The reviews are in for Soon, Nick Blaemire’s chamber musical, which opened Off-Broadway on Monday, October 5, at The Loft at St. Luke’s in an Out of the Box Theatrics production directed by Will Blum. Charlie (Ava Delaney) hasn’t left her East Village apartment in months, convinced the world is about to end, until a grocery delivery guy named Jonah (Oliver Richman) keeps finding reasons to come back. The critics are divided. Several admire the premise and the score, and Mylinda Hull as Charlie’s mother collects the most praise; where they part ways is the late turn that explains what is really keeping Charlie on the couch.
The verdict: seven reviews in so far, and a split decision. Only one outlet scores the show, 1 Minute Critic with 2 out of 5; the rest run unrated. TheaterMania, Times Square Chronicles and Pages on Stages are broadly enthusiastic, New York Theatre Guide and Off Off Online are mixed, and Lighting & Sound America and 1 Minute Critic are not won over. The turn in the final stretch, which reveals what is really keeping Charlie indoors, is where most of them divide, and Mylinda Hull is the performer who draws the most praise.
What are critics saying about Soon?
TheaterMania
Reviewer: Kenji Fujishima
Fujishima is drawn in by a premise less interested in the apocalypse than in how people go on living when they believe the end is coming, and by the variety in Nick Blaemire’s score and Wiley DeWeese’s orchestrations for a three-piece band.
"…Soon seems like one of the more intriguing and original new musicals in quite a while."
The final third lets him down: a flashback that roots Charlie’s paralysis in something more ordinary than climate change, and recasts what came before. He singles out Mylinda Hull’s scene-stealing turn as Charlie’s mother.
Lighting & Sound America
Reviewer: David Barbour
Barbour finds the book underimagined and manipulative, the songs mostly not strong enough apart from a couple of jazzy melodies, and Charlie’s illness hard to credit as presented.
"Soon is a little musical that only wants to be loved."
He is far kinder to the company, calling Ava Delaney a striking presence and comparing Oliver Richman to a young Austin Pendleton, and he admires how Sean Frank and Paige Seber hide lighting all over a room not much bigger than a living room.
Read David Barbour’s full review at Lighting & Sound America
New York Theatre Guide
"When the end of life meets the beginning of love"
Reviewer: Joe Dziemianowicz
Dziemianowicz hears moments of real beauty in the pop score, picking out “Bohemia Paradiso” and “Waiting,” and thinks Delaney’s voice is an ideal showcase for the music.
"…has created a mixed bag of a musical."
His objections are a streak of cuteness, characters given one trait apiece, and a climate-change misdirection that never quite squares with the personal crisis underneath.
Read Joe Dziemianowicz’s full review at New York Theatre Guide
1 Minute Critic
"Nick Blaemire musical waits out doomsday"
Reviewer: Matthew Wexler · 2 out of 5
Wexler, the only critic here to give a score, argues that a show Blaemire began writing in 2010 now feels stuck in its own time warp, and that Will Blum’s staging seldom escapes the slow pace of its central couple.
"…its perspective on living rarely resonates emotionally. Even the fish wants out."
He also reports under-amplified vocals, even in so intimate a room.
Off Off Online
Reviewer: Stanford Friedman
Friedman reads the climate warnings as a decoy for a study of a young woman’s psyche, but finds the first 75 minutes so gentle that the crisis arrives with little build-up, and Delaney slow to stir interest early on.
"…provides a likable score, admirably handled by a three-piece band"
He finds the roommate written mostly for comic relief, and notes that the traverse staging in the third-floor loft favors the front rows.
Times Square Chronicles
Reviewer: Suzanna Bowling
Bowling is the show’s warmest champion, watching it deepen quietly from an offbeat comedy into something more serious, and praising Delaney, Richman’s gentle Jonah and Mike Millan’s comic timing as the roommate.
"Then there is Mylinda Hull, who nearly steals the night as Charlie’s mother, Adrienne."
She credits Sean Frank’s lived-in apartment and Paige Seber’s lighting with turning the room into both a refuge and a trap.
Read Suzanna Bowling’s full review at Times Square Chronicles
Pages on Stages
Reviewer: Mason Pilevsky
Pilevsky reads Charlie’s goldfish as the evening’s key metaphor and admires a score that uses suspended chords to evoke her paralysis, finding the show engaging and easy to follow.
"Director Will Blum has a clear vision, and it comes through in every aspect of the show"
He credits the lighting, sound and orchestrations, and says Blaemire repackages his many reprises well.
For more of what the New York critics have been saying, read our roundups for Slam Frank at the Orpheum Theatre and The Hairy Ape at the Irish Repertory Theatre.
Soon runs at The Loft at St. Luke’s Theatre, 308 West 46th Street, through November 8, 2026. The running time is 90 minutes, with no intermission. Production photos by Valerie Terranova.
