Chicago Tribune - Not Recommended
"...Not that there is much action. The best part of the night is the end, when we all get to stand up, dance and work out some of our frustrations."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Created in 2007 by Alan Jacobsen, a Floridian known for manufacturing cruise-ship entertainment, this 90-minute musical feels like just that—a contrived cruise-ship show."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Recommended
"...Let's Play ‘Recommend' that you grab your girlfriends for a silly night of fun where you will leave feeling good about yourself from a workout that celebrates friendships and women of all sizes, shapes, religion, and color."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...I think that this is a cleverly done parody on all those women concerned with diets and exercise programs that are seeking ways to retain their youth, and may be perfect for Ladies Night Out, or a Bachelorette Party. Created by Alan Jacobson with a book and lyrics by Jacobson and music by Vince Dimura, this is 90 minutes of workouts and gossip about their sex lives, their jobs, their desires and losing those unwanted pounds. The show is certainly better if you have a drink!"
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Still, at a brisk ninety minutes with no intermission, a game audience, and a bar, WaistWatchers was a perfectly charming way to spend an evening. I've criticized the show for not having something deeper to say, but in its defense, I don't think the show is falsely suggesting that it does. It promises a good time, and on the strength of a delightful group of performers, it delivers. In the end, I'll say this: If you read a description of the show and decide you think you'll like it or you won't, you'll be completely correct."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Somewhat Recommended
"...All that being said, perhaps what they say is true: the most important part of the gym is just showing up. Waist Watchers would do well in community theatre, like Nunsense, or in a late-night comedy hour and a half, or anything you can go to with a large group of friends and turn your brains off to enjoy one another’s company. If you go into Waist Watchers The Musical with low expectations, and just embrace the ride, it could still be one helluva girls’ night out."
Chicago Theater and Arts - Somewhat Recommended
"...Lighthearted and full of high-energy dancing and non-stop fun, the musical features more than 20 numbers that focus on women’s relationship to food, friendship, loss, sex, Botox and working out. And candy. Lots of candy."
Chicago On Stage - Recommended
"...Diets and fitness are Big Business in America right now, and they are indeed rife with parody possibilities. WaistWatchers the Musical (named perhaps so that no one would confuse it with a real diet movement?) is a fun, frothy look at an industry that has grown to mega-dimensions (over a trillion dollars in 2017). It’s not anti-fitness; though one song extols the virtue of the “Just eat what you want because it doesn’t matter diet,” the fun it pokes is gentle and not a polemic. However, with its final number, “Hot Mamas,” the musical makes the point that bodies come in all shapes and sizes. Audience members who have been drinking and having fun will appreciate that. There’s enough in this play for those who go to gyms and those who don’t. Just don’t expect miracles and deep insights: like diets themselves, this show isn’t likely to stay with you for a long time."
