Review Roundup: AMAZING GRACE in Chicago- All the Reviews!

Broadway In Chicago opened the the world premiere of AMAZING GRACE last night, the new musical with music and lyrics by Christopher Smith and a book by Christopher Smith and Arthur Giron, directed by Gabriel Barre (Andrew Lippas' The Wild Party) and choreographed by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli (Newsies).

AMAZING GRACE stars Tony Award nominee Josh Young (Jesus Christ Superstar), Erin Mackey (NY Philharmonic's concert production of Sweeney Todd, Chaplin), Tony Award nominee Tom Hewitt (Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show), Tony Award winner Chuck Cooper (Act One, The Life), Chris Hoch (Matilda, Far From Heaven), Stanley Bahorek (Nerds, Honeymoon in Vegas), Harriett D. Foy (Mamma Mia!), and Laiona Michelle(The Book of Mormon national tour).

The ensemble features Marie Juliette Abney, Erica Aubrey, Leslie Becker, Sara Brophy, Rheaume Crenshaw,Miquel Edson, Mike Evariste, Sean Ewing, Rachael Ferrera, Savannah Frazier, Christopher Gurr, Abdur-Rahim Jackson, Allen Kendall, Elizabeth Ward Land, Michael Dean Morgan, Vince Oddo, Oneika Phillips, Clifton Samuels,Gavriel Savit, Dan Sharkey, Bret Shuford, Evan Alexander Smith, Uyoata Udi, Charles E. Wallace, Toni Elizabeth White and Hollie E. Wright.

Let's see what the critics had to say:

Paul Thompson, BroadwayWorld.com: Young, a Tony nominee as Judas in "Jesus Christ Superstar" and a 2013 BroadwayWorld Chicago Award nominee as Che in "Evita," gets to step up from faux-narrator to leading man in this production, and gets the show off to an incredible start, unleashing his trademarked voice on the song, "Truly Alive," reminiscent of Douglas Sills and the whole male ensemble in "The Scarlet Pimpernel" in its drive and verve. Young seems rarely offstage in this show, and for someone known as a singer he acts up a storm. This is star-making work from young Mr. Young. And though his first entrance didn't garner the applause it was intended to on Sunday night, I have a feeling it will, quite soon.

Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times: The musical comes with a back story almost as intriguing (and true) as the one it spins about the creation of the hymn whose title it bears. For the show's score - and it is a uniformly solid, always fervent and often soaring piece of work full of well-crafted lyrics and character-driven melodies - happens to be the first professional effort of a complete unknown. His name is Christopher Smith, and he is a self-taught musician who has spent most of his life working as a small town police officer and outreach and education director in Pennsylvania.

Chris Jones, the Chicago Tribune: "Amazing Grace" wants us to see the life story of John Newton, who is remembered mostly for his hymns but whose early life was anything but Christian, as a redemptive, traditional love story between two young, white, earnest, affluent people (Newton and his abolitionist-leaning sweetheart, Mary Catlett), set against an 18th-century backdrop of slavery and abolitionism. But that just can't fly in 2014. The institution of slavery just cannot play dramaturgical second fiddle - especially when we keep seeing the male half of the couple surrounded by African bodies in chains. No way.

Steve Oxman, Variety: Johnny's only redeeming quality is his love for Mary Catlett (in a rich and likable performance from Erin Mackey), who remembers him as a talented and thoughtful boy who used to write her poems and wonders what happened to make him such a jerk. The fact that Mary never stops believing in him is the one element that keeps the audience rooting for his conversion rather than his comeuppance, a structurally smart move from book writers Christopher Smith and Arthur Giron. As if Mary weren't already over-idealized, she puts herself at risk by spying for the abolitionist movement, allowing herself to be courted by Major Gray in order to help the cause. While the main story is Johnny's, it's Mary's subplot that provides a rooting interest and forward narrative thrust.

Barbara Vitello, Daily Herald: The enthusiastic response from Bank of America Theatre's audience for the world premiere of "Amazing Grace" suggests this luxurious, gorgeously sung musical about redemption, reconciliation and moral reawakening has made more than a few converts during its Chicago tryout.

Paul Lisnek, Comcast: This emotional and gripping story ensures you will never hear the beautiful hymn 'Amazing Grace' the same way again.

Kris Vire, TimeOut Chicago: Young and Mackey are fiercely charismatic leads with strong chemistry, but the show's current structure keeps them in separate storylines for most of the evening. The creators need to find more ways to put them onstage at the same time. And Young's Newton suffers from the same problem as the lead of this year's other seafaring Broadway tryout at the Bank of America Theatre, Sting and John Logan's The Last Ship: He's a rebel without a cause. We need a greater sense of what's made him so different from the boy Mary loved in order to properly care about the epiphany that saved a wretch like he.

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