Winner!
2006 New York Innovative Theatre Award: Outstanding Original Musical
Nominated!
2006 New York Innovative Theatre Award: Oustanding Original Score of a Musical
for the 2011 off-Broadway revival
An enthusiastic farce... high-spirited and snark-free, a Hope-Crosby “Road” film with a nod to The Producers... the script is a hoot... Prospect Theater Company’s clever cast of 15 plays it straight-faced even in the silliest scenes, heightening the humor... old-fashioned in all the best ways.
The New York Times
Theatergoers of the world, unite in giggling. You have nothing to lose but your depression... So quit Stalin and get your bourgeois masses over to the theater in the high-tech sub-basement of Baruch College, where you can be immensely amused and at the same time feel totally safe from nuclear attack... Apologies for that: Having just seen something irresistible, how could I resist?
The Village Voice
It's a mystery to me why Iron Curtain, a highly polished revival of Prospect Theater Company's hilarious 2006 hit about two song-and-dance men conscripted to Moscow during the Cold War, should be in the Baruch Performing Arts Center -- and not, say, Broadway...
Theatermania
Iron Curtain is jam packed with catchy showtunes, clever lyrics, socko gags and zesty staging, along with a little sex, a little romance, with an emphasis on the latter... a joyful night for those who appreciate musicals boasting fun songs, big laughs and a lot of heart.
BroadwayWorld
Rarely do a talented (and well-cast) group of actors, an innovative creative team, and witty, well-written material land in the same theater at the same time. But Prospect Theater Company makes it look easy. Cara Reichel has meticulously helmed this hilarious throwback to the golden age of musicals, and the production and the work give hope for the fate of the American tuner.
Backstage
Delightful and entertaining... Prospect Theater Company’s production, directed by the sure-footed Cara Reichel is slick, smooth, glitzy and perfectly paced.... Whether you love musicals, hate Communists or just want to have a great time, head over to the Baruch Performing Arts Center - and enjoy!
CurtainUp
Iron Curtain, currently playing at the Baruch Center for Performing Arts in New York City, is one of the most entertaining pieces of musical theatre I’ve seen in a very long time. Susan DiLallo's libretto is as bright and clever as that for Mel Brooks' 2001 hit The Producers, and the score (by composer Stephen Weiner and lyricist Peter Mills) is far superior to Brooks's. It's stellar.
Simply-Showbiz.com
Deliriously entertaining... It’s always thrilling when a team manages to successfully emulate that which they’re parodying, and Weiner, Mills and DiLallo do a mighty fine job of capturing the Golden Age style... Iron Curtain is further proof that the two most glorious words in the English language are, in fact, Musical Comedy.
NYTheatre.com
for the 2011 Seattle Production
What happens when a struggling Broadway composer-writer team shuffle off to Moscow during the height of the Cold War at the behest of Nikita Krushcheve, to concot a show at gunpoint? A lot of vivcious production numbers, hokey gags and sly spoofinf of the Cold War … In its own retro-Broadway Universe, Iron Curtain puts on quite a show — most laudably in the splashy, stylishly performed song and dance numbers. There are witty send-ups of classic tuners.
Misha Berson, The Seattle Times
…When the curtain falls on Iron Curtain you may well decide to book tickets to see it again. If not for musicals like this one, we would have few vortexes of lightness and joy to escape the increasingly dreary real world. Thank you to all the artists who transported me out of my seat at Iron Curtain.
David Edward Hughes, Talking Broadway
… Complete with zany characters, toe-tapping and gorgeous songs and more puns than you can shake a hammer and sickle at, the show delivers a knockout punch which left me giddy all the way home. If that weren’t enough throw in some outstanding costumes by Karen Ledger who managed the glitzy, gorgeous and funny all at the same time, exceptional music direction by R.J. Tancioco and first-rate choreography by Kristin Culp and director Steve Tomkins and Village has a sure fire hit on their hands. Tomkins has turned in some wonderful shows in the past but this one, I have to say, is nothing short of ... well ... BRILLIANTSKI!
Jay Irwin, Broadwayworld.com
…Riotously funny. Stephen Weiner’s score and Peter Mills’ lyrics range from cleverly playful to outright farcical. It doesn’t hurt matters that Village Theatre’s production of Iron Curtain is top shelf in every way imaginable, with superb casting, vivacious choreography, an enormous costume repertoire and scenic design both efficient and impressive… this is a farce firing on all cylinders.
Dusty Somers, Stage Mage
…One of the most hilarious, witty and original new musicals to come along in years. … The book, music and lyrics are hysterically clever and original, and the cast is excellent.
Jim Carroll, Culture Mob.com
… Iron Curtain is so silly and funny that you might have sore jaws from smiling at the end.
Miryam Gordon, Seattle Gay News
Like The Producers (with Soviets filling in for Nazis), Iron Curtain simultaneously parodies and pays loving homage to old-school musicals, and derves to be as big a hit. It’s springtime for Khrushchev!
The Village Voice
For the 2006 Off-Off Broadway Production
A gleefully ridiculous new musical … Iron Curtain is working the formula of The Producers and other big shows.
The New York Times
The fun flies as fast and furious as its dancers’ tapping feet… Mill’s ever-clever lyrics are, as always, worth savoring… Weiner’s music effortlessly combines the glitz and glamour of Golden Age Broadway with scintillating Soviet song stylings…
Talkin’ Broadway
A deliciously ditzy book by Susan Dilallo, song after melodic song by Stephen Weiner with devilishly clever lyrics by Peter Mills, and talent galore to sing and dance up a storm.
Curtainup.com
Iron Curtain is a heart-shaped box of theatrical candy for every fan of the genre… There is something in this show for everyone to enjoy: clever historical references, clever theatrical references, silly jokes, groan-inducing puns, and delightful songs… If you want to see the future of American theatre, head over to the West End Theatre.
Broadwayworld.com
The casting is terrific and carries the day… there isn’t a bad song in the bunch… when all’s said and done, Iron Curtain comes out smelling like a nice, Red rose.
New Theatre Corps, Theater Talk