'Beaches' Broadway review — Jessica Vosk and Kelli Barrett share a bond as deep as the ocean

Read our review of Beaches on Broadway, a new musical adaptation of the beloved 1988 film, now starring Jessica Vosk and Kelli Barrett at the Majestic Theatre.

Summary

• Beaches follows unlikely best friends Cee Cee and Bertie over a lifetime of ups and downs
• The adaptation of the fan-favorite book and movie flattens the central relationship between the two friends and ends up losing some of its emotional impact
• The show is recommended for fans of the source material; friends on a girls' night out; and fans of committed lead actors Jessica Vosk and Kelli Barret

Unapologetically sentimental, Beaches targets the tear ducts. On Broadway, it largely misses the mark. Told previously in a 1985 novel that spawned a hit movie three years later, the musical follows unlikely besties — Cee Cee and Bertie, played by Jessica Vosk and Kelli Barrett — who endure decades of ups, downs, and deep-rooted envy before a life-and-death twist.

One big issue is that the true-blue bond between them is now decidedly pale. Their sustained relationship is meant to be a sort of BFF superpower, but on stage it lacks weight. Moreover, weepies rely on establishing a strong connection with the characters. Unlike the 1988 movie — which pulled us in with telling close-ups of Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey and the hit song “Wind Beneath My Wings” — the musical, despite still including that song, doesn’t sweep you up. It’s like watching, to quote another Midler chart-topper, from a distance.

Working from her novel, Iris Rainer Dart wrote lyrics and co-authored the musical's book with Thom Thomas, while Mike Stoller, a pioneering rock and roll songwriter and producer, composed the music. The story starts in the mid-’80s and flashes back 30-some years. Cee Cee is working-class, loudmouthed, and, hell or high water, headed for stardom. Bertie is rich, quiet, brainy, and beautiful. Opposites attract from the moment they meet on the Jersey shore as girls and later as teen pen pals.

Cee Cee and Bertie periodically reunite as adults, all the while coping with curveballs: men, marriage, motherhood, and mortality. The musical covers all this in clear, workmanlike fashion. It could lose some soggy jokes, including a tired one about Rock Hudson being a woman’s dream date.

The score is easy enough on the ears. The songs' titles — “Wish I Could Be Like You,” “Show the World Who You Are,” and the grammatically truncated “My Best” — pretty much tell you all you need to know. “God Bless Girlfriends,” sung by the men in the women’s lives played by Brent Thiessen and Ben Jacoby, has an appealing, if old-fashioned, ring to it.

As scripted, the two women are dramatically lopsided. Cee Cee is far more dynamic, and Vosk gamely and aptly pours forth enough brass to fill a horn section and enlists her mighty belt. As the passive Bertie, who forgoes law school because of a guy in this version, Barrett brings vulnerability and an endearing quality to her songs and scenes.

As co-directed by Lonny Price and Matt Cowart, the production moves in fits and starts between periodic blackouts. You’d expect a show called Beaches to have more flow and fluidity — and hope it would make a bigger splash.

Beaches summary

Cee Cee Bloom and Bertie White meet on the beach in Atlanta City as girls. They vow to be lifelong friends and make good on that promise, weathering life’s many trials and tribulations, including each other. The Broadway premiere at the Majestic Theatre, follows previous productions in Alexandria, Virginia in 2014, Chicago in 2015, and Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 2024.

What to expect at Beaches

Vosk and Barrett play Cee Cee and Bertie when they’re in their 20s and onward. Samantha Schwartz and Zeya Grace portray them as kids, and Bailey Ryon and Emma Ogea take over when they’re teens. At each juncture, Cee Cee is very much who she becomes: a say-anything extrovert. Ditto for Bertie, a by-the-book introvert. We are who we are, like it or not. In one of the show’s smartest, most effective choices, the young girls pop up when the grown-up women interact, like memories personified.

What audiences are saying about Beaches

On Show-Score, the online review aggregator, Beaches had an 80% audience approval score, with theatregoers sharing mixed responses to the cast, characters, and writing.

• “The music didn’t stay with me. It’s a little long and I did cry at the end.” - Show-Score user Amy 610429
• “This is not a replica of the movie, which would make no sense, as that music was used primarily as underscoring – these songs told the story of these women’s lives and relationships perfectly.” - Show-Score user Jerome 6103
• “I felt so represented by Cee Cee Bloom’s sense of humor.” Show-Score user Paulinne
• “A bland adaptation elevated by an incredible performance by Jessica Vosk.” - Show-Score user TheatreIsLife
• “A show about running away to a community theatre to avoid your problems that should be running in a community theatre.” - Show-Score user Tyler 3202

Read more audience reviews of Beaches on Show-Score.

Who should see Beaches

• Fans of the Beaches novel or movie will appreciate how the musical sticks to and diverts from its source material.
• Theatregoers looking for a girls' night out will savor the fact that female friendship, in all its joys and jolts, is front and center.
• Audiences looking for a new musical in a Broadway season that has debuted relatively few options in this category will want to see what the show adds to the current Broadway menu.

Learn more about Beaches on Broadway

Adapting a beloved story into a musical is always a challenge. Despite two committed leads, Beaches ultimately drifts away, like sand slipping through the fingers.

Learn more and get Beaches tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Beaches is at the Majestic Theatre through September 6.

Photo credit: Beaches on Broadway. (Photos by Marc J. Franklin)