Another Shot at Love (Stop if You’ve Heard This)
Charles IsherwoodMarch 30, 2014: Imagine a television commercial for eHarmony.com that stretches on for 90 minutes. Now imagine this ad being almost entirely sung. That’s the effect — both stultifying and cloying — of the musical A Second Chance, which opened at the Public Theater on Sunday night. Ted Shen wrote the minimal book as well as the music and lyrics for this nearly through-sung show about two life-bruised, middle-aged New Yorkers trying to heal themselves as they fall in love — ever so predictably and ever so slowly. (Mr. Shen, a former investment banker who runs a foundation that supports musical theater in various ways, has helped fund Public Theater productions including Giant and Fun Home.)
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