Nearly seventy-seven years after its 1948 opening on Broadway, the Weill-Lerner Vaudeville Love Life returned to New York in March 2025 for seven performances over five days. This long-awaited production took place as part of New York City Center’s Encores! series, that pioneer of staged musicals in concert. Double Tony Award-winning actress Victoria Clark directed a cast of more than thirty, with Rob Berman as musical director and choreographer JoAnn M. Hunter. Starring as Susan and Samuel Cooper were Kate Baldwin and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Here are a few excerpts from the press response:

“… a truly great score”
The Wrap – Robert Hofler

“This is the show that Encores! was built for, and Victoria Clark does a great job with a tricky piece.”
TheaterMania – David Gordon

“… the subversive power of [Weill’s] Broadway musicals has long been overlooked. Love Life is no exception; behind its portrait of a collapsing marriage is a sly satire of American capitalist culture.”
The New Yorker – Alex Ross

“terrific… the large orchestra conducted by Rob Berman sounds glorious.”
amNY – Matt Windman

“Baldwin and Mitchell, both, are consummate actor/singers. Just about every one of their songs lands exceptionally well… John Edwards makes a strong case for ‘Love Song.’”
New York Stage Review – Steven Suskin

“… masterminded by director Victoria Clark, this was a tight, well-edited, smartly conceived, and quite entertaining package.”
Classical Voice North America – David Patrick Stearns

“Love Life is a prototype, the grandparent of many other concept musicals that, by now, are considered Broadway mainstays”
Talkin Broadway – Howard Miller

“Surreal ensemble numbers, like ‘Susan’s Dream’ (reminiscent of ‘Poor Baby’ from Company) and ‘His and Hers, a Divorce Ballet’ (ditto that Sondheim musical’s ‘Tick Tock’), are lyrically choreographed by JoAnn M. Hunter, and bring a welcome flair of fantasy.”
Theatrely – Juan A. Ramírez

“As a musical entertainment, Love Life is thoroughly diverting; the songs are amongst Weill and Lerner’s best, and they surely would have reunited had the composer not died less than a year after Love Life closed.”
New York Sun – Will Friedwald

“… this production will hopefully encourage others to take a stab at Love Life.”
New York Times – Elisabeth Vincentelli