The reviews are in for Copperfield! The New Musical, Jeffrey Scharf’s adaptation of Dickens’s David Copperfield, which opened Off-Broadway on October 19 at The Duke on 42nd Street. Scharf wrote the book, music and lyrics, Gabriel Barre directs and choreographs, and Bobby Conte plays the grown David, watching his younger self relive a childhood of loss and cruelty. A company of 13, most of them doubling as the band, plays the novel’s crowd of characters. The critics are warmer than not: almost all of them admire that actor-musician company and Barre’s staging, while the doubters, led by TheaterMania, find the pace sagging under the weight of so much plot.
The verdict: eight reviews in so far, and three of them score it. 1 Minute Critic gives it 5 out of 5, New York Stage Review 4 out of 5, and Theater Life four stars; the other five publish no rating. Nearly every critic praises the actor-musician ensemble and Gabriel Barre’s nimble staging, and several single out Will Reynolds, Amelia Cormack and Tatiana Wechsler. Off Off Online, Stage and Cinema and Theater Pizzazz are as enthusiastic as the rated three. New York Theatre Guide likes it with reservations about a sagging final half-hour, and TheaterMania is the coolest, finding a strong cast held back by slow pacing.
What are critics saying about Copperfield! The New Musical?
TheaterMania
"New Musical Copperfield! Needs a Little More Twist"
Reviewer: Pete Hempstead
Hempstead admires the energy of a cast that sings, dances, acts and plays the band, but finds that energy does not carry over into the storytelling. The first act stalls on its ballads, he says, and the second strains to tie off hundreds of pages of plot.
"…Copperfield! will likely delight Dickens fans and create some new ones, but it only partly fulfills its great expectations."
His standout is Tatiana Wechsler, who doubles as the hateful Jane Murdstone and the patient Agnes, a turn he thinks worth remembering at awards time. He also credits Shannon Slaton’s sound design for keeping every lyric clear.
1 Minute Critic
"Dickens’ most personal novel finds its voice in ‘Copperfield!’"
Reviewer: Ryan Leeds · 5 out of 5
Leeds finds a warm, tuneful show that lets some light into a bleak story, and he praises the way Scharf trims the novel’s huge cast while the actors double as musicians. He picks out Bobby Conte and Tatiana Wechsler’s second-act duet as the score’s tenderest moment.
"Scharf’s tale tells it with heart, and it’s well worth the search."
He also has good words for the design team and for Barre, whose demanding staging moves the company from a Yarmouth houseboat to a London warehouse without a hitch.
New York Stage Review
"Copperfield! Top-Drawer Musical Take on the Dickens Classic"
Reviewer: David Finkle · 4 out of 5
Finkle is the most openly delighted of the critics. He likes Scharf’s decision to frame the story as a search for home, and calls the production a crowning achievement for director-choreographer Gabriel Barre.
"…it’s as reputable and enjoyable a musical adaptation of a classic as I’ve ever been lucky enough to encounter."
Asked to name a standout in a uniformly strong company, he settles on Will Reynolds, who plays both Mr. Murdstone and Uriah Heep, and predicts a long future for the show on school stages.
Theater Life
Reviewer: Samuel L. Leiter · 4 stars
Leiter thinks the show deserves a long life, though he does not rank the score with Oliver!; its songs, he says, run from extremely good to pleasantly listenable. He compares Barre’s pared-back staging, with its door frames and spare furniture, to the work of John Doyle.
"This is a rich, heartwarming story of grievous loss and great resilience…"
He is most impressed by Amelia Cormack and Will Reynolds, and values the way Scharf’s lyrics keep the story moving rather than decorating it.
New York Theatre Guide
"Dickens novel gets a tuneful stage treatment"
Reviewer: Gillian Russo
Russo enjoys a scrappy, fast-moving production and a pleasing score, though she feels the energy dips in the last half-hour and that splitting David into two roles keeps the adult hero on the sidelines until Act 2.
"It's the 19th-century literature musical I didn't know I needed."
She singles out Owen Squire Smith’s dancing and physical comedy as Steerforth, and concludes that, for all its imperfections, the adaptation earns its exclamation point.
Stage and Cinema
Reviewer: Rob Lester
Lester welcomes a score that is openly traditional, with hints of music hall and operetta, and he is moved by the device of keeping the adult and child Davids on stage together. He reserves special praise for Calvin Knegten as the young David at the performance he attended.
"This is a highly recommended and ambitious, mostly delicious enterprise."
His reservations are small ones: some minor characters get lost in the crowd, and he would tone down Cathryn Wake’s Dora a little.
Theater Pizzazz
"A Wonderfully Entertaining Version of the Saga"
Reviewer: Alix Cohen
Cohen admires how clearly the sprawling plot comes across, so that newcomers to the novel can follow every turn. She calls Bobby Conte a perfect leading man and Barre’s use of actor-musicians inspired, though she notes the score sometimes lacks variety with one writer doing everything.
"GO. The show is fun and worthy. It deserves a life elsewhere."
Among the supporting cast she is especially taken with Owen Squire Smith’s Steerforth and Andy Taylor’s Micawber.
Off Off Online
Reviewer: Edward Karam
Karam is quick to separate the show from the short-lived 1981 Broadway musical of the same story, and finds it a different animal entirely. He enjoys the musicianship of a cast that plays everything from accordions to spoons, and the memory-play structure that keeps man and boy in view together.
"…the new Copperfield! is an energetic and melodious delight."
He even suggests it as a holiday-season alternative for audiences who feel A Christmas Carol has grown a little shopworn.
For more from the New York critics, read our roundups for King of the Yees at the Pershing Square Signature Center and Other Desert Cities at the Hudson Theatre.
Copperfield! The New Musical runs at The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, through December 6, 2026. The running time is two hours and 30 minutes, including an intermission. Production photos by Jeremy Daniel.
