Review - First Date

A friend from out of town, who also happens to be a Tony voter, generously took me to see First Date, the new Broadway musical, last weekend.  I went in with really low expectations and...I'm sorry to say they were met. 

I really didn't enjoy myself at First Date.  I went in ready to laugh and have some stupid fun (hey, I had a good time at Rock of Ages!), but I found it so cliched, with some borderline offensive stereotypes.  The music was rather generic and they tried to cram so many 'witty' lyrics into each song, they seemed to last much too long.  It seems pretty obvious to me the show was written by straight guys (and if I'm wrong, I apologize) - the gay stereotypes were REALLY close to being homophobic (I read one review calling them the 'gay equivalent of blackface'), and, gee, isn't it fun that it's the women that really need fixed, the guys just need someone to love?  And has anyone ever written a show about a strait-laced woman dating a bohemian guy?

The performers were all very good, doing what they could with the material.  It seemed odd that the two leads didn't have all that many songs, mostly they sat and reacted to the ensemble, who played all the people in their lives and sang most of the songs.  The ensemble was working REALLY hard (maybe a little too hard at some points), but it can't have been easy playing six or seven different roles during a 90-minute musical.

Perhaps I just don't have a sense of humor.  Maybe I was taking the show too seriously.  I will admit that the rest of the audience was having a GREAT time.  I thought the guy next to me would bust a gut with laughter.  Everyone else seemed to laugh uproariously at the jokes and they jumped to their feet for a standing ovation at the end.  So, what do I know?  But when there was a fat joke and a pedophile joke in the opening number, that set the tone for me for the rest of the night.  And I think we can all remember that I hold a grudge...