Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show BROADWAY REVIEWS

• NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW OF Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show

  

  ‘Ruben & Clay’ Reunites ‘Idol’ Rivals for Christmas Fun

  Elisabeth Vincentelli

  December 11, 2018: When people talk about the miracle of Christmas, they may be referring to the lowering of critical standards the holidays seem to provoke. Maybe that explains certain sweaters, or how I found myself tapping my toes and nodding contentedly during “Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show.” But the production now playing at the Imperial Theater on Broadway actually has assets that would be effective any time of the year, especially if you happen to miss old-fashioned variety shows run by a pair of genial, bantering hosts.

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• DEADLINE REVIEW OF Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show

  

  ‘Ruben & Clay Christmas Show’ Review: American Idols Go Caroling And Kitsching On Broadway

  Greg Evans

  December 11, 2018: For their first Broadway Christmas show, American Idol rivals Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken are dreaming of holiday TV variety specials of yore from the likes of Andy Williams, Sonny and Cher and Dean Martin. Holiday lesson: Careful what you wish for. If you’ve watched any of those old specials on retro channels like Get TV this season, you’ll know a small dollop of Christmas kitsch covers a lot of cookie. Ruben and Clay are spreading it wide and thin at the Imperial Theatre.

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• HOLLYWOOD REPORTER REVIEW OF Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show

  

  'Ruben & Clay's First Annual Christmas Show': Theater Review

  Frank Scheck

  December 11, 2018: Fifteen years after they competed on what was then the country's hottest television show, American Idol, singers Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken have joined together for a holiday-themed Broadway show optimistically dubbed Ruben & Clay's First Annual Christmas Show. This is a reunion for which no one was clamoring. The show, whose full title is Ruben & Clay's First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show (that's the last time I'll be mentioning it, since I don't get paid by the word), attempts to recreate the spirit of vintage television variety specials. Given that it captures the cheesiness of such endeavors, the evening, featuring high school-worthy production values, accomplishes its apparent goal. It even begins with a video of a Star Wars-style crawl, which brings back memories not of the film series but rather its infamous offshoot, the Star Wars Holiday Special.

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• BROADWAY NEWS REVIEW OF Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show

  

  Review: Christmas gone wrong at ‘Ruben & Clay’

  Charles Isherwood

  December 11, 2018: Toward the merciful end of “Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Show,” or as it is also called, “Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show,” gifts are exchanged. Out come the ugly Christmas sweaters, that cutesy sartorial staple of the holiday season. Unfortunately, those sweaters might serve as garish woolen metaphors for the show itself: you might smile indulgently at them for a bit, but pretty quickly you just want to look away. Ruben and Clay, for the unfamiliar, are Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken, onetime competitors and finalists on the second season of “American Idol.” Studdard ended up winning, with Aiken the runner-up. Both have since gone on to successful recording and performing careers, with Aiken even staging a quixotic run for Congress in his native North Carolina. (Runner-up again! He won the Democratic primary but lost the election.)

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• DC METRO THEATER ARTS REVIEW OF Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show

  

  ‘Ruben & Clay’s Christmas Show’ at the Imperial Theatre

  Deb Miller

  December 11, 2018: Well known to tens of millions of television viewers as the top two contenders on American Idol’s blockbuster second season in 2003, BFFs Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken are celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of their historic singing competition with a new holiday show for all ages. Playing a limited three-week engagement at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre, Ruben & Clay’s Christmas Show – aka Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show – features a fast-paced selection of seasonal songs, silly skits, and incidents of their ongoing tongue-in-cheek rivalry (that leave little time for the full long-winded title!), along with a serious message about finding the true meaning of the yuletide spirit in hope, love, friendship, and giving.

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