Los Angeles Times - Recommended
"...But the play, which had its American premiere last year at Manhattan Theatre Club in a production that was also staged by Cullman and that included several of the current Geffen cast members, finds its sublimity in the music. The songs, which range from religious to R&B classics, are those that invite a shackled soul to take flight, and they are beautifully performed by the cast under the guidance of musical director and vocal arranger Jason Michael Webb."
LA Weekly - Recommended
"...Eventually, however, McCraney's poetical-musical style, along with Trip Cullman's perfect staging, transforms a stock scenario into a kind of oratorio: The five students, as part of the school choir, punctuate the action with sublime a capella renditions of gospel and spirituals. This production is every bit as visceral as McCraney's other plays (In the Red and Brown Water and The Brothers Size) presented locally by the Fountain Theatre, also with music and choreography."
Stage and Cinema - Not Recommended
"...Tarell Alvin McCraney's 2012 Choir Boy is a tantalizing, underdeveloped play-with-music not entirely improved by Trip Cullman's direction, now at the Geffen a year after the production's Manhattan Theater Club bow. Jason Michael Webb's tasteful vocal arrangements sound terrific via Fitz Patton's crisp sound design, but the very assurance and gravity of the "negro spirituals" overpower the playwriting. This wouldn't be the case if these fine actors and remarkable singers had anything like this much story to tell with their acting, and if the songs were sufficiently integrated to the play. But most of the vocals are underwhelmingly staged as scene changes, and like the scenes themselves they are unsatisfyingly brief. It is a very bad sign when one wants a scene change to be longer. But the budding drama stops almost every 10 minutes for over 100, making it hard to care."
LA Splash - Recommended
"...Although impeccably directed by Trip Cullman, this is not a perfect script as there are gaping holes in the narrative, with contradictory revelations. That said, despite some of those weaknesses, it is still a compelling evening of theatre due, in large part, to the angelic voices, choice of musical material, and sometimes-heartbreaking circumstances."
ReviewPlays.com - Recommended
"...I must admit that all of the Drew boys do a fine job of acting as do Sheppard and Kelly-Young, (directed by Trip Cullman) but it is the harmonizing and singing by the boys that makes them and the production stand out (musical director and vocal arranger Jason Michael Webb)."
ArtsInLA - Not Recommended
"...Controversy over this thesism which McCraney takes pains to explore-clearly it's a pet interest of his-unaccountably becomes a turning point to send Choir Boy careening off its moorings. Tensions of which there was no previous hint start to emerge, and the tone shifts uncomfortably from sassy comedy to turgid melodrama. Issues of shamed sexuality, religious prejudice, family secrets, loyalty, and honor start tumbling out like an opened overstuffed closet, along with unnecessary, exploitative nudity, and suddenly the play has to rush and cut corners to bring all of its strains together. It never quite succeeds."
Culture Vulture - Somewhat Recommended
"...Where McCraney seems to get off track is in the brevity of the scenes and the number of undeveloped sub-plots. Complexity becomes confusion and a 95-minute play feels dragged out. In a television series, characters are developed over a series of episodes, and these quick cuts are not so bewildering. After the intermission, less playing of "Choir Boy" audience members were overheard asking one another, "What happened when …" and "Did you get …" Here is an example: Mr. Pendleton (Leonard Kelly-Young), an older white man, is suddenly brought in to teach an abstruse class in critical thinking. If he supposedly marched with Dr. King, why does he use a racial slur? Why, if he is not musical, does he then get tapped to be the faculty in charge of the choir? I can only guess that someone like him was a figure in McCraney's own experience. We as an audience, however, need a little help here."
LifeInLA - Recommended
"...Desire, honor, alienation, adolescence and conviction combine to create a volatile energy of spiritual fervor. Choir Boy gives a refreshing, raw and realistic depiction of African American life that is rarely seen. It tells the story in an artistic and commanding manner with song and prose."
KCRW - Recommended
"...The play is filled with singing – and yet happily, not exactly a musical. The cast sing the choir's spirituals a cappella and they're remarkable. The songs alone are worth the trip but Mr. McCraney's gift is for weaving these songs into his own distinct voice. "Choir Boy" is a remarkably well constructed narrative that manages to be a play about race and class and privilege and homophobia without getting caught being an ‘issue' play."
Living Out Loud Los Angeles - Recommended
"...Overall, this play tells a unique story about belonging and acceptance, and how much image can factor into the decisions we make. Some scenes may make viewers a bit squirmy, including a scene of prolonged nudity, and another of awkward sexual content. But like a soulful gospel ballad, the performances will hit you deep in the chest, and you will remember this schoolboy drama long after the final bell rings."
