Vulture - Somewhat Recommended
"...Sarah Silverman's autobiographical(ish) The Bedwetter deals with a rocky time in the younger Sarah's life. The musical itself is rocky too - dramatizing a 10-year-old's emotional breakdown in song poses difficulties for the stage. Silverman has been frank about her issues with childhood incontinence and depression: According to her memoir, also called The Bedwetter, she had nighttime accidents well into her middle teens, and was put on Xanax when she was still in grade school. She started out funny - she just didn't start out happy."
New York Post - Somewhat Recommended
"...The new musical "The Bedwetter," based on comedian Sarah Silverman's memoir, is not as tight as a fitted sheet."
TheaterScene.net - Recommended
"...Comedian Sarah Silverman has turned her bestselling memoir, The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee, into a musical with the help of co-book writer Joshua Harmon, author of this year's award-winning Prayer for the French Republic, and composer Adam Schlesinger (Cry-Baby), who passed away in 2020 just as the show was about to go into rehearsal prior to the pandemic. The new musical, simply named The Bedwetter, like the book is by turns amusing, first hilarious and later serious. Anne Kauffman's production has a top-notch cast headed by Bebe Neuwirth, Caissie Levy, Darren Goldstein and Rick Crom."
NY Theatre Guide - Somewhat Recommended
"...Sarah Silverman's pungently irreverent and profane brand of comedy makes the leap into musical theatre with her funny but uneven new show, The Bedwetter."
Stage Buddy - Recommended
"...Based on Sarah Silverman's bestselling memoir, this new musical by Silverman, Joshua Harmon, and Adam Schlesinger is big on heart and big on laughs. If it's not always polished to a T, it makes up for it by being wickedly funny and altogether endearing. Of course, a great cast helps. Caissie Levy is both funny and tender as Sarah's mother, and Bebe Neuwirth gives an entertaining performance as Sarah's alcoholic, dirty-mouthed Jewish grandmother. Rick Crom is laugh-out-loud hilarious as a hypnotist with imposter syndrome, a Xanax-happy psychiatrist, and various other characters. But of course, the real star of the show is Sarah herself, played by the irresistably charming Zoe Glick."
Theater Pizzazz - Somewhat Recommended
"...For the first half-hour or so, I tried, really tried, to respond with something more than a few "duty laughs," the kind you feel you ought to, out of respect for Ms. Silverman and the hardworking, talented company onstage. But eventually, while being mildly entertained by the goings-on, I realized that, for all its zany efforts, The Bedwetter was much darker and more serious, not to mention schmaltzy, than I expected. So sue me: I thought I was in for a lighthearted romp and I didn't prepare!"
Daily Beast - Somewhat Recommended
"...It is a lot to set to song-bedwetting, depression, a young girl prescribed shed-loads of Xanax, family grief, divorce, and one salty-as-hell grandma-and the musical adapted from Sarah Silverman's memoir, The Bedwetter (Atlantic Theater, to July 3) absolutely goes for it."
The Observer - Recommended
"...The show features a zippy book by Silverman and Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews, Prayer for the French Republic), and tunes by the late Adam Schlesinger (Cry-Baby, Fountains of Wayne), featuring lyrics by Schlesinger and Silverman. Due to the songwriter's untimely death in 2020 from Covid, musical-theater wizard David Yazbek (Tootsie) came on board to tweak music, lyrics, and song order. The final score, which leans heavily on parody, period and pastiche, isn't terribly original or memorable (and much less satisfying than the Atlantic's previous musical, Kimberly Akimbo), but it serves as an enthusiastic delivery system for droll, witty lyrics. The book does a good job of balancing vulgar laughs with sentiment for the bittersweet family drama that drives the piece."
New York Stage Review - Recommended
"...The Bedwetter features a roster of heavyweight talents, both on and offstage. Silverman herself co-wrote the book with playwright Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews, Significant Others, Prayer for the French Republic) and the lyrics with composer Adam Schlesinger (Cry Baby, the pop group Fountains of Wayne), who died tragically at age 52 of Covid and whose music for this show represents his final project. David Yazbek (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Tootsie, The Band's Visit) serves as "Creative Consultant," with his offbeat brand of humor permeating the proceedings. Off-Broadway innovator Anne Kauffman directs, and the cast includes such veterans as Caissie Levy, Darren Goldstein and Bebe Neuwirth."
Cultural Daily - Highly Recommended
"...As you might expect, any musical from the pen of the notoriously profane comedienne Sarah Silverman has more than its share of what we used to call dirty jokes. But The Bedwetter (Atlantic Theater Company's Linda Gross Theater), the new musical based on Silverman's memoir of her traumatic childhood, is also an insightful and moving depiction of dysfunctional family dynamics, a little girl's triumph over insecurity and the healing power of comedy. It's also pretty damn funny.... and dirty."
