The cast features Saturday Night Live alum Rachel Dratch<\/a> as Edith, alongside film and television star Campbell Scott<\/a> (House of Cards) as Dr. Bradman and Jennifer S\u00e1nchez (Real Women Have Curves) as Mrs. Bradman, husband-and-wife duo Phillipa Soo<\/a> and Steven Pasquale<\/a> as Ruth Condomine and Charles Condomine, as well as Katrina Lenk<\/a> as Elvira and Andrea Martin<\/a> as Madame Arcati.<\/p>\n Watch highlights of the cast in action<\/a> and check out production photos<\/a>.<\/p>\n Photo Credit: Joan Marcus<\/a><\/p>\n \t \t
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\n Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times:<\/a> Musically, the production is at its most rewarding. The score and arrangements have the unmistakable mix of warmth and drive \u2014 those bongos! \u2014 of Broadway\u2019s golden age, and the orchestra, under Mary-Mitchell Campbell\u2019s direction, smoothly segues between lush finesse and brassy energy. If Lenk does not bring enough finger-snapping verve to \u201cYou\u2019d Better Love Me,\u201d she is more at ease in the slinky
\n\u201cHome Sweet Heaven\u201d and in her duet with Pasquale \u201cI Know Your Heart.\u201d How can one resist being swayed by the line, \u201cI\u2019m drawn to you but I\u2019m on to you\u201d? Of such pleasures Encores! is made.<\/p>\n
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\n Jackson McHenry, Vulture:<\/a> Picture Andrea Martin on a bicycle. You\u2019re already giggling. Now imagine her surrounded by ensemble members who are holding handlebars, dancing as if cycling, pedaling away in place while singing about how she loves to swoop, she loves to swerve, she loves each highway and byway and curve. She\u2019s also wearing a cloak and gesticulating wildly. First question: What could be more immediately funny? Second: Does this song have anything to do with the plot of High Spirits? Not really, although you might make the old fish-and-a-bicycle joke about how little this musical needs this number, but the absurdity is absolutely essential. Why come see a show like this if not for the joy of watching a ham on wheels? It\u2019s musical comedy.<\/p>\n
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\n Robert Hofler, The Wrap:<\/a> Even though \u201cHigh Spirits\u201d is a nearly forgotten antique, Encores! has cast it with flair, bringing real Broadway stars to the stage. In addition to Lenk (\u201cThe Band\u2019s Visit\u201d) and Martin (tons of stuff), there\u2019s Steven Pasquale (\u201cThe Bridges of Madison County\u201d) and Phillipa Soo (\u201cHamilton\u201d) in the roles of the husband and wife whose stiff-upper-lip marriage disintegrates under Elvira\u2019s laser-focused high-jinks. Playing the very British couple, Pasquale and Soo are cast against type and can be thankful that \u201cHigh Spirits\u201d is a limited engagement.<\/p>\n
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\n Bob Verini, New York Stage Review:<\/a> If City Center\u2019s starpower could be supplemented with the kind of technology at work at Harry Potter and Stranger Things, High Spirits could tap into the best of both worlds, this one and the next. In any case, a fuller production would surely provide, as this version does, a refreshingly civilized and invigorating entertainment. And as they used to say, boy, do we need it now.<\/p>\n