Mr. Saturday Night
Opening Night: April 27, 2022
Theater: Nederlander Theatre
Website: mrsaturdaynightonbroadway.com
Billy Crystal stars as Buddy Young, Jr., an outrageous and outspoken comedian who found fame in the early days of television! Now, some 40 years after he hit the top, Buddy will take one last shot at reclaiming the spotlight – and his family – one hilarious step at a time. Mr. Saturday Night is the brand-new musical comedy about being a funny man, a family man and getting a second chance at both.
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April 27, 2022
As a piece of theater, the show is a bit of a mess; the jokes, even some of the hoary ones, work better than the storytelling, and the acting styles are all over the place. Still, it makes for a diverting evening — because it will almost surely make you laugh, and because of how acutely tuned into the audience Crystal is.
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April 27, 2022
Did the world really need a weak musical adaptation of Billy Crystal’s little-remembered 1992 film comedy “Mr. Saturday Night” – even if it meant Crystal reprising the role he played in the film and, for better or worse, making his singing debut?
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April 27, 2022
The end result is certainly the funniest show on Broadway in years, if not the most likable. Look for a healthy run, at least with headliner Crystal, who last packed houses with his autobiographical show “700 Sundays.” And with composer Jason Robert Brown and lyricist Amanda Green supplying one of the most appealing and disarming scores in some time, what’s not to like?
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April 27, 2022
You might feel like you’ve already seen Mr. Saturday Night the musical even if you’ve never seen Mr. Saturday Night the movie, and whether you find that comforting – Billy Crystal certainly is one of the most likable presences in all of show business – or disappointing might depend entirely on your taste for well-delivered Borsht Belt comedy.
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April 27, 2022
Billy Crystal is roving the stage, leading an “oy vey!” call-and-response. There is no exclamation more apt for “Mr. Saturday Night,” the moth-eaten cardigan of a new musical now in residence at the Nederlander Theatre. At first, kvetching seems to be encouraged with a knowing wink. We meet Buddy as a washed-up comedian playing retirement homes in his less-than-golden years, joking that his audience is half dead.
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April 27, 2022
So while there are the occasional bursts of brilliance, as in Graff singing “Tahiti” while in a daydream, unfortunately, as a whole there isn’t quite the musical comedy magic we’d expect from a collaboration between veteran composers like Brown and stars like Crystal, Paymer, and Graff.
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April 27, 2022
Yes, there’s a feelgood ending in Mr. Saturday Night, and it really does feel good. The charm is still very much with Buddy, and Billy Crystal too.
READ THE REVIEWApril 27, 2022
Overall, Mr. Saturday Night is a fun time, but it also feels like it’s missing the spark that would make it memorable. Perhaps the show would work better as a 90-minute musical, or even as a play focused on Buddy’s comedy routines, which are its high points thanks to Crystal’s comedic timing and showmanship.
READ THE REVIEWApril 27, 2022
That kind of courageous self-examination, combined with Crystal’s singular talent, impeccable craft and sweet-and-sour gestalt, is a rare thing on today’s youthful, empowerment-crazed Broadway — and bus groups from New Jersey will be lining up at the Nederlander Theater for Borscht Belt-friendly gags tinged with the pain of decline.
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April 27, 2022
At its heart, the musical “Mr. Saturday Night” is as sentimental as it is dishonest. Under the direction of John Rando, the show entertains only when the title character is being nasty. Reform him, as all his dull relatives insist upon, and he ceases to hold any interest.
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April 27, 2022
Over at the Nederlander Theatre is Billy Crystal’s joke-stuffed new musical “Mr. Saturday Night,” which opened Wednesday and puts the followspot on old-school yuks. Hearty laughs. The glorious punchlines that have eluded most new musicals are here knocked outta the park by a master.
April 27, 2022
In “Mr. Saturday Night,” opening on Broadway tonight, Billy Crystal stars as a very funny comedian who decades ago self-sabotaged, and is now trying to make a comeback. The show itself is also very funny, and also something of an attempt at a comeback; and it too suffers from some self-sabotage.
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April 27, 2022
Billy Crystal’s sweet and hilarious Broadway musical adaptation of his unsuccessful 1992 movie Mr. Saturday Night is practically created with two groups in mind: old Jews, and old Jews at heart. Rarely has there been a show more perfectly tailored to its target audience, the kind of people who either have fond memories of summering in the Catskills at Kutsher’s or Grossinger’s, or fond memories of hearing their parents talk about their fond memories.
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April 27, 2022
What is surprising, given that no one really asked for this, and considering the general soullessness of such reboots, is how perfectly charming and entertaining the work is.
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April 27, 2022
But it delivers exactly what it promises: Crystal, completely in his element, with a crowd that is more than happy to buy what he’s selling. He’s the cream in the borscht, the schmaltz in the gribenes, and his prodigious charm makes Mr. Saturday Night a very haimish experience. If you have a taste for this sort of thing, the show is—o Lord of old comics, forgive me for what I’m about to write—the show is a Crystal ball.
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