Saturday, June 16, 2018

29 (2018-2019): Review: DESPERATE MEASURES (seen June 15, 2018)


"Shakespeare Rides Again, Part II"



Last October, I strongly recommended Desperate Measures, the delightful musical farce loosely based on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, which it sets in the Wild West, turning the Angelo character into a Trump-like, German-accented, comical tyrant. The show, which I reviewed on The Broadway Blog, went on to win a number of honors, including the Drama Desk Awards for best lyrics and music in a new musical, beating out Broadway musicals like Mean Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Originally produced by the York Theatre in a limited run, Desperate Measures has now returned for a commercial run at New World Stages, with the only cast change being Sarah Parnicky in the role of the novice nun Sister Mary Jo, first played by Emma Degerstedt. Despite a drop in the intimacy afforded by the much smaller York Theatre, and a running time of two hours and 20 minutes that’s a little longer than it need be, Desperate Measures continues to ride high in the saddle. 

For my original Broadway Blog review, which continues to hold true, please click here. 

OTHER VIEWPOINTS:

New World Stages
340 W. 50th St., NYC
Open run