Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The problem is mostly the book. Even though it is only 100 minutes long, the show doesn’t yet have a coherent narrative trajectory that pulls you through. Time-travel yarns are tough to pen—they invariably run up against the problem of how the time-travelers influence the past they’re visiting. But you could forgive a lot more if this show stayed better focused on the songs—and if it replaced its dumb romantic complications and melodramatic rivalries with more of a look at our collective love of melody."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...Daniels is all confident charm and "been there-done that" allure. But the show belongs to York -- a great beauty with a terrific vocal range who sails through everything from Ann Ronell's jazzily mournful "Willow Weep for Me" to the hip, syncopated Lambert-Hendricks-Ross gem, "My Analyst Told Me." It's a star vehicle and York is starry."
Daily Herald
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The problem with the show, and there are several, is that in offering snippets in place of complete songs, "Turn of the Century" shortchanges many of the tunes it purports to celebrate. The show most delights when it fully embraces the music. And that's especially true when York is front and center."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...This new musical, directed by Tommy Tune, features popular songs ranging from Irving Berlin's "Always" to Prince's "1999." But the score can't support the inane script by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, authors of the gritty, fact-based Jersey Boys."
Windy City Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...When the 100-minute show ends, Dixie and Billy are ready for marriage, but it's an emotional resolution tacked on late in the show. Character development needs to start earlier and go deeper. Turn of the Century feels truncated, with little attention to secondary characters and subplots, or how Billy and Dixie return to the present. The clever and sound basic premise needs filling out."
Chicago Free Press
- Not Recommended
"...director Tommy Tune doesn’t have a notable staging vision that might otherwise add sparkle to this tedious show. It seems obvious that, if you’re going to sacrifice story to produce a revue and call it theater, you’d better substitute some super-flashy musical numbers. Clearly, some people haven’t learned the lesson of Mamma Mia!"
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...Nine-time Tony Award-winning director-choreographer Tommy Tune is at his best once again working with a conceptual design rather than literal sets. He gives the show a fluidity as a blank stage becomes a Manhattan penthouse in two centuries, theatre backstage areas, Tin Pan Alley office and many other locations with just the change of light against a gigantic LED screen."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...Cleverly staged and witty in style and writing is what I would call this production- a love story with an odd start and a joyful finish. Although we never learn how this happened or how they returned to the place it all started, who cares? This is not a deep thought type story- this is not one for discussion groups to analyze after each performance! This is a fun evening of romance, music and dance- a great escape from what is going on around us- our economy, the elections, the problems facing us in our daily papers and on TV- a diversion where we can laugh and put our troubles on a shelf for one hour and forty five minutes ( no intermission) and just enjoy the gift of life."
Copley News Service
- Highly Recommended
"...Daniels and York are an all-star pairing. Daniels has an honorable singing voice for a non-singer. Better still, he seduces the audience as an irresistible con man. The man could charm a smile from the stone heads on Mount Rushmore. Rachel York is a beautiful woman with a magisterial vocal style. If the show does go to Broadway, the producers have their leads already in place."
Edge
- Highly Recommended
"...Daniels and York are a perfect match in their "romancing the stone" performances. What Daniels lacks in vocal prowess, he makes up for in charm and adorability, as does his counterpart in "crime" (this term will make more sense when you see the show). York’s voice is state-of-the-art. She is sugary, he is sour. She is beautiful, he is all charm. You get the drift."
Time Out Chicago
- Not Recommended
"...Watching skilled Chicago actors like Kevin Gudahl, Rebecca Finnegan, James Rank and Tommy Rapley fake their way through this is painful. But the most excruciating to see is York, a Broadway trouper for nearly two decades with a divine voice and charm to spare, who’s due for a real breakthrough. York, the various songwriters and us mugs in the audience all deserve better than we get from this cynical exercise."
ChicagoCritic
- Recommended
"...The rap on new musicals lies in the lack of a book (story). Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) have constructed a clever premise that wilts when it turns into a fluffy romantic comedy reminiscent of the MGM movie musicals of the 1930-40’s after a promising opening. It seems that too much emphasis on the book pushed the songs into secondary importance. I would install more tunes and less predictable romantic storyline. The songs were so well staged—we beg for more."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...As the musical evergreens flow, the creators of "Turn of the Century" weave an affectionate and romantic valentine. It's lighter than air, but it makes a lovely souffle. And with nine time Tony winner and Broadway royalty Tommy Tune seated a few feet away in the Goodman's opening night audience, the evening felt quite special in its way. Tune's elegant touch abounds throughout the evening. A giant oval shaped timepiece sets the stage and creates the illusion of an enormous snowglobe to the strains of Rodgers and Hart's "Where or When"."
