Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...Dave Malloy’s “Octet” is an a capella musical structured around intricate, eight-part vocal harmonies and a show that would challenge the most experienced of Chicago’s musical houses. But Raven Theatre, a venerable North Side company located in an old supermarket, has never produced a musical before in its 43-year history. For Raven to pull off the Midwestern premiere of this fiendishly difficult piece at this extraordinarily high level is nothing short of remarkable."
Chicago Sun Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The musical “Octet,” the brainchild of Dave Malloy (“Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812”), distinguishes itself from a 95-minute, no-intermission a cappella concert only by having the singers play characters, with some spoken dialogue. Offering a chance to lend some cool to a cappella, Lin-Manuel Miranda recently announced his plan to direct a film version of “Octet,” which premiered off-Broadway in 2019."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Throughout Octet, the characters mull the monster of the Internet and fret if they have, in turn, been made monstrous by the beast in our pockets. Like many of us, they’re terrified that they’ve always been monsters. Malloy’s solution is to put them in a room, singing and breathing together, and Fromm’s staging brings us into the core of that communion. Raven Theatre’s Octet is lean and electrifying, a miraculous theatrical feat."
Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...I don’t know what I was expecting when I walked into Raven Theatre’s first ever mounting of a musical, but it wasn’t the basement of a church (rec center? YMCA?). Closing out Raven’s triumphant 43rd season, Octet, a chamber musical with music, lyrics, book, and vocal arrangements by Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) is set in a dingy room, where a self-help group calling themselves the “Friends of Saul” meet on a regular basis. Any resemblance to the “Friends of Bill” is entirely coincidental, I’m sure. Milo Bue’s scenic design is so detailed and precise that you can practically smell the weak coffee and store-bought cookies on the refreshment table in the back."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...Keira Fromm’s direction and Nick Sula’s musical direction make sure that this plot rolls out seamlessly and the tunes are pitch perfect: this is a technically magic production that is entertaining and thought provoking. Don’t miss it, and bring a friend. "
Chicago Theatre Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Dave Malloy’s a cappella chamber piece is pure bliss. Director Keira Fromm has staged her production simply, upon a slightly elevated platform that represents an anonymous meeting room, somewhere in Chicago. She’s sensitively guided a contemporary story that’s especially au courant. The group of eight talented people who’ve come together brilliantly explore their individual and collective addiction to the internet."
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...That is exactly what director Keira Fromm’s production of Octet accomplishes: a vocally astonishing, emotionally resonant, and meticulously staged production that leaves you in complete awe of the performers."
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...For more than 40 years, Raven Theatre has been a cornerstone of Chicago’s intimate, actor?driven drama. Over its long history, the company has built its reputation on revivals of modern classics and premieres of new work, but never a musical. That changes with the Chicago premiere of Dave Malloy’s Octet, the first musical in Raven’s history and a bold, beautifully realized leap into new territory."
Curtain Call Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Octet at Raven Theatre begins with a quiet simplistic intensity that builds into something deeply unsettling, unexpectedly moving and shockingly relatable. Dave Malloy’s chamber musical, centered on a support group for internet addiction, is intellectually rich —but in Raven’s intimate space, it becomes something far more striking and immediate: an almost in your face examination of how we all fracture ourselves in this digital age."
Werner's Theatre Reviews
- Highly Recommended
"...The Midwestern premiere of Octet officially opened as the final production of Chicago's Raven Theatre's 43rd Season. Opening at the Signature Theatre in New York City on May 19, 2019, Dave Malloy's chamber-acapella musical has been receiving high acclaims, including the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and an upcoming film adaptation directed by Hamilton composer, Lin-Manuel Miranda. Raven's production explores the harms of online dependability, as well as the healing elements of community and music."
BroadwayWorld
- Highly Recommended
"...A show like Octet, now in its Chicago premiere at Raven Theatre, is exactly the kind of work that reminds me why I love musicals. It's the kind of show we need more of. And if you don't think you're an internet addict before you see this musical, you'll walk out of the theater convinced. It's why Molloy's concept is so brilliant; it seems quirky and niche, but it ends up so relatable."
NewCity Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Raven Theatre’s Chicago premiere of “Octet” is one-hundred minutes of wonder. The first moments of the musical begin silently, before the full cast of eight takes the stage. A woman comes and goes. She tidies up a bare-bones gathering space described in the program notes as a “temporary meeting location on the North Side of Chicago.” She straightens a stack of paper cups on a table against the wall, checks the standard-issue gray folding chairs. It’s not a big job."
