Buffett’s new Broadway musical draws mixed reviews
Some critics have fun at musical, others not so much.
“Escape to Margaritaville,” the new musical crafted around Palm Beach resident Jimmy Buffett’s escapist tropical tunes, opened March 15 on Broadway to mixed reviews.
Although some critics enjoyed the show, the naysayers were as numerous as umbrella drinks at a Caribbean beach bar.
Here’s a sampling:
The New York Times
After describing the “thatched-hut alcohol fueling station” dispensing margaritas in the lobby of the Marquis Theatre, the Times warns “if you’re not drunk or a Parrothead, as Mr. Buffett’s fans are called, you’re in trouble … Dopey fun is one thing, but ‘Escape to Margaritaville,’ a paean to the pleasures of zipless debauchery, is pitched so low it will temporarily extinguish your IQ.”
The Washington Post
The scathing review ends with apar ting shot at the beach balls that rained down on the audience at the show’s finale. The beach ball that “ricocheted off the top of my head” was “the only thing all afternoon … that I didn’t see coming.”
Variety
“Howeve r well packaged, the show just isn’t a good fit for New York …” It might play better in the hinterlands, the critic suggests. Bloomberg
“… like the worst versions of its namesake beverage, it’s too watered-down to be much fun.”
As for the show’s financial prospects, “‘Margaritaville’ will have to rely more directly on Buffett’s army of flip-flop-wearing snowbirds. It migh t wo rk. Already they dutifully visit his corporate eco--
system of restaurants, hotels and casinos.”
The Hollywood Reporter
“The jukebox musical is the theatrical equivalent of sipping on a frozen drink while lying on a beach chair in the blazing sun. It’s not good for you, but it feels good.”
USA Today
“By the time beach balls came raining down on audience members during a curtain call reprise of Fins, many were already dancing in the aisles and their seats, swatting the inflatable toys and making shark fins with their arms.
To more discerning theatergoers, walking out of ‘Margaritaville’ might feel like a bad hangover. But for Parrotheads, this wellintentioned and unabashedly cheesy romp could be a little slice of paradise.”
Time Out New York
“Along with more than two dozen songs from Buffett’s tropical-burnout catalog, the show offers steel drums, jean shorts, palm trees and dancers dressed as fluffy white clouds. It’s often hokey and sometimes pokey. But I’ll level with you: I had fun.”