Bring It On The Musical On Broadway at the St. James Theater

An excerpt of my review of Bring It On is below. (The full review) Meanwhile, here are some pictures I couldn’t include in the review

he first surprise of “Bring It On The Musical,” which played a long national tour before now opening at the St. James Theater for 12 weeks, is that people as awesome as Tony winners Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tom Kitt were drawn to remake a largely forgettable film that spawned four direct-to-video sequels. Is Broadway really the obvious next step in this commercial franchise? Are people who rent “Bring It On: All or Nothing” (DVD # 2) from iTunes for $3.99 willing to shell out $120 to see a live version?

Will regular Broadway theatergoers overcome their prejudice against cheerleading, and embrace the sport the way Franklin Roosevelt and Michael Jordan did? If not, will there be enough teenage girls to fill the gap?

Questions of audience aside, was it a mistake for these young theatrical talents, who I feel hold the future of Broadway in their hands, to collaborate on such a trifle?

It would be un-cheerleader-like of me to say so. It is better to think of it as their summer vacation

And that’s the second surprise: “Bring It On The Musical,” though overly long and inevitably formulaic, works as a kind of summer entertainment, by building on the strengths of the original movie, and avoiding some of its flaws.

Full review

Buy tickets to “Bring It On”