Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Britta Schlicht's choreography is spot-on, with a very feisty ensemble of performers who bring the hype to every single number. And there are over 30 numbers, which makes sense when you realize every word of the play is sung. (Shout-out to the horses in "And They're Off!," which really hit the mark.) "Change," sung by Lena Simone (cast as homeless woman Lisa), really lights up the place, fueled by Simone's powerful voice and palpable rage as she belts out lyrics like "I'm not asking for sympathy. All I'm asking for is change." Another standout moment is "Sailing," a love duet for Roger and Gordon."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...The Hoover-Leppen Theatre's deep, wide stage gives director Espano and choreographer Schlicht advantages they didn't have at the old Pride Arts space on Broadway. The show moves fluidly across the stage and into the aisles on Gael Owens' relatively simple set, which uses hospital curtains that surround a patient's bed to good effect, especially as screens for Connor Blackwood's lovely film projections. Ms. Schlicht uses uncomplicated but effective unison steps and shifting patterns of circles and lines to make her ensemble of non-dancers look good."
Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...The urge to create has served as a muse for countless forms of art: literature, opera, film, and theatre are littered with examples of the form. Opening the new season of Pride Arts at Center on Halsted A New Brain, a musical by multiple Tony winners, William Finn (Falsettos) who wrote the score and collaborated on the book with James Lapine (Passion, Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, all with Sondheim), presents a tweak on the formula by focusing not on so much on the urge itself but the panic that sets in when the opportunity to create is lost."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"..."A New Brain" by William Finn and James Lapine, with music and lyrics by William Finn, is a fun, cleverly conceived, and nicely written operetta. The main character is Gordon Michael Schwinn (Dakotta Hagar)-and it's no coincidence that his last name rhymes with Finn! What's so wonderful about this production is the brilliant directing by Jay Españo!"
Chicago Theatre Review
- Recommended
"...The musical talent contained within this entire cast is undeniable. In addition to playing specific characters, they ply their skill as members of the singing/dancing ensemble, as well. Chicago and PrideArts newcomer Dakotta Hagar is excellent. He really looks the part of Gordon. Hagar has a lovely voice and plays cranky and frightened especially well. Hagar is supported by Beck Hokanson (DIANA, at Theo; DAMES AT SEA at Citadel) as Gordo's loving and charismatic partner, Roger."
Buzz Center Stage
- Recommended
"...A NEW BRAIN is a musical, and all dialogue is sung rather than spoken. I was particularly tickled by Gordo's Law of Genetics and Poor, Unsuccessful and Fat. The story got more serious with M.R.I. Day and Craniotomy. This was somewhat disorienting, as the production had hitherto been lighthearted comedy, which I believe was its natural metier; it was difficult converting to the gloominess of Brain Dead and A Really Lousy Day in the Universe."
Allie and the After Party
- Recommended
"...Inspired by true events, A New Brain takes us through one man's diagnosis of a brain illness that requires surgery. Though dealing with the looming surgery, the musical feels like a musical episode of a TV show where everyone bursts out into song at a moment's notice."
BroadwayWorld
- Recommended
"...The musical rests almost entirely on the shoulders of the actor playing Gordon, and Hagar--with his youthful sense of ambition and pleasing tenor--makes for a winsome leading man. He particularly shines in the musical's more comedic numbers and in scenes where Gordon's overbearing mother (Michelle McKenzie-Voigt) threatens to shred whatever sanity he's managed to hold on to. Beck Hokanson, as Gordon's boyfriend Roger, makes for an equally charming love interest who still manages to convey a great deal of psychological depth as he struggles to support his significant other (and himself) in unprecedented times, though the romance between the two men doesn't always feel as strongly developed."
