Were Critics Moved by Sarah Jones' Bridge & Tunnel?

It has taken a couple of years for Sarah Jones' Bridge & Tunnel to move from its hit off-Broadway engagement to the big time, but it is finally here. The solo show opened at the Helen Hayes Theatre on January 26 for a limited engagement, which is scheduled to run through March 12. Did critics think people should take a bridge, tunnel or whatever means necessary to see Jones?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

Rob Kendt in his Broadway.com Review: "Jones' artistry as a mimic is what grabs us first. She can sketch a person's entire body of experience on her thin, rangy frame, then color in these contours with her voice, which can modulate texture and tempo as freely as she changes accents. But it soon dawns on us with something close to awe that Jones is not really mimicking at all but rendering a world with a novelistic attention to detail, in an imaginative style closer to that of Lily Tomlin or Danny Hoch than to the docu-theatrics of Anna Deavere Smith or Culture Clash… Jones' craft resembles that of a sleight-of-hand artist with inexhaustible tricks up her sleeve. But on her sleeve is the unmistakable impression of her heart."

Charles Isherwood of The New York Times: "A substantial downtown hit two seasons ago, Bridge & Tunnel is Ms. Jones's sweet-spirited valentine to New York City, its polyglot citizens and the larger notion of an all-inclusive America, that ideal place where concepts like liberty, equality and opportunity have concrete meaning and are not just boilerplate phrases slapped around in stump speeches and news conferences. In 90 minutes of acutely observed portraiture gently tinted with humor, Ms. Jones plays more than a dozen men and women… Proof that Ms. Jones has put her actorly gifts in service to something larger than self-display is found in her writing for these fully imagined characters, which is lively, compassionate, mildly sardonic and smart."

Clive Barnes of The New York Post: "Jones' script is high-octane political correctness taken to flaming heights. At times, though, her humorous treatment of some minorities seems to stray into unintended yet patronizing caricature… Jones is unquestionably a good actress, but the passionless material--even in its attempt at poignancy with a ritual, sentimental evocation of Sept. 11--is paper-thin, and slowly tears into pieces before one's eyes."

David Rooney of Variety: "Emma Lazarus would be kvelling. Not only do the tired, poor, huddled masses breathe free in Bridge & Tunnel, but their voices are raised with humor, harmony and compassion in monologuist Sarah Jones' dazzling one-woman gallery of immigrants and outsiders. Booked for a limited Broadway run following its sellout downtown stint in 2004, this is much more than a showcase for the transformative gifts of a talented performer. It's a bracing piece of social activism, poignant and powerful, that soberly acknowledges the prevailing post-9/11 xenophobia while conjuring a patriotic sense of hope for a country--and particularly a city--built on cultural diversity."

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press: "Jones is not constrained by age, sex, race or ethnicity in her brief, but incisive portrayals of the American immigrant, circa 2006... The performer's portraits, compressed into a crisp 90-minutes, are warmhearted, often touching and, on occasion, hilarious... Jones has updated the show since her off-Broadway outing last year. It's a bit more political, although the sly digs at a certain administration are not heavy-handed or strident. Just funny. The performer's verbal dexterity is flawless."

Elysa Gardner of USA Today: "[Bridge & Tunnel] is every bit as fresh and forward-thinking as it was when Jones delivered it to downtown crowds during an acclaimed off-Broadway run in 2004… Certainly, the world could use more of the wit, warmth and profound empathy that Jones' Bridge is built on."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "Despite the frustration, fury and poignancy in her portrayals of recent New York immigrants, there is a sweetness - a big-hearted loveliness - to the fantasy of an amateur poetry reading in a neighborhood cabaret in Queens… The evening - directed again by Tony Taccone--feels sharper than it was at the Culture Project, where the material could get monotonous, and some of Jones' characterizations felt more generalized than her acclaim had led us to expect. She is a tall, lean, athletic chameleon, a half-black, rangy body-sculptor with a quick polyglot mouth and an elegant way with clear-eyed compassion."