In Michael Greif's latest attempt at bringing F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald to stage, Beautiful Little Fool promises to rescue the infamous couple from their marital malaise, but ultimately falls flat due to its over-reliance on tired tropes and shallow exploration of its themes.
The show follows the trajectory of the Fitzgeralds' rise and fall through the eyes of their daughter, Scottie, as she navigates her parents' archive. While Lauren Ward shines in a moving performance as young Zelda, the rest of the cast struggles to find depth in Hannah Corneau's poppy score. The framing device – with the audience witnessing the couple's interactions through Scottie's adult eyes – shows promise, but is largely underutilized.
Rather than delving into the complexities of F Scott and Zelda's relationship, Beautiful Little Fool relies on surface-level storytelling, glossing over the darker aspects of their marriage in favor of a more crowd-pleasing conclusion. David Hunter brings out some of F Scott's inner turmoil, while Amy Parker (stand-in for Corneau on opening night) belts out Zelda's emotions with gusto, but even these strong performances are let down by the show's overall lack of nuance.
The score, too, is forgettable, with only a few fleeting moments of magic amidst the sea of repetitive and corny lyrics. When alluding to the couple's literary prowess, Corneau's music stumbles into cliché, failing to capture the spark or wit that defined their relationship beyond a single witty argument on the Riviera.
As the curtain closes on this musical, it's hard not to feel like we've seen it all before – the same tired tropes and shallow exploration of themes that have plagued previous attempts at bringing the Fitzgeralds to stage. But even so, there's still hope for future productions, such as The Fitzgeralds of St Paul, which is scheduled to launch in New York this spring. Until then, Beautiful Little Fool remains a forgettable footnote in the ongoing saga of F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's captivating – and troubled – relationship.
The show follows the trajectory of the Fitzgeralds' rise and fall through the eyes of their daughter, Scottie, as she navigates her parents' archive. While Lauren Ward shines in a moving performance as young Zelda, the rest of the cast struggles to find depth in Hannah Corneau's poppy score. The framing device – with the audience witnessing the couple's interactions through Scottie's adult eyes – shows promise, but is largely underutilized.
Rather than delving into the complexities of F Scott and Zelda's relationship, Beautiful Little Fool relies on surface-level storytelling, glossing over the darker aspects of their marriage in favor of a more crowd-pleasing conclusion. David Hunter brings out some of F Scott's inner turmoil, while Amy Parker (stand-in for Corneau on opening night) belts out Zelda's emotions with gusto, but even these strong performances are let down by the show's overall lack of nuance.
The score, too, is forgettable, with only a few fleeting moments of magic amidst the sea of repetitive and corny lyrics. When alluding to the couple's literary prowess, Corneau's music stumbles into cliché, failing to capture the spark or wit that defined their relationship beyond a single witty argument on the Riviera.
As the curtain closes on this musical, it's hard not to feel like we've seen it all before – the same tired tropes and shallow exploration of themes that have plagued previous attempts at bringing the Fitzgeralds to stage. But even so, there's still hope for future productions, such as The Fitzgeralds of St Paul, which is scheduled to launch in New York this spring. Until then, Beautiful Little Fool remains a forgettable footnote in the ongoing saga of F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's captivating – and troubled – relationship.
I was bored outta my mind by this show 
. They're really running out of creative ways to tackle the F Fitzs 
. Just another tired retread of their marriage drama 
. Can't wait for The Fitzgeralds of St Paul tho 
! 
. I feel like we've seen it all before - same old "tortured artist" trope with the over-reliance on surface-level storytelling. It's a shame, 'cause the cast is talented and Lauren Ward as Zelda was so moving 
. But, yeah, the score just didn't do it for me either - Hannah Corneau's music is all over the place 
. Can't wait to see The Fitzgeralds of St Paul, though! 
. I mean, come on, F Scott & Zelda is like the ultimate 'tired tropes' scenario. Can't they just let their actual stories breathe for once? It's like they took every "tragic romance" cliche and mashed them all together into one forgettable mess 
? Not impressed, Beautiful Little Fool. You can keep trying to bring some magic to the stage, but so far, you're just a footnote in literary history 
Beautiful Little Fool just another musical that tries to cash in on a famous couple's drama without really digging into their complexities. i mean, we've seen this before with other adaptations - the 'tragic love story' trope is so overused and shallow 
... but can we please move on from this shallow take on the F. Scott & Zelda story? I mean, didn't we see that movie about The Great Gatsby already? 
... maybe it's just that I'm being too harsh? 
. And that's what's missing – nuance, depth, a willingness to confront the darker stuff that makes human relationships so messy and fascinating 
, but overall it just felt like more of the same old tired tropes and shallow themes 
. But the rest of the cast? They're just phoning it in, you know? And don't even get me started on the score... it's like they took every "trendy" musical cliche and mashed them all together into this mess 
. The show's idea of using Scottie as the framing device was cool, but it felt like they didn't fully explore the depth of F Scott and Zelda's relationship. It just felt like a shallow retelling of their story 
.
️
But instead we get shallow storytelling & forgettable music 
.
] 
.
but yeah, the score was kinda meh... didn't really do it 4 me 
I mean, what's next? A musical about Hemingway and Gertrude Stein where they just sit on stage and talk about their feelings for 2 hours?