The New York Times - Somewhat Recommended
"..."If/Then," you see, is a portrait of alternative existences, of roads taken or not, of the person a person might have been if she had only done this instead of that. If that sounds confusing, don't worry. You may occasionally have trouble keeping the show's twin story lines separate. But you'll never be in any doubt whatsoever as to what the central theme is."
Vulture - Recommended
"...Best of all, it does none of this just to show off that it can. If/Then isn't a trick, any more than New York with all its imperfections is. Rather, it's a tribute to the complicated and crucial idea of urbanity, in which population equals possibility and irony is destiny"
NY1 - Recommended
"...You really do have to admire the ambitiousness of "If/Then." It's a smart show that ultimately outwits itself. The story tracing two versions of a woman's life is a muddy affair. And if not for Idina Menzel's sensational performance, audiences might be inclined to dub it "So/What."...Tom Kitt's music, with lyrics by Yorkey, doesn't rise to the level of their masterful score for "Next To Normal." But it does give Idina Menzel ample opportunity to display her great vocal gifts, and if that's why people are buying tickets, they won't be disappointed...To everyone's credit, this very complicated show does manage to come full circle, though, given the misdirection, I can't help wondering about the roads not taken."
Entertainment Weekly - Somewhat Recommended
"...But as even John Travolta must know by now, the real star here is Menzel, and she delivers a powerful bipolar performance that often masks the shallowness of the material. In her triumphant final ballad, "Always Starting Over," she proves she doesn't need to defy gravity to win over fans. With her feet planted on terra firma, she can shake the rafters and pierce your heart all at once."
amNY - Recommended
"...As one of the few new musicals not based on a familiar film or pop song catalog (or anything else for that matter), "If/Then" certainly is a breath of fresh air. And despite nagging issues with its overall concept and divided story lines, it is a smart, romantic piece with a well-crafted soft rock score and great performances all around."
Wall Street Journal - Not Recommended
"...If, like me, you found "Next to Normal" to be an unpleasingly prettified portrayal of manic depression, stay away from "If/Then," in which the authors fawn over the comfy travails of New York's verbal class and explicitly invite the audience to sneer at those benighted rubes who feed the family at Olive Garden. This is the kind of show whose self-satisfied authors take it for granted that its viewers will chortle at the mere mention of Phoenix. (Those who live off the tourist trade might do well to think twice about sniggering at it onstage.) The songs consist of pseudo-tunes and sub-Sondheim lyrics, most of the latter far too clearly inspired either by "The Road You Didn't Take" or "Marry Me a Little": "It's not that I don't love you, 'cause I don't not love you." As for the book, imagine "Next Stop Wonderland" rewritten by Alan Ayckbourn minus the laughs."
NBC New York - Somewhat Recommended
"..."If/Then" begins with one version of Elizabeth thinking back upon the choices that she's made. As we watch both of Elizabeth's paths in flashback, we inevitably spend the whole show trying to decide which version of Elizabeth we met at the beginning--Liz or Beth. In the end, Yorkey and Kitt answer that, but they want us to focus less on which path is right, instead embracing the fact that each path is, simply, different. That may be all well and good, but that point gets clouded in confusing storylines."
Time Out New York - Recommended
"...Menzel imbues her character with maximum pluck and vulnerabilty. But for all the charisma of the lead and ensemble, Kitt's score blurs into similar-sounding midtempo pop ballads. Menzel carries the show but can't force us to care about Liz/Beth's average life choices. People are just too darn nice in If/Then's world. We need more bitchery and satire, more injustice for our hero to fight against, to inspire an anthem as thrilling (if as slick) as "Let It Go." Otherwise, we get a Choose Your Own Adventure that's not really venturesome."
Village Voice - Highly Recommended
"...If/Then is highly entertaining. It's also a star vehicle, hard to imagine without Menzel's magnetic presence. (The songs are unimaginative, the choreography hit-or-miss.) There are other lapses, too, like a facile subplot pitting Elizabeth's urban planning against Lucas's grassroots agitation. But a clever ending avoids the fatalism that If/Then's double plot might imply that's a lot of pressure to put on a single afternoon's whim, after all. And it's refreshing to see a Broadway musical about choices, not fairy-tale fates, with a heroine who's pushing 40 and forthrightly facing life's possibilities."
NewYorkTheater.me - Somewhat Recommended
"...In If/Then, Idina Menzel portrays two different versions of the same character Elizabeth, and at the beginning of the musical, I was feeling like two versions of myself as well...I, Jonathan, initially felt both like Joe and Nathan " as Joe, irritated at the premise, and as Nathan, excited by the promise of entertainment from so much proven stage talent, with various past successes in Next to Normal, Rent and Wicked. By the end, we (I) could agree: The way the premise plays out is more intelligent than it at first seems. The entertainers themselves deliver on their promise. It is terrific to see (and hear) Idina Menzel back on Broadway after an absence of nine years. She is employed wisely on stage nearly all the time, she's given songs that emphasize character as much as vocal gymnastics; we must wait for the occasional full-steam pop arias like Always Starting Over ; making them all the more flooring. But this is a story that would have worked better as a novel, or perhaps a serial on Netflix."
