Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...The story and music of The Kinks belong on Broadway. No question. We?ve had ?Jersey Boys,? ?The Who?s Tommy,? Beatlemanias, The Doors and ?Stereophonic.? Ray Davies? band was a poetic paradox and thus far more interesting theatrically than all of ?em."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...The music hits like a flood of pure serotonin in "Sunny Afternoon," the juke box-ish musical centered on 1960s groundbreaking rock-and-roll hitmakers The Kinks. Following a years-long run in London's West End and a UK tour, the show is making its North American premiere at Navy Pier's Chicago Shakespeare Theater. It's easy to see - or rather, hear -why the production is a hit across the pond."
Daily Herald
- Recommended
"...Director Edward Hall's kinetic production stars an exceptional quartet of singer/actor/musicians led by charismatic, ideally cast principals Danny Horn, fervent and vulnerable as the pensive, socially conscious songsmith Ray Davies, and Oliver Hoare, effortlessly charming as his impulsive, hedonistic younger brother Dave. Reprising their roles from London's West End production, Horn and Hoare are ably accompanied by Michael Lepore as bassist Peter Quaife and Kieran McCabe as drummer Mick Avory."
Chicago Reader
- Recommended
"...The running theme throughout the show, which comes to glorious fruition with Ray's masterpiece "Waterloo Sunset" late in the show, is that being in a band means learning how to be alone together. And there is so much great music here ("Lola," the title song, and "Till the End of the Day" among them) and clever, exuberant stagecraft that the relative thinness of the book hardly matters. The final medley had everyone on their feet, and I don't think it was just boomer nostalgia. I think maybe Little Steven had it exactly right."
Talkin Broadway
- Highly Recommended
"...Danny Horn (Ray Davies) and Oliver Hoare (Dave Davies) reprise their West End roles. Both have the acting, vocal, and musical chops necessary to carry the show. Horn navigates the role of Ray well, winning empathy in the way he conveys the pressures Ray finds himself under and is poorly equipped to handle, without shying away from the flaws that harm the people around him. Hoare captures Dave's childlike (and straightforwardly childish, given his age at the band's outset) attributes early on and skillfully demonstrates how poorly those attributes age in a performance that mirrors, but never mimics Horn's."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews
- Highly Recommended
"...After the two-act play, we witness Ray Davies suffering from a nervous and physical breakdown due to the pressures of touring, writing, and ongoing legal squabbles. Still, after reclaiming his unique writing skills, the single "Sunny Afternoon," a song that mocked the British Labour government's high progressive taxes, was the biggest UK hit of the summer of 1966, topping the charts and displacing the Beatles' "Paperback Writer.""
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Sunny Afternoon - based on the music of the Kinks, is an absolute blast! Walking into the Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, you'll feel the excitement and anticipation in the air. Leading with You Really Got Me, they'll cover the Kinks' hit songs, including many that were never released here in America - and you'll be dancing in your seat! By the way, never, did I ever, think I'd see the ENTIRE audiences at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre on their feet dancing - and they were!"
Chicago Theatre Review
- Highly Recommended
"...This jumping, jubilant jukebox musical is so much fun and a full evening (or a SUNNY AFTERNOON) overflowing with perfected performances and marvelous music. Edward Hall's polished, professional production features plenty of songs, many that most theatergoers will immediately recognize, while others may become new favorites. They include the title song, "Lola," "You Really Got Me," "All Day and All of the Night," "Too Much on My Mind/Tired of Waiting" and "Waterloo Sunset," which makes this show a real "Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy.""
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...Sunny Afternoon is about many things. This is in so many ways a rock concert ? with a score that makes it impossible not to dance and clap along in your seat. It?s vibrant ? with a talented design team that simply does not hold back as they bring this musical to life, especially with Costume Designer Miriam Buether?s 60s looks. It?s also joy, with Adam Cooper?s choreography that fills the stage, complete with favorite moves of the decade."
The Fourth Walsh
- Highly Recommended
"...The Beatles. The Rolling Stones. The Kinks! In the 1960s, British bands invaded American music. Their revolutionary sounds and looks changed rock and roll forever. They were distinctly different groups with similar origin stories. Childhood mates rising to stardom from working class families in small English towns. Personality struggles escalated as fame and fortune rose. All these bands had to grapple with identity, jealousy and sustainability. Although John, Paul, George and Ringo are more well known, Ray, Dave, Mick and Peter have arrived in Chicago to tell -and sing- their story!"
Chicagoland Musical Theatre
- Recommended
"..."Sunny Afternoon" lands Stateside ten-ish years after taking the Olivier Award for Best Musical on the Kinks' home turf. It also brings along Danny Horn and Oliver Hoare, who have played the Davies brothers (Ray and Dave, respectively) on the West End. And the piece de resistance: Edward Hall, director of that world premiere production, takes charge again, but now also serving as Chicago Shakes's artistic director."
Third Coast Review
- Recommended
"...They were the most English of British Invasion bands. While other English musicians adopted American styles and turned their backs on their own musical traditions, the Kinks doubled down, writing distinctly English songs about topics like Queen Victoria, village greens, steam-powered trains, their North London neighborhood of Muswell Hill, and sunsets seen from London's Waterloo station."
Chicago Theater and Arts
- Highly Recommended
"...This energetic jukebox musical, ?Sunny Afternoon,? enjoying its North American premiere here in Chicago, is based on the story of the Kinks as told by lead singer and songster Ray Davies, filtered through the adept hand of playwright Joe Penhall."
PicksInSix
- Highly Recommended
"...The long-awaited Chicago Shakespeare Theater?s North American premiere of ?Sunny Afternoon,? based on the music of The Kinks, opened in spectacular form on Friday in The Yard. Directed by CST?s Artistic Director Edward Hall, the show originated in 2014 in London, also directed by Hall and starring the enormously talented Danny Horn and Oliver Hoare as Ray and Dave Davies, the two brothers who formed the explosive core of the band whose music became the soundtrack of a generation during the British invasion of the 1960s."
Chicago Culture Authority
- Highly Recommended
"...Though it falls victim to some of the issues typical of jukebox musicals-do we really need two songs about how managers rip off the bands they rep?-Sunny Afternoon is, in all the ways that count, a triumph. Or perhaps better to say Triumph, for the British car company that gave the world the Spitfire sports car, which debuted months before the Kinks themselves, becoming a national favorite but more of an esoteric choice in the States."
Allie and the After Party
- Highly Recommended
"...More than just a history of The Kinks' early days, Sunny Afternoon crafts a compelling story with all the ups and downs of a band coming into its own led by four talented multi-disciplined leads making up the members of the band. It captures the essence of the 60s and 70s and feels like we could be at one of their concerts."
BroadwayWorld
- Recommended
"...If you enjoy the music of The Kinks, you'll enjoy SUNNY AFTERNOON - especially if you want to hear the songs sung well. British actors Danny Horn and Oliver Hoare reprise their roles from the West End as Ray and Dave Davies, respectively, who along with Mick Avory (Kieran McCabe) and Pete Quaife (Michael Lepore) comprised the band's four founding members. The show features music and lyrics by Ray Davies, with a book from Joe Penhall based on an original story by Ray Davies. I think that's telling because while it's a blast to hear The Kinks' iconic songs performed by great talent, the storytelling isn't as taut."
