Theater Thursday - The Goodbye Girl

We were given complimentary tickets to The Goodbye Girl for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: The Goodbye Girl

Where: Theatre Row

             410 W. 42nd St.

             New York, NY

Who: Recommended for Ages 13 and Up

When: Through May 21, 2023

The Goodbye Girl is a musical based on the 1977 film of the same name about a man named Elliot who sublets an apartment from a friend and ends up sharing it with the current occupants, the friend's ex-girlfriend, Paula, and her young daughter Lucy. The musical, which had a brief run on Broadway in 1993, has some nice songs including a bunch of cute fun numbers as well as some pretty ballads for Paula.

The story is very similar in a lot of ways to the film. However, while the relationship between Elliot and Paula is as fully developed as it is in the film, the relationship between Elliot and Lucy is not. Their whole relationship is thrown into one song and while it is a good song, it is not as sweet as the way the relationship slowly develops in the film. Also, the more feministic ending of the musical doesn't pack the same emotional catharsis as the ending of the film. 

Broadway favorites, Sierra Boggess and Santino Fontana play the lead roles in the current J2 Spotlight Theater Company version of the show. Although Boggess' acting was up to her usual high caliber at times her singing was not. Perhaps, it was the strain of singing in the unmiked small theater.  Fontana was out on the night we attended the show, but Dan DeLuca filled in admirably. He and Boggess had a nice chemistry.

Another Broadway favorite, Christopher Sieber was quite amusing in a variety of roles. The rest of the cast was fine.  Overall, it was an enjoyable show.

For more about The Goodbye Girl visit, www.j2spotlightnyc.com, However likely due to the casting of such well-known performers as Boggess and Fontana in the leads, the entire run is allegedly already sold out. 

Tune in Sunday for this week's Sunday Scoop.

Photo credits:

All The Goodbye Girl production photos by Russ Rowland

Images used in this post have been sent to us from publicists, artists, and/or  PR firms.
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