Review Roundup: Critics Sound Off On A.D. 16 At Olney Theater Center

The reviews are in for Olney Theatre Center's world premiere of A.D. 16, now on stage through March 6, 2022. The new musical is by writers Cinco Paul (co-creator of Despicable Me and Schmigadoon!) and Bekah Brunstetter (producer and writer on This Is Us).

Both heartwarming and hilarious, A.D. 16 follows the story of a teenaged Mary Magdalene as she falls in love with the carpenter's son next door... who happens to be a kid named Jesus.

The show features an original score inspired by 90s R&B, hip hop, and pop, and is directed by award-winning Broadway veteran Stephen Brackett, who staged the first productions of Be More Chill, The Lightning Thief and next heads to NYC for the Broadway production of A Strange Loop.

Phoenix Best, whose past roles include Alana Beck in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway and Eponine in the Les Miserables National Tour, will star as the lovestruck Mary Magdalene. Best known for his role as Davey in Disney's Newsies, Ben Fankhauser will star opposite Best as the young and idealistic Jesus.

Three-time Tony Award-winner Doug Besterman provides the orchestrations. The show was workshopped at Olney Theatre Center in 2019, and is now mounted in association with Sloane Productions, LLC which has provided enhancement funds with an eye towards a possible New York production.

Tickets are available from $42 - $85 and can be purchased at olneytheatre.org or 301-924-3400.

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Pamela Roberts, BroadwayWorld: Nearly every musical number is a gem unto itself. Doug Besterman's orchestrations and Christopher Youstra's music direction highlight and enhance Paul's songs. Musical influences nod to Motown, 90s dance-pop and R&B from NSYNC to Prince to TLC. Katie Spelman's choreography is a fun and upbeat extension of each song. The fizz and fun of the music and dance make it hard for the audience not to participate with some head nodding and shoulder shaking of its own.

Andrew White, MD Theatre Guide: The musical settings for each number are infectious, and there are moments when other famous musical motifs-from "Fiddler on the Roof" to Handel's "Messiah"-get a comic shout-out. Mary gets her share of fantasy sequences, thanks to Colin K. Bills' lighting design, including that moment when-in what you might call a moment of supreme, romantic irony-her fantasy Jesus promises to take her to Heaven, complete with angels in tow.

John Stoltenberg, DC Metro Theater Arts: The joke, which runs throughout the show, is that teen Jesus doesn't yet have the messiah thing down. He's still trial-and-erroring the basic skill set, like parable telling and healing. But what this turn-the-other-cheek fail makes cleverly explicit is that Jesus doesn't do mano-a-mano manhood and isn't about to. Given today's white evangelical idolization of reckless and rugged masculinity (See Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez), that fleeting funny scene is also a reminder of a life lesson lost on the world at great cost.

Check back for more reviews.

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