Did Critics Find Heaven in New B'way Musical In My Life?

People have been buzzing about In My Life, the new musical written and directed by Joseph Brooks a Broadway newcomer best known for writing the song "You Light Up My Life" and a host of advertising jingles for weeks. On October 20, when the show officially opened at the Music Box Theatre, it was time for critics to make their thoughts public. Did the show light up their lives?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

William Stevenson in his Broadway.com Review: "It's hard to describe Joe Brooks' In My Life, except to say that it is undoubtedly the most bizarre, misguided Broadway musical of the millennium. Part love story, part parody, part opera, the schizophrenic show is one of those you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it experiences… To his credit, Hanke doesn't aim for maximum volume during his ballads but lends them a sweet, sincere quality. His Tourette tics and outbursts are appropriately jarring. As the over-the-top Winston, Turner offers occasional comic relief, and most of his funny lines are apparently ones he improvised during rehearsals. On the other hand, Boevers' singing is underwhelming, and Farina's jingles take only seconds to become grating. The big-lunged Navarra, meanwhile, seems to think she's competing on American Idol."

Ben Brantley of The New York Times: "It's true that In My Life does have a few jaw-dropping moments of whimsy run amok… But it becomes clear early on that beneath the swirling madcap flourishes and willful tastelessness lies a small pink candy heart, of the kind that schoolchildren exchange on Valentine's Day, with phrases like "U R 2 sweet" inscribed on them. To describe the logic-free, ontology-embracing plot of In My Life may make it sound like a grotesque folie de grandeur. Boy meets girl; boy gets brain tumor; boy's dead sister intervenes with God, while angels roam around a big room filled with silver filing cabinets that's heaven and occasionally put on lavish period costumes to perform mock operas. But the careering story line and its bizarre accouterments are merely an excuse to deliver inspirational messages that are commonly found on television movies of the week and to trot out one sticky boy-band-style ballad after another."

Clive Barnes of The New York Post: "Any musical featuring a hero with Tourette's syndrome and an ad-jingle composer called Al who's wisely kept his day job as God sounds distinctly unpromising. And Joseph Brooks' musical In My Life, which opened last night at The Music Box, fulfills every unpromise possible… Brooks' music is tedious and his lyrics sentimentally simplistic--this from a man who's sold 80 million records. Perhaps he should have stopped while he was ahead. By the way, a fruit the show makes emblematic of J.T. and Jenny's happiness is... a lemon. Say no more."

Howard Kissel of The New York Daily News: "In My Life is awful, but as disasters go, it's minor league. The potential was there. The central character, J.T., has Tourette's syndrome--he shouts swear words uncontrollably. His girlfriend, Jenny, is obsessive-compulsive. But neither character is developed, and the storytelling is so fragmented that if this were a movie, you'd run up to the projection booth to make sure the reels were in the right order."

David Rooney of Variety: "An overblown soap opera framed by bizarre afterlife interludes and dripping with mawkish sentiment, this astonishing misfire will be a must-see for all the Broadway tuner-train wreck completists who still speak wistfully of Carrie. Long before a giant lemon not kidding! descends to dominate the stage in the final song, the suspicion arises that this might be an elaborate joke… But no such trickery seems intended… This baffling mix of romance, Tourette's syndrome, brain tumors and heavenly intervention remains unswervingly earnest, even as it lurches unintentionally into parody."

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press: "It's more fun to talk about In My Life, the bizarre new musical at Broadway's Music Box Theatre, than actually sit through it. The show, written, directed and produced by advertising jingle guru Joseph Brooks, is strange, strange, strange… [Brooks divides] the musical's tedious book into two, while cutting the audience's attention span in half. One part is the dippy, drippy love story, complete with a parade of songs that vaguely sound like 'You Light Up My Life,' the Debby Boone anthem that made composer Brooks a pile of money in the late 1970s. The lyrics are earnest, the melodies pretty and the gooey sentiment overwhelming. The second is a campy bit of fantasy involving a gay accountant also dead turned opera director…. To the cast's credit, they get through the evening with their dignity intact."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "Brooks' songs, which are repeated until we can sing them ourselves, are unpretentious, simple tunes about taking chances because life 'turns on a dime'--or, in the case of this show, a reported $7.2 million. He has a pleasant sense of absurdity and a feel for everything from vaudeville to harpsichord-driven 18th century opera pastiche. For all the hubris, there is a sensibility here, not to mention facility. But the show is gibberish."