"New York Herald Tribune" critic Walter Kerr praised Gower Champion's direction but criticized the libretto and score, stating that "Mr. Champion has been very much responsible for the gayety (sic), the winsomeness, and the exuberant zing of the occasion ... he has not always been given the very best to work with ... every once in a while, Michael Stewart's book starts to break down and cry ... Lee Adams's lyrics lean rather heavily on the new "talk-out-the-plot" technique, and Charles Strouse's tunes, though jaunty, are whisper-thin." Brooks Atkinson of "The New York Times" conceded that "the audience was beside itself with pleasure" but dryly stated that "this department was able to contain itself. "Bye Bye Birdie" is neither fish, fowl, nor good musical comedy. It needs work."