Critics.

Our preview weekend for B.F.E. went fantastic. Friday and Saturday's shows were nearly full, and the crowds cracked up from beginning to end. Couldn't have felt better.

We've had two reviews so far. First one was stellar -- the reviewer, David Marlowe, said the following:

• "I predict that this could be one of those sleepers which becomes a perennial favorite."


• "The book and lyrics are campy, quirky and extremely funny."


• "Jeff Koslosi is evil-funny as the rotten-awful man who keeps Christmas from the boys and girls in BFE."


• "As for Rattlebrain and the Avenue Theater giving us a new option on the boards during the holidays, this reviewer has to paraphrase Dickens: 'God bless them every one!'"

Pretty awesome, eh? Yeah, we think so too. But then there was the other review. John Moore, theater critic for the Denver Post (who was there the same night as David Marlowe, btw), absolutely hated the show. He ripped it up and down, beginning to end. He had nothing good to say about it. And this is a guy who is traditionally pretty easy on theater troupes, even in negative reviews. This thing, however, was brutal. His entire review is encapsulated in this line: "When it was over, I wanted my money back, and I didn't even pay to get in."

I've performed long enough and in enough shows to have seen my fair share of reviews, from four-out-of-four-star gushers to not-so-hot disappointers. But this was, by far, the most negative review I've ever read. It was freaking demoralizing. Oh, did I mention the review came out on Thanksgiving? Yeah, great way to start off the holiday.

So of course we were all on the phone with each other lamenting this completely unexpected beating. But one thing we kept coming back to: you could count the number of people there that night who didn't like the show on one finger. Not only did the audience love it, but some of them even gave us a standing-O. Were some in the crowd friends and family? Sure, maybe 10-15% of them. But mostly, these were strangers to us. And they loved it.

What's evident is that this show isn't for everyone. It's silly, it's campy, it's slapsticky, and it's sarcastic. But above all, it's fun and funny. And I'll stack our knowledge of funny up against a critic's any day.

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