Los Angeles Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...mystery and tension are in short supply in this promising yet unfocused world premiere. A strong premise, solid cast and often-appealing score don't quite come together to make "Nightmare" the satisfying, dark entertainment it wants to be."
Variety - Not Recommended
"...Enough of Gresham's plot threads have been removed or twisted to render the action incomprehensible. The older women Stan beds in the novel -- a kindly carny with true second sight and Dr. Lilith, perhaps the most rapacious female shrink in all of fiction -- are handed to Mary Gordon Murray with sexuality eliminated and purpose blunted. She mostly stands around and smirks."
LA Weekly - Not Recommended
"...The fascinating themes of the divide between faith and church are handled so generically as to be stupendously uninvolving. John Arnone's intriguing set of platforms and curtains places little twinkly lights throughout the theater, and there are allusions to chicken heads being bitten off backstage. There's promise in that, at least. Carny Trash's Jay had a joke about interviewing a geek for that assignment, "You bite off seven chicken heads a week for all the wine you can handle." The applicant thought about it for a moment before replying, "So what's the catch?" That's the kind of edge this musical needs. That, and a clearer purpose."
Backstage - Somewhat Recommended
"...The genres of film noir and stage musicals aren't frequently cross-pollinated, so this tuner is indeed an offbeat concoction. Based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham, which became a 1947 film, Jonathan Brielle's take on this morality fable doesn't feel as darkly compelling as it apparently set out to be, nor as musically vibrant as a story with a vaudeville-circus background might promise. It's an admirable effort to do something different, but in director Gilbert Cate's world-premiere rendition, the performers and staging offer more satisfaction than the vehicle."
Talkin Broadway - Somewhat Recommended
"...Sometimes a show is so bad, it's worth seeing. It keeps the audience members engaged, as they wonder, "can it possibly get worse than this?" and then realize, "my goodness, it can." Judged by that standard, Nightmare Alley isn't a bad musical; it just isn't a good one. It suffers from a near-fatal mediocrity."
Edge - Somewhat Recommended
"...It needs work and some serious rethinking in order to reconcile the cynical first act with the overripe second, but with some effort, Nightmare Alley could go places."
The Hollywood Reporter - Somewhat Recommended
"...As a further sign of the project's weakness, I don't think anyone originally intended for the character of Pete to steal the show. Perhaps Larry Cedar's toolkit of inventive, endearing bits of business and his ability to take on three roles, including an ancestor of Lily Tomlin's eccentric women and a gullible sheriff, changed the director's mind. Simply, whatever is happening in the story stops the moment Cedar steps onstage as he effortlessly rustles up laughter and dances the fool as if he were going to float off into space."
StageHappenings.com - Not Recommended
"...Unfortunately, Brielle's production (he wrote the book, music and lyrics) does not come across as successfully as did the movie; something seems to be missing, despite a leading man with a magnificent voice (James Barbour)."
Examiner - Somewhat Recommended
"...This morality won't make most kids want to run away and join the traveling carnival, but it also won't frighten them silly. As for the adults, the production has its merits including the powerful voice of Barbour and the charms of Glendening as his true love (and don't forget the judgmental tarot ladies)."
Buzzine - Somewhat Recommended
"...those voices are so powerful, the cast so excellent, the staging effective. The alcoholic "geek" (Larry Cedar) in the second act becomes a prissy old lady, McCarthy the rich old man. All well done. This excellent cast deserves a revision of the book. I saw the performance second night and it may be that, as a new piece, it's still in transition. I look forward to some version where the storyline can support the level of performance."
CurtainUp - Highly Recommended
"...The play is an unsettling parallel between the Depression and today. It also draws an eerie paradigm between the ancient Tarot cards and today's desperate con men. The script develops Stan's character. Perhaps it's his father's influence that leads him to fake spiritulism. With bewildered anguish, his final line queries why we make mistakes. Brielle's ominous chords echo that disaster. "Nightmare Alley" and "I Surrender"> are the songs that will go home from the theatre with you. Bravo to the Geffen for throwing fresh light on this dark American classic!"
