AmericanTheaterWeb Original News & Reviews

AmericanTheaterWeb

ATW Review - Life's Anything But Still Waiting for The First Breeze of Summer

New York Times

Family’s Future in Grandma’s Flashbacks
The Signature Theater Company offers a smooth revival of “The First Breeze of Summer,” Leslie Lee’s less-than-smooth drama of a denial-plagued family in close quarters.

New York Daily News

'First Breeze of Summer' has strife
Set during an insufferably hot weekend in 1977, "The First Breeze of Summer" tells the story of three generations of a black family who are seeking some relief - and not just from the wicked weather.

Newsday

Review: 'The First Breeze of Summer'
Leslie Lee's multigeneration family drama is an engrossing, delicately structured, loving and clear-eyed look at a middle-class black family in the '70s.

New York Post

Get wind of 'First Breeze'
Bravo to the Signature Theatre Company for devoting its season to the Negro Ensemble Company. Besides paying long-overdue tribute to a...

New York Sun

'A First Breeze' Blows Through Again

ny1

Review: “The First Breeze Of Summer”

Star-Ledger

Revival's anything but a breeze

Associated Press

The past intertwines with the present in 'The First Breeze of Summer'

Variety

Review: The First Breeze of Summer
....actor-turned-director Ruben Santiago-Hudson is a skilled and sensitive guide of a large cast; his efforts help counter a certain long-windedness and locate the universal themes in this overstuffed but affecting play, about three generations of a black family in small-town Pennsylvania.

Back Stage

The First Breeze of Summer reviewed by Leonard Jacobs
Signature Theatre Company couldn't have chosen a finer play, cast finer actors, or more strongly begun its season-long salute to the Negro Ensemble Company.

TheaterMania

Review: The First Breeze of Summer
The Signature Theatre Company starts its season with a superlatively acted and directed production of Leslie Lee's vital 1975 family drama.

Talkin' Broadway

Review: The First Breeze of Summer
Generations jumble and traditions are skewed in Leslie Lee's play The First Breeze of Summer, which Signature Theatre Company is reviving at Peter Norton Space as the first entry in its season-long celebration of the Negro Ensemble Company. These happenings boldly outline the intricate and frustrating underpinnings of family life, but what most shines through this 1970s reclamation of kitchen-sink drama is the understanding that understanding is invariably more difficult than acceptance. . . .

CurtainUp

Review: The First Breeze of Summer