Critic John Simon, in "New York" magazine, wrote: "Anyone who cares about the rather uncertain future of this truly American genre should – must – see the show, think and worry about it, and reach his or her own conclusions ... Craig Lucas's book seems perfectly adequate to me, but the emphasis must be on Adam Guettel's music and lyrics ... the music, though fluctuating between the Sondheimesque and offbeat but still Broadwayish and the art-songlike and even operatic, is steadily absorbing, even if only intermittently melodious. One duet, "Let's Walk", is an unqualified hit, but the rest, without fully cohering, is also arresting. Ted Sperling and Guettel's jaunty orchestrations add to the slightly disorienting but wholly fascinating harmonies and instrumentation."