Nasty Notices for ‘Nick & Nora’

What other critics said:

Frank Rich, New York Times: The plodding show that has emerged from all this tumult is, a few bright spots notwithstanding, an almost instantly forgettable mediocrity.

Clive Barnes, New York Post: What we have here is a bad idea turned sour, although there are one or two incidental sweetnesses along the way, littering its path like primroses.

Jeremy Gerard, Variety: At every possible juncture “Nick & Nora” . . . manages to be what Dashiell Hammett’s swank couple and the films they inspired were not: vulgar, ungainly, mean-spirited and witless.

Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: (It’s) a half-hearted, sporadically entertaining show, marred by an unsavory, almost schizophrenic book, an unfocused score and (in Bostwick) one piece of major miscasting.

David Patrick Stearns, USA Today: So many wonderful things are packed into “Nick & Nora,” it’s amazing the stylish couple isn’t more scintillating company . . . Laurents’ libretto is afraid to let the show be too much fun.

Howard Kissel, Daily News: I’m afraid I must carp even at Riley, the dog who plays Asta. He does his tricks perfectly on cue, but he has none of the canine je ne sais quoi that made you look forward to every entrance of, say, Sandy. But that’s true of the whole show. It does its tricks on cue. It has no character.