Review Roundup: THE GARDENS OF ANUNCIA at Lincoln Center Theater

The Lincoln Center Theater production of The Gardens of Anuncia opens tonight at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. The Gardens of Anuncia is a new musical by Michael John LaChiusa, directed and co-choreographed by Graciela Daniele.

Read the reviews! 

The new musical stars Enrique Acevedo, Andréa Burns, Eden Espinosa, Priscilla Lopez, Tally Sessions, Mary Testa and Kayln West; and features co-choreography by Alex Sanchez, orchestrations by Michael Starobin, music direction by Deborah Abramson, and casting by Tara Rubin Casting, Xavier Rubiano, CSA. The production has sets by Mark Wendland, costumes by Toni-Leslie James, lighting by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, recreated by David Lander, and sound by Drew Levy.  Thomas J. Gates is the Stage Manager.

Juan A. Ramirez, The New York Times: These episodes emerge gracefully from the beaded, flowering curtain at the back of Mark Wendland’s bare stage, and the simple movement-based choreography is emotively lit by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer. As its actresses weave through that hanging garden, they look ravishing in Toni-Leslie James’s svelte period dresses — and so does this small-scale musical, whose tribute to women’s sacrifices and encouragement is put in their own finest light.

Joey Sims, Theatrely: Lopez’s self-effacing humor helps in selling the show’s two strangest and best numbers: a pair of visits from two deer (both Tally Sessions), the first soulful and the second a cynic. Lopez regards the latter with an amusing disdain and, even more memorably, seems positively horny for his sage brother, who sees beauty everywhere he looks. If the two deer are intended to reflect art vs. commerce (my own reading), then Daniele makes it exceedingly clear where she stands. Most of LaChiusa’s compositions are less surreal. There is a buoyant opener introducing the family unit, and rich solos for each female elder to recount their own stories. All are just exquisite. A tango-infused number for Anuncia’s mother is particularly rousing, and is enchantingly performed by Eden Espinosa. 

Benjamin Lindsay, The Wrap: It helps that she has a terrific storyteller. “The Gardens of Anuncia” is arguably LaChiusa’s finest musical, because it is also deceptively his most simple. It lasts only 90 minutes, and much of the story is told and sung to us with incredible assurance by Priscilla Lopez, playing the older Daniele, whom LaChiusa has named Anuncia. The old woman, who still moves like a dancer, tends to her garden, and as  she engages in conversations with a couple of deer (Tally Sessions, being adorable) who have come there to feed off her plants, she remembers and conjures up her younger self (Kalyn West), as well as Mami (Eden Espinosa), Grammama (Mary Testa) and Tia (Andrea Burns).

Jackson McHenry, Vulture: In its self-deprecation, Anuncia cultivates plenty of delicate gestures but holds back from digging deeper. Michael John LaChiusa, the prolific and wide-ranging composer of many a theater nerd’s favorite musicals (argue among yourselves about whether you prefer his Wild Party), approached Daniele, with whom he’d worked on Hello Again and Marie Christine, about dramatizing the story of her life. She apparently needed convincing and insisted that the focus stay on the significant figures in her childhood: her mother (here played by Eden Espinosa), aunt (Andréa Burns), and grandmother (Mary Testa). So you have the composer and book writer in awe of the subject’s talent and life story with the subject (who also happens to be directing) preferring to nudge the spotlight over to other people. 

Allison Considine, New York Theatre Guide: Daniele directs the musical with the loving care of a gardener tending their life’s work. It’s a full-circle moment — the show is Daniele’s eighth project with Lincoln Center Theater. In many ways, The Gardens of Anuncia presents the hallmarks of a successful garden: It is visually appealing and full of life.

David Finkle, New York Stage Review: For which audiences are now the beneficiaries. They’re the recipients of a charming, touching, definitely biographical chamber musical with which LaChiusa and Daniele have played around, going so far as to infuse a delightful bit of magic surrealism. The story told has Older Anuncia (Priscilla Lopez), a celebrated theater creator recalling her upbringing while looking around her garden for the proper place to bury Tia’s ashes. (Mark Wendland designed the tasty set.) While searching, she tells the audience she’s due in the city to accept a lifetime achievement award. (Daniele has a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.)