Review Roundup: Broadway-Bound MONSOON WEDDING at Berkeley Rep

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding will be Broadway-bound following its run in San Francisco. Based on the iconic 2001 film, the stage musical had its world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre on Friday, May 19th and where it will run through July 2nd.

Monsoon Wedding features a book by Sabrina Dhawan, music by Vishal Bhardwaj, and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nair said of the production, "Now, in the time of Trump, the doors are literally closing between borders. What we are bringing to you in Monsoon Wedding, the play, is a portrait of two things: an India that is complicatedly becoming a sort of real power, but also a portrait of America, since half our story is about America - an America that may not even let us in."

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Denis Harvey, Variety: Perspective at the performance reviewed - on the far side near a bank of stage speakers - made it difficult at times to judge the big-picture effectiveness of Nair's blocking and Lorin Latarro's choreography (or even the somewhat canned-sounding audio mix). But at close quarters, both appeared in serious need of an outside polish. Theoretically, a musical adaptation of "Monsoon Wedding" is still a good idea. What's currently onstage at Berkeley Rep, however, barely begins to realize that potential.

Lily Janiak, SF Gate: There's nothing subtle about "Monsoon Wedding," and that's exactly as it should be. Adapted from the 2001 film, the world premiere musical paraded into its Friday, May 19, opening night at Berkeley Rep with feelings so extravagant they, in one especially glorious moment, can be expressed only through a galumphing horseback ride and a whole jiggling crowd on a speeding locomotive. Directed by Mira Nair, who also helmed the hit movie, the show's sheer hugeness, with its 20-person cast, should charm even melodrama's staunchest skeptics. One of the primal joys of live theater, after all, is spectacle, the way it can transcend mere work of art and become a lavish event. At the giant transcontinental wedding of Aditi and Hemant, who meet and must reconcile their worldviews and expectations all within days before they wed, you're not just voyeur but co-conspirator.

Karen d'Souza, Mercury News: Too often the dark themes here don't cut as close to the bone as they should. Moments that should be wrenching feel downplayed, despite some nuanced performances by Jaaved Jaaferi as Aditi's father Lalit and Sharvari Deshpande as Ria, the cousin who exposes a dark family secret. Deshpande rivets in her aching "Be a Good Girl" song but her revelation should hit harder amid the general frolic. The tragedy is so muted it undercuts the charge of the ending, a brassy Bollywood showstopper that had the opening night audience on its feet. The cleansing euphoria of the rainswept finale would be all the more infectious if "Monsoon" fully embraced its moments of gloom.

Ian A. Stewart, San Francisco Magazine: Not everything here is pure gold, and there are a few numbers that drag a bit. Keeping track of the characters and plot points can get a little thick, too, especially for a non-Indian viewer unfamiliar with some desi familial terms (auntee, for instance, refers to any older woman friend of the family, meaning there are a good half-dozen auntees onstage at most times). Then again, no wedding goes off perfectly, yet they're almost always a good time. And though I might expect a few tweaks between this run and wherever the show winds up next, Monsoon Wedding ultimately passes the most crucial test of any Indian wedding: It's heavy on the masti-the Hindu word for "indubitable fun." Evidence? As my wife and I strode out of the theater and toward BART comparing notes, I couldn't help but notice I'd kept right on humming that dhol drum beat the whole time.

Photo Credit: Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre

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