Did Critics Find Off-Broadway's Dog Sees God Heavenly?

Fringe Festival hit Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead is back on the New York stage, this time with a cast of young film and television stars including Eddie Kaye Thomas, Eliza Dushku, America Ferrara and Ian Somerhalder. The show opened at the Century Center Theatre on December 15. Did critics think it was heavenly?

Here is sampling of what they had to say:

William Stevenson in his Broadway.com Review: "While the Peanuts-related riffs spark laughs for the first half hour or so, the play's humor then begins to flag. What would make a terrific Saturday Night Live sketch wears out its welcome over 90 minutes, especially when the play becomes earnest with a gay-romance plotline… The 'hot and hip young' actors to quote the gushing press release make the good jokes fly but can't save the play once it loses its way."

Jason Zinoman of The New York Times: "Turning Schulz's world into the hormone-infused disaster area imagined by overprotective parents and teenager movies makes for an occasionally funny joke, but it is a cheap one. And when Mr. Royal tries to blend serious, darker issues in with the shockers, he misses as badly as Charlie Brown does with the football… [Thomas] plays CB as an empty slate who goes along with the crowd. That might not be a problem if the part didn't call for him to express some emotion."

Frank Scheck of The New York Post: "While the playwright is onto something in tapping into the darker side of the comic strips, his one-joke premise quickly wears thin… the play's attempt at a dramatic theme, via a subplot involving C.B.'s burgeoning relationship with Beethoven that results in tragic consequences, feels forced. The play's most amusing moments come when it directly riffs on its inspiration, as when the characters strike poses or recite lines that are long ingrained in our consciousness from the television specials."

Howard Kissel of The New York Daily News: "Ultimately, this is a 10-minute skit. That it remains amusing for longer than that is due to its excellent cast, especially Kelli Garner and Ari Graynor as two strung-out chicks."

David Rooney of Variety: "Theater purists never tire of carping disdainfully about the invasion of TV and film actors without solid stage experience. They must be poised to pounce on Dog Sees God, its cast bios light on Shakespeare but bulging with such credits as Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and American Pie. But it turns out the assembly of hot young things is the prime asset of Bert V. Royal's protracted comedy sketch. Director Trip Cullman and a talented design team give punchy treatment to this unauthorized parody of the Peanuts gang tangling with teen-angst issues, but it rarely amounts to more than variations on a single joke."

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press: "The cast is anchored by Eddie Kaye Thomas who brings a sweet gravity to the thoughtful, troubled CB. And there are hysterically funny portraits by Kelli Garner and Ari Graynor as the airhead chicks who wear the shortest skirts and tightest tops and have the loosest morals. Eliza Dushku projects a sexy self-knowledge as CB's old nemesis… But the others are equally fine, too… With Royal's play, we are a long way from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, the gentle musical celebration of Peanuts that was such a hit in the late 1960s. We're celebrating the gang here, too, only the festivities, despite all the genuine laughter, are a little more jaundiced, a little sadder and maybe more worldly wise."