Sneaking a peek behind ‘Curtains’

CHARLES McNULTY’S review of “Curtains” puzzles me [“ ‘Curtains’ Call,” Aug. 11].

Having seen this musical in previews, I’m with him when he criticizes with faint praise (“[it] still manages to charm”), compares the plot with “lumpy oatmeal” and says the “hoary shtick groans for cuts.”

But we part company when he calls it “irresistible” and even predicts that one “probably won’t regret spending an evening in its company.”

How wrong he is. I regretted not only the time but also the money spent on this miserable pastiche. Perhaps having had to pay for my ticket made me a harsher critic.

RUTH LASELL

Ojai

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WAS your reviewer at the same opening of “Curtains” that I was? A person reading his review would have to read to the very end to learn the show was irresistible.

He misses all the great points of the show and that the audience is having a wonderful time.

BILL KAISER

Burbank