody Allen from his 1994 film, the story has a strong yet whimsical narrative, the kind of thing that allows Stroman to be at her best. She excels at telling a story through her exuberant theatrical imagination, with witty staging and inventive dance numbers while the evening has the structure provided by a solid plot. The cast has been very well chosen. "Bullets Over Broadway" is Stroman's second bite of the apple this season [Big Fish] wasn't the right show for her fizzy style. With "Bullets Over Broadway," she's gotten a perfect match. And the result couldn't be more joyful."
Washington Post - Not Recommended
"...The cardinal sin in adapting a Woody Allen film comedy for the stage is forcing the funny. So the creators of Bullets Over Broadway the Musical, the sledgehammering act of period-tune-driven have a whole lot to answer for. Set designer Santo Loquasto and especially costume designer William Ivey Long find abundant inspiration in the architecture and fashion of 1920-something New York: the production looks luxuriously turned out. Conversely, a style-less grotesqueness infects many of the performances, a surfeit of brass and hamminess not apparent in the film Stroman and Allen seem to have concluded that exaggeration is the key to making his celluloid characters live and breathe. As a result, most of them have been turned into clowns "alien to the more affectionate comic portraiture in his movies. The unfortunate outcome of all this is a show that, contrary to the romantic musical themes of the era in which it's set, remains unembraceable."
Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...In the hands and most certainly the wheelhouse of the director-choreographer Susan Stroman, Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway" gets turned into a whiz-bang, retro, good time Broadway musical, replete with cheerily supersize performances, a daunting chorus that most certainly can put the requisite "Atta" in the Atta-Girls, a bevy of stock comic types and enough wit from the 1994 movie to sustain a plethora of yuks. There are, for sure, times when "Bullets" is stymied by its lack of an original score, although the lyrics have been thoroughly subjugated to its comedic purpose, wittily so when you translate Allen and Douglas McGrath's backstage comedy to the Main Stem, somehow the Great American Songbook starts to feel a bit like a cop-out. With a fresh, funny, zesty score, "Bullets" would have been unstoppable Buoyed by its strong women, "Bullets" occupies a classic musical-comedy niche you can't find elsewhere on Broadway this season."
NBC New York - Highly Recommended
"... countless attention-seizing moments in the terrific new screwball thriller from perfectionist duo Susan Stroman and Woody Allen Bullets Over Broadway is a zany, old-fashioned spectacle While not without some curious choices, Bullets is certainly the best of the musicals to open on Broadway so far this season, though make note it's a new musical with old music. The mark of director-choreographer Stroman (The Producers et al) is all over the deliciously escapist piece, which boasts showstoppers and glitzy costumes that would be right at home in a vaudeville revue. By now, you've deduced the hook -- if it's an original score you're looking for, it's not to be found in Bullets Over Broadway. The finale While oodles of fun feels haphazardly tacked on and not much in keeping with the show's earlier tone. What's important here is this: Stroman's brand of showmanship and Allen's unparalleled wit go together, in the end, just like a hot dog and a roll."
Time Out New York - Highly Recommended
"... it's 20 years later and Bullets has returned as a delirious musical romp. Was the original film great art? Is this adaptation? No so there's nothing to forgive. There is, however, plenty to enjoy director-choreographer Susan Stroman at the top of her game with a toothsome cast and a gag-filled book surrounded by repurposed jazz standards. The show might be lightweight and nostalgic, but you can't deny its savvy craft and bursting showmanship: sexy chorines, Art Deco backdrops and sight gags galore. Who knew Broadway could still be this much fun? The lack of an original score might disappoint some, but music adapter Glen Kelly has penned customized lyrics to make Bullets more than a 1920s jukebox musical. Thanks to a smashing cast and Stroman's steady hand on the tiller...Old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing and built to run, Bullets is high caliber and hits the spot."
The Wrap - Somewhat Recommended
"... His book never really abandons his screenplay sufficiently to reinvent itself for the theater. For most of the evening, some great dance numbers and many old tunes have simply be inserted into this It's still a great story, but under Susan Stroman's direction, Bullets doesn't hit its target until well into act one Bullets, the musical, is loaded down with old ditties that wore out their welcome sometime during the run of Arthur Godfrey Time and only vaguely refer to Allen's story. It doesn't help that nearly every tune is delivered with the same upbeat, incessant peppiness, and the female chorus resorts to cutesy, nasal, high-pitched whines. Stroman's work with her principal players and dancers exposes a weird split between male and female While Stroman's men are men, her women are Kewpie dolls, starting with the female chorus. Bullets on Broadway rarely breaks free of the movie, and fond memories keep taking us back to the original."
Financial Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...The Broadway show makes a Sinclair-sized effort to persuade us of the value of early-20th-century songs shoehorned into a 1929 setting. The attempt is intermittently enjoyable, extremely well crafted by the director/choreographer Susan Stroman, and progressively unthrilling. The second act advances the story efficiently The pin-striped suits are reminiscent of costumer William Ivey Long's work on the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls; the low jokes and old-fashioned Broadway borrowings recall Mel Brooks's 2001 musical adaptation of The Producers, also directed by Stroman. And the choreography, joyful as it sometimes is, cannot resist comparisons to Stroman's more inventive work on the 1992 Gershwin extravaganza Crazy for You. Allen recently told an interviewer that he finds working in the theatre insufficiently stimulating. That's roughly how I would describe the musical Bullets Over Broadway."
Telegraph - Somewhat Recommended
"...In the long and ongoing parade of movies-turned-stage musicals, one of Woody Allen's work has made that transition " until now. But whereas the film exudes a darkly comic, breezy elan, this adaptation emerges as hard-edged and comparatively charmless " and not nearly as funny as it should be the show, for all its self-evident extravagance, shoots an alarming number of blanks. The score " a collection of period songs, some well-known (Let's Misbehave) and others not (the grimly unfunny Hot Dog Song) " reflects Allen's jazz-age savvy without anchoring the numbers in the characters who sing them; too much of the music feels like padding. And though no one drills a chorus line better than Stroman, her eclectic talent was on happier showbiz turf with the Mel Brooks-inspired The Producers "
Los Angeles Times - Recommended
"...There's certainly much to savor in this gin fizz cocktail of a show, tossed back in the Art Deco glory of Prohibition-era New York. But the ostentatious flaws of this much-anticipated production make it difficult for me to hold my tongue. Backstage musicals bring out the best in director and choreographer Susan Stroman, and her production of "Bullets" has electricity that at times matches her high-voltage staging of "The Producers." Even when the jokes fall flat and the songs (all borrowed from the period, many revamped by Glen Kelly) seem incongruous, the show has the galloping vigor of a runaway hit, if few of the ecstatic peaks. Stroman's staging moves with an effervescent fluidity gangsters and flappers glide by, each in high Cotton Club style yet the book isn't as spry. Scenes that could be distilled into a few lines are belabored. For all the frenetic Jazz Age motion, the show feels dramatically sluggish."
TheaterMania - Highly Recommended
"... they don't come any more glorious than Bullets Over Broadway With top-form direction and choreography by Susan Stroman, a superb cast led by Zach Braff (TV's Scrubs), and a brand-new-sounding score culled from hits of the 1920s, Bullets is musical comedy with a capital M and C a smart, zany delight from start to finish. Backstage musicals are clearly a shining star in Stroman's wheelhouse and she and her collaborators have gone all out to craft a show that stands up to the very best in that genre. William Ivey Long's costumes are as glitzy as anyone could want, Santo Loquasto accurately reimagines his settings in the film for the theatrical medium, and Donald Holder's lighting gives the show an authentic, period feel. Most important, there's not a single uninteresting moment onstage. The aim of Bullets is to make us laugh, and boy, do we ever."
NewYorkTheater.me - Somewhat Recommended
"...What would Woody Allen have thought of Bullets Over Broadway if he hadn't written it? Would he have enjoyed this overbearing Broadway musical full of recycled, flat and vulgar jokes; dazzling design; knock-em-over-the-head choreography set to mostly 90-year-old novelty tunes; and a cast of proven talent forced to mug their way to a paycheck? My guess is: Allen would never have been caught dead inside the St. James Theater...[and] seems to have little affection for the stage. This is evident in the mean-spirited portraits of the Broadway characters in his new musical, based on his 1994 film. Bullets Over Broadway is not without some splendid moments of entertainment, but they can be clearly traced back to director and choreographer Susan Stroman, helped by William Ivey Long's extravagant, playful sexy costumes, and Santo Loquasto's ambitious scenic design Stroman and her design team deserve the credit for what's right about Bullets Over Broadway "or at least what keeps our eyes dancing happily while our ears and minds shut down."
